Siemianowice Śląskie also known as Siemianowice (; german: Siemianowitz-Laurahütte; szl, Siymianowice) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, near

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

, in its central district in the

Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union The Metropolis GZM ( pl, Metropolia GZM, formally in Polish Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia) is a metropolitan unit composed of 41 contiguous municipalities in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. The seat of the metropolitan council i ...

- a metropolis with a population of 2 million people and is located in the

Silesian Highlands Silesian Upland or Silesian Highland ( pl, Wyżyna Śląska) is a highland located in Silesia and Lesser Poland, Poland. Its highest point is the St. Anne Mountain (406 m). See also * Silesian Lowlands * Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands *Silesia ...

, on the

Brynica Brynica (German: ''Brinitz'') is a river in Silesia, Poland. It has a length of 55 km and is the main tributary of Czarna Przemsza. It has a source in Mysłów, and flows through Piekary Śląskie, Wojkowice, Czeladź, Siemianowice Śląsk ...

river (tributary of the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

). It is situated in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship, and before then in the

Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...

. Siemianowice is one of the cities of the 2.7 million conurbation, the

Katowice urban area The Katowice urban area ( pl, Konurbacja katowicka, ), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area ( pl, Konurbacja górnośląska, ), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voi ...

, at the heart of the greater

Silesian metropolitan area The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeastern Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia and has around 5 million inhabitants. Located in the three administrative ...

populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 65,684 (2021). Siemianowice Śląskie borders four cities:

Piekary Śląskie Piekary Śląskie () (german: Deutsch Piekar; szl, Piekary) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The north district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesia ...

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

Czeladź Czeladź (; yi, טשעלאַדזש, Chelodz) is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic Lesser Poland), in southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistul ...

and the voivodeship capital Katowice.

Etymology

There are three hypothetical explanations for the origins of the name Siemianowice: either it comes from seven huts which were called Siedminowice/Siedmionowice in

Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the ...

; from the old legend about Siemion (Siemian), Michał and Maciej, or Siemion, Michał and Jakub; or it comes from ''ziemia nawa'' which means earth taken away from water.

Administrative division

* Centrum – 11,98 km² * Michałkowice – 5,46 km² * Bańgów – 2,96 km² * Przełajka – 2,7 km² * Bytków – 2,3 km²

History

Siemianowice dates back to

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...

-ruled

. It was probably first mentioned in documents in 1253. In 1924, Siemianowice and Huta Laury communes were merged. The new city was named ''Siemianowice Śląskie'' and gained

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1932. On September 1, 1939, the first day of the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, there was a skirmish between German saboteurs and the Polish self-defense in the present-day district of Michałkowice. German saboteurs then entered the local mine, taking several dozen Polish miners as hostages. After a battle, Polish troops and volunteers, including members of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society and

boy scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

, recaptured the mine. There were deaths on both sides, and the Poles also captured dozens of German saboteurs. The Germans eventually invaded and captured the city in the following days, and already on September 8, 1939, the German ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

'' murdered six Poles in the city. In September 1939, the German '' Einsatzgruppe I'' operated in the city and committed various crimes against the Polish population. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

, two

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

camps were established and operated in the city: one for Poles ('' Polenlager'') and one for

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. In April 1944, the Germans also established a subcamp of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

, in which over 900 people were held and subjected to forced labour. In January 1945, the prisoners of the subcamp were taken to the Mauthausen concentration camp, and shortly afterwards the Germans left the city and the occupation ended. In 1951, Michałkowice, Bytków, Bańgów and Przełajka were included within the city limits of Siemianowice as new districts.

Industry

* Adient (, Car Parts Manufacturing) * Arcelor Mittal (, Steel Manufacturing) * Fastening Elements Factory (, Fastening Hardware Manufacturing) * Rosomak S.A. (, Defence Systems) * Fabud (, Building Company) * Huhtamäki (, Specialty Packaging Products)

Notable architectural structures

* Bytków TV Tower * ''Park Tradycji'' ("Tradition Park") at the old coal mine * Municipal Museum in an old granary * Municipal Bath * Palace of the Mieroszewskis and Donnersmarcks * ''Zameczek'' Palace (Rheinbaben Palace) * Town hall * Saint Michael Archangel church * Holy Cross church * Siemianowice Culture Center * Brewery

Parks and squares

* ''Park Miejski'' ("Municipal Park") * ''Park Górnik'' ("Miner Park") * ''Park Pszczelnik'' * ''Planty Michałkowickie'' * ''Skwer Laury'' ("Laura Square") * ''Plac Wolności'' ("Freedom Square")

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club is MKS Siemianowiczanka. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable people

* Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck (1811–1890), German industrialist, founder of Laurahütte *

Ernst Steinitz Ernst Steinitz (13 June 1871 – 29 September 1928) was a German mathematician. Biography Steinitz was born in Laurahütte (Siemianowice Śląskie), Silesia, Germany (now in Poland), the son of Sigismund Steinitz, a Jewish coal merchant, ...

(1871–1928, German mathematician *

Wojciech Korfanty Wojciech Korfanty (; born Adalbert Korfanty; 20 April 1873 – 17 August 1939) was a Polish activist, journalist and politician, who served as a member of the German parliaments, the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and later, in the Polish ' ...

(1873–1939), Polish politician * Otto Josef Schlein (1895–1944), German physician * Michael Jary (1906–1988), German composer * Heinz A. Lowenstam (1912–1993) German-born, Jewish-American paleoecologist * Antoni Halor (1937–2011), Polish film director, artist, writer * Witold Ziaja (born 1940), Polish field hockey player * Zygmunt Maszczyk (born 1945), Polish footballer *

Józef Skrzek Józef Franciszek Skrzek (born 2 July 1948, Siemianowice, Silesia, Poland) is a Polish multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer, an important figure in Polish rock. Life In his early career, Skrzek was associated with the groups Ślęża ...

(born 1948), musician, leader of SBB band * Barbara Blida (1949–2007), Polish politician * Bronisław Korfanty (born 1952), Polish senator * Apostolis Anthimos (born 1954), musician * Henryk Średnicki (1955–2016), Olympic boxer *

Krzysztof Globisz Krzysztof Maria Globisz (born 16 January 1957 in Siemianowice Śląskie) is a Polish theatre and film actor. His best-known role is as Piotr Balicki, the newly qualified barrister whose opinion of capital punishment undergoes a radical change in ...

(born 1957), Polish actor * Daniel Podrzycki (1963–2005), Polish politician * Jacek Fröhlich (born 1965), Automotive Designer, BMW exterior design chief * Kryspin Hermański (born 1984), Polish dancer *

Kajetan Duszyński Kajetan Duszyński (; born 12 May 1995) is a Polish sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He represented his country in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2017 World Championships reaching the final, as well in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay a ...

(born 1995), Polish sprinter, Olympic medallist

Twin towns – sister cities

Siemianowice Śląskie is twinned with: *

Câmpia Turzii Câmpia Turzii (; german: Jerischmarkt; hu, Aranyosgyéres) is a municipality in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania, which was formed in 1925 by the union of two villages, Ghiriș (''Aranyosgyéres'') and Sâncrai (''Szentkirály''). It was de ...

, Romania * Jablunkov, Czech Republic * Köthen, Germany * Mohács, Hungary * Wattrelos, France

References

* This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the

Polish Wikipedia The Polish Wikipedia ( pl, Polskojęzyczna Wikipedia) is the Polish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. Founded on September 26, 2001, it now has more than articles, making it the -largest Wikipedia edition overall.

(December 2008)

External links

Jewish Community in Siemianowice Śląskie
on Virtual Shtetl
Sights

Old photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siemianowice Slaskie City counties of Poland Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939) Nazi war crimes in Poland