Godula () is a district in the north-east of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has an area of 1.8 km² and in 2006 it was inhabited by 12,151 people.

History

Originally the area belonged to

Orzegów Orzegów () is a district in the north-east of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has an area of 2.5 km2 and in 2006 it was inhabited by 8,439 people. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1305 as ''Osegow''. T ...

, whose landed property was bought by

Karl Godulla Karl Godulla, Carolus Godulla, in Polish language, Polish spelled Karol Godula (born 8 November 1781 in Makoschau, today Makoszowy, a subdivision of Zabrze, Silesia; died 6 July 1848 in Breslau, today Wrocław) was a Silesian self-made industrialist ...

, after whom the settlement was named. The zinc smelter ''Godullahütte'' was built after his death, 1854–55, and operated until 1919. Adjacent to the establishment developed a working class settlement later called ''Godula'', the first 21 buildings were built in years 1858–61. The church of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist was under construction since 1867. Trams communication was opened in the 1890s. After World War I in the Upper Silesia plebiscite 2,178 out of 3,516 voters in ''Gutshof Orzegow'', encompassing Godula, voted in favour of joining Poland, against 1,332 opting for staying in Germany. Afterwards it became a part of Silesian Voivodeship,

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. Officially the municipality ''Godula'' was established in 1924 and had this year around 9,000 inhabitants. It was then annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war it was restored to Poland. Godula constituted a

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

(municipality) that was merged into Ruda in 1951, and as part of Ruda was amalgamated with

Nowy Bytom Nowy Bytom (german: Friedenshütte) is a district serving as administrative centre of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. In 2006 it had an area of 4.6 km2 and was inhabited by 12,058 people. On January 12, 2006 a part of it ...

to form Ruda Śląska on December 31, 1958.

References

Districts of Ruda Śląska {{Silesian-geo-stub