Halemba is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the south-west of

Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a city in the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica River (tributary of the Oder). It h ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It lies on the river

Kłodnica The Kłodnica is a river in the Upper Silesia region. It is about 75 km long and a right tributary of the Odra river. Along Kłodnica's shore are Polish cities of Katowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Ruda Śląska, Gliwice, and Zabrze Zabrz ...

, right tritubary of Odra. It has an area of 19.6 km² and in 2006 it was inhabited by 26,080 people.

History

The area encompasses three historically different settlements: * Halemba (proper) * Kłodnica () * Stara Kuźnica () The first settlements appeared in the 15th century, when the area north of the river

belonged to Kochłowice. A smithery was established here, and the settlement, which grew around it, was named ''Halemba'' after one the smiths. It was first mentioned in 1451. Another settlement, ''Stara Kuźnica'', commenced somewhat after 1394, when the forests laying south of

were bestowed upon a smith ''Henryk'', who was to establish another smithery. During the political upheaval caused by

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

the land around

Pszczyna Pszczyna (, ) is a town in Silesia Province in Poland, with a population of 25,823 (2019), and is the seat of a local gmina (commune) and district. It was previously part of Katowice Province from 1975 until 1998 administrative reforms. Etymo ...

was overtaken by

Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn Casimir II of Cieszyn (, ; – 13 December 1528) was a Duke of Cieszyn since 1477, ruler over Koźle during 1479–1509, since 1493 ruler over Wołów, over Pszczyna during 1498–1517, from 1506 over Opava, Duke of Głogów since 1506 (for li ...

, who sold it in 1517 to the Hungarian

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s of the Thurzó family, forming the

Pless Pleß or Pless may refer to: Places *Pleß, a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany * Pszczyna (German: Pleß), a town in southern Poland ** Duchy of Pless, a historic territory in Silesia * Pleß (mountain), a mountai ...

state country State country (; ; ) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. These estates were exempt from feudal tenure by privilege of the Bohemian ...

. In the accompanying sales document issued on 21 February 1517 the village was mentioned as ''Kuznicze Nykowa''. The third settlement, ''Kłodnica'', named after the river, developed alongside ''Stara Kuźnica'', although across the river, which also constituted a border between different duchies and later state countries. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish Republic. The region was ethni ...

458 out of 521 voters in Stara Kuźnica voted in favour of joining Poland, against 63 opting for staying in Germany. In Halemba it was 759 (out of 916) against 155 (additionally 70 out of 92 against 21 in manor goods) and in Kłodnica 228 (out of 251) against 22. All the three settlements became a part of

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. They were then annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1942 both the local

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

commenced to be built. After the war it was restored to Poland. Kuźnica, Stara Kuźnica and Kłodnica were joined and merged into Nowy Bytom in 1951, and as part of Nowy Bytom was amalgamated with Ruda to form Ruda Śląska on December 31, 1958.

Gallery

File:Ruda Śląska-Halemba II noc.jpg, Housing estates in Halemba File:2022 Ruda Donnersmarck palace.jpg, Donnersmarck palace

References

Districts of Ruda Śląska {{Silesian-geo-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References