Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

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. The west district of the

Silesian Metropolis 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 is ...

, a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It is 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 *Silesian ...

, on the Bytomka River, a tributary of the Oder. Zabrze is located 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 ...

, which was reformulated in 1999. Before 1999 it was in

Katowice Voivodeship Katowice Voivodeship () can refer to one of two political entities in Poland: Katowice Voivodeship (1), initially "Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship" ( pl, województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie), was a unit of administrative division and local government ...

. It is one of the cities composing the 2.7 million inhabitant conurbation referred to as 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 Voivode ...

, itself a major centre in 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 administrati ...

which is populated by just over five million people. The population of Zabrze as of December 2021 was 168,946, down from June 2009 when the population was 188,122. Zabrze is bordered by three other cities of the metropolitan area:

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...

, Bytom and

Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica Rive ...

History

Early history

Biskupice, which is now a subdivision of Zabrze, was first mentioned in 1243 as ''Biscupici dicitur cirka Bitom''. Zabrze (or ''Old'' Zabrze) was mentioned in 1295–1305 as ''Sadbre sive Cunczindorf'' (German for '' Konrad/Kunze's village''; ''sive'' = "or"). According to historical sources, mining in Zabrze dates back to the 13th century. The present-day districts of Mikulczyce and Rokitnica were locations of

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy t ...

s from the 13th-15th century, which are now archaeological sites. In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered an

Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are some ...

flintwork and

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

tools from the Mesolithic at the Mikulczyce archaeological site. In the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

, the local

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 ...

dukes invited German settlers into the territory, resulting in increasing German settlement. The settlement was part of the

n duchies of fragmented Poland. Zabrze became part of the Habsburg monarchy of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1526, and was later annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

during the

Silesian Wars The Silesian Wars (german: Schlesische Kriege, links=no) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg Austria (under Archduchess Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European ...

. In 1774, the Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. In 1791, a

coking coal Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...

seam was discovered in Zabrze, and then its first coking coal mine was opened. In the 19th century, new coal mines, steelworks, factories and a power plant were created. A road connecting

and Chorzów and a railway connecting Opole and

Świętochłowice Świętochłowice (; german: Schwientochlowitz; szl, Świyntochłowice) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is also the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union metropolis, with a population of 2 million, a ...

were led through Zabrze.

Early 20th century

In 1905, the Zabrze commune was formed by the former communes Alt-Zabrze, Klein-Zabrze and Dorotheendorf. The Zabrze commune was renamed ''Hindenburg'' in 1915 in honour of

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...

. The name change was approved by Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

on 21 February 1915.Historia – Hindenburg
at the official website of Zabrze Up until then, it was one of the few cities whose Polish name was retained during German rule. In 1904 the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society in Zabrze was established, which was also a Polish patriotic and pro-independence organization. As a result of the Prussian harassment it was liquidated in 1911, but it was reactivated twice, in 1913 and 1918. Its members took an active part in the post-war plebiscite campaign and the

Silesian uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

Interwar period

Wolności 296 Building, Zabrze, Poland, September 2018

During the plebiscite held after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 21,333 inhabitants (59%) of the Hindenburg commune voted to remain in Germany, while 14,873 (41%) voted for incorporation to Poland, which just regained its independence. In May 1921 the Third

Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

broke out and Hindenburg was captured by Polish insurgents, who held it until the end of the uprising. When

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 ...

was divided between Poland and Germany in 1921, the Hindenburg commune remained in Germany, while the present-day districts of Kończyce, Makoszowy and Pawłów were reintegrated with Poland. It received its

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

in 1922. Just five years after receiving city rights Hindenburg became the biggest city in German-ruled western Upper Silesia and the second biggest city in German-ruled Silesia after

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

(then ''Breslau''). Nevertheless, various Polish organizations still operated in the city in the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, including a local branch of the

Union of Poles in Germany Union of Poles in Germany ( pl, Związek Polaków w Niemczech, german: Bund der Polen in Deutschland e.V.) is an organisation of the Polish minority in Germany, founded in 1922. In 1924, the union initiated collaboration between other minorities, ...

, Polish libraries,

sports clubs A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisi ...

s, choirs,

scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted inf ...

s and an amateur theater. Polish newspaper ''Głos Ludu'' was published in the city. In a secret ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' report from 1934, Zabrze was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. In terms of religion, most of the city's population adhered to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In the 1920s, the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

Christian democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

and

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

enjoyed the greatest support among the German population, while Poles supported Polish parties. In 1928, among the largest cities in western Upper Silesia, Polish parties received the most votes in Zabrze. In the March 1933 elections, most of the citizens voted for the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, followed by Zentrum and the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. Nazi politician Max Fillusch became the city's mayor and remained in the position until 1945.Stadtkreis Zabrze
at Geschichte on Demand website Pomnik Makoszowy

The anti-Polish organization

Bund Deutscher Osten The Bund Deutscher Osten (BDO; English: "Federation of the German East") was an anti-Polish German Nazi organisation founded on 26 May 1933. The organisation was supported by the Nazi Party. The BDO was a national socialist version of the German Ea ...

was very active in the city, it dealt with propaganda, indoctrination and espionage of the Polish community, as well as denouncing Poles to local authorities. When, the Barbórka (traditional holiday of miners) church services were organized separately for Poles and Germans in 1936, the Polish service enjoyed a greater attendance, however, due to Nazi oppression and propaganda, the attendance at Polish services in the 1930s gradually decreased, according to Bund Deutscher Osten. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted since 1937. People were urged to

Germanise Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

their names, Polish inscriptions were removed from tombstones. Some Polish priests were expelled from the city, both before and during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. As a result of German persecution the

Jewish 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 ...

community dropped from 1,154 people in 1933 to 551 in 1939, and its remainder was deported to

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in 1942. The town's synagogue, that had stood since 1872, was destroyed in the ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

'' pogroms of November 1938.

World War Two

During World War II, in 1941 the German administration requisitioned church property, in which it removed Polish symbols and memorabilia.

Church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...

s were confiscated for war purposes in 1942. The Germans established three forced labour subcamps of the

Stalag VIII-B Stalag VIII-B was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, later renumbered Stalag-344, located near the village of Lamsdorf (now Łambinowice) in Silesia. The camp initially occupied barracks built to house British and French pri ...

/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

in the city, two of which operated in the local coal mines, and also a subcamp of Auschwitz III was located there. Another subcamp of Stalag VIII-B/344 (E51) was operated at a coal mine in the present-day Mikulczyce district. In January 1945, the Soviets captured the city and afterwards deported some inhabitants to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, while most of the German inhabitants were expelled west in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement.

Contemporary history

Following

, according to the Potsdam Agreement the city was handed over to Poland in 1945 and the town's name was changed to the historic ''Zabrze'' on 19 May 1945. The first post-war mayor of Zabrze was Paweł Dubiel, pre-war Polish activist and journalist in Upper Silesia, prisoner of the Dachau and

Mauthausen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regu ...

concentration camps during the war. The pre-war Polish inhabitants of the region, who formed the majority of the city's population in 1948, were joined by Poles expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. The city limits were largely expanded in 1951, by including Mikulczyce, Rokitnica, Grzybowice, Makoszowy, Kończyce and Pawłów as new districts. New neighbourhoods were built from the 1950s to 1990s. In 1948,

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Po ...

football club was founded, which won its first Polish championship in 1957, and soon became the pride of the city as one of the most successful clubs in Poland.

Administrative division

On 17 September 2012, the Zabrze city council decided on a new administrative division of the city. Zabrze was subsequently divided into 15 districts and 3 housing estates. * 1. Helenka * 2. Grzybowice * 3. Rokitnica * 4. Mikulczyce * 5. Młody Górnik estate * 6. Mikołaj Kopernik estate * 7. Biskupice * 8. Maciejów * 9. Tadeusz Kotarbiński estate * 10. Centrum Północ * 11. Centrum Południe * 12.

Guido Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

* 13. Zaborze Północ * 14. Zaborze Południe * 15. Pawłów * 16. Kończyce * 17. Makoszowy * 18. Zandka

Infrastructure

The Polish north–south A1 and east–west A4 motorways, which are parts of the European routes E75 and E40, respectively, run through Zabrze, and their junction is located just outside the city limits. In addition the Polish National roads 78, 88 and 94 also run through the city. The Drogowa Trasa Srednicowa leads through the town.

Culture and sights

Among the cultural institutions of the town are the and ''Teatr Nowy'' ("New Theatre"). ''Dom Muzyki i Tańca'' ("House of Music and Dance") indoor arena is located in Zabrze. The local museums are the , the Municipal Museum and the Military Technology Museum. The Maciej

mine shaft Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

and the Main Key

Adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...

(''Główna Kluczowa Sztolnia Dziedziczna''), one of the longest such structures in Europe, are open for tourists. Among the historical architecture there are many industrial facilities, as well as various churches, houses, public buildings, etc. There are also numerous monuments referring to the history of the city, especially the

fought here and

. There is also a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and several parks in Zabrze. Muzeum Górnictwa Węglowego w Zabrzu.jpg, Coal Mining Museum Zabrze - Teatr Nowy.JPG, New Theatre Zabrze, budynek nadszybia z wieżą wyciągową Szybu Maciej 34.JPG, Maciej mine shaft GKSD - chodnik wodny.jpg, Main Key Adit Zabrze Aleja Bohaterów Monte Cassino pomnik 23 04 2011 P4238110.jpg, Monument to the Heroes of Monte Cassino Botanical garden in Zabrze kz2.jpg, Botanical garden Zabrze browar P9193641.jpg,

Upper Silesia Brewery The Upper Silesia Brewery, also called Browary Górnośląskie w Zabrzu, is a brewery in Zabrze, Poland, owned by the Van Pur brewery conglomerate. History The industrial brewery in Zabrze was founded in 1860 by Loebal Haendler. In 1896 the family ...

Zabrze straz pozarna 3.jpg, Fire Station Zabrze_Admiralspalast_1.jpg, Admiralspalast Hotel Main post office in Zabrze, Poland, June 2019.jpg, Main post office Zabrze, ul. 3 Maja 21 - Budynek Sądu Rejonowego A 354 11 z 14.11.2011 KS.JPG, Regional Court in Zabrze

Politics

Members of Parliament (

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency * Chojnacki Jan, SLD-UP * Dulias Stanisław, Samoobrona * Gałażewski Andrzej, PO * Janik Ewa, SLD-UP * Kubica Józef, SLD-UP * Martyniuk Wacław, SLD-UP * Okoński Wiesław, SLD-UP * Szarama Wojciech, PiS * Szumilas Krystyna, PO * Widuch Marek, SLD-UP

Sports

The city's most renown sports team is

, one of the most accomplished Polish football clubs, 14 times Polish champions, 6 times

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

winners, and 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup runners-up, as the only Polish team to reach the final stage of a major European football competition. Other popular team is

NMC Górnik Zabrze NMC may refer to: * NMC Health * NMC Recordings, a record label and music company in the United Kingdom * NMC Records, an Israeli record label and music company * NUT midline carcinoma, a cancer * Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Nagpur, India * N ...

, two times Polish men's handball champions and three times Polish Cup winners. Both teams compete in the national top leagues, the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

and Superliga respectively. Many sportspeople were born in Zabrze, including footballers

Jerzy Gorgoń Jerzy Paweł Gorgoń (born 18 July 1949 in Zabrze) is a Polish former football player who is remembered for his participation in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was a 6'4" tall central defender, who became well known in 1967 while playing for Górn ...

Łukasz Skorupski Łukasz Skorupski (born 5 May 1991) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Bologna and the Poland national football team. Career Early career Born in Zabrze, started his professional career with Górnik Z ...

and Adam Bodzek, and pro

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Wojtek Wolski Wojciech "Wojtek" Wolski (; born February 24, 1986) is a Polish-Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Florid ...

Economy

Like other towns in this populous region, it is an important manufacturing centre, having coal-mines, iron,

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

, glass,

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

works, and local

, etc.

Notable people

* James Kleist (1873–1949), German-American Jesuit scholar *

Heinz Fiebig __NOTOC__ Heinz Fiebig (23 March 1897 – 30 March 1964) was a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who may have been a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards * Nominated for the ...

(1897–1964),

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

general *

(born 1949), Polish former football player * Fritz Katz (1898–1969), pioneer of adrenal transplants * Wolfgang Jörchel (1907–1945), Standartenführer in the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

Władysław Turowicz Air Commodore Władysław Józef Marian Turowicz ( ur, ولادیسلاو جوزف مارئین تورووچ, translit=Vladislav Joseph Torovich; 23 April 1908 – 8 January 1980), usually referred to as W. J. M. Turowicz, was a Polish-Pa ...

(1908–1980), Polish-Pakistani military scientist * Fritz Laband (1925–1982), German footballer * Werner Heiduczek (1926–2019), German author *

Friedrich Nowottny Friedrich Nowottny (born 16 May 1929) is a German television journalist. Life Nowottny worked as director of German broadcaster WDR. He lives in Swisttal-Buschhoven near Bonn. Awards *1973: Goldene Kamera in category ''Politischer Journali ...

(born 1929), German television journalist *

Janosch Janosch (, born as Horst Eckert on 11 March 1931) is a German children's author and illustrator. Biography Janosch was born as Horst Eckert in what was then Hindenburg (now Zabrze, Poland) in Upper Silesia to a family of mixed German and Pol ...

(born 1931), German author * Joachim Kroll (1933–1991), German serial killer * Joachim Kerzel (born 1941), German actor * Jan Sawka (1946–2012), Polish-American artist, architect *

Krystian Zimerman Krystian Zimerman (born 5 December 1956) is a Polish-Swiss concert pianist, conductor and pedagogue who has been described as one of the greatest pianists of his generation. In 1975, he won the IX International Chopin Piano Competition. Follo ...

(born 1956), Polish classical pianist * Waldemar Sorychta (born 1967), Polish heavy metal musician and producer * Sebastian Kawa (born 1972), Polish glider pilot, thirteen-time World Champion * Czesław Śpiewa, (born 1979), Polish singer *

(born 1986), Polish-Canadian ice-hockey player. *

Margarete Stokowski Margarete Stokowski (born April 14, 1986 in Zabrze, Poland) is a Polish-German writer and essayist. She is best known for her weekly essays for the magazine Spiegel Online where she writes about the current state of feminism in Germany. The numbe ...

(born 1986), Polish-German writer * Bartosz Bednorz (born 1994), Polish volleyball player * Noemi Sabat, Polish ballet choreographer

Twin towns – sister cities

Zabrze is twinned with: * Essen, Germany * Lund, Sweden *

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raio ...

, Ukraine *

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Sangerhausen Sangerhausen () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz. It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. east of Nordhausen, and west of Halle (Saale). About 26,000 people live in Sangerhausen ( ...

, Germany *

Seclin Seclin () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Population Notable residents * Andre Ayew, Ghana national football team footballer *Victor Mollet, architect *Jonathan Rouss ...

, France *

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...

, Slovakia *

Zahlé Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area ...

, Lebanon

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Municipal website

Zabrze Community

Portal Zabrze.com.pl

Encyclopædia Britannica Zabrze

Jewish Community in Zabrze
on Virtual Shtetl

* http://www.zabrze.aplus.pl/ {{Authority control Cities in Silesia

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Si ...

Archaeological sites in Poland Prehistoric sites in Poland