Kattowitz convention

Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. Katowice is a central part of the Metropolis GZM, with a population of 2.3 million, and a part of a larger Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area that extends into the Czech Republic and has a population of around 5 million people, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the European Union."''Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)''"
– European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion, 2007

Katowice was founded as a village in the 16th century, whereas several modern districts of Katowice were founded as villages in the Middle Ages. Throughout the mid-18th century, Katowice grew following the discovery of rich coal reserves in the area. In the first half of the 19th century, intensive industrialization transformed local mills and farms into industrial steelworks, mines, foundries and artisan workshops. The city has since reshaped its economy from a heavy industry-based one to professional services, education and healthcare. The entire metropolitan area is the 16th most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union with an output amounting to $114.5 billion. Katowice Special Economic Zone is ranked fourth on the list of the TOP10 Global Free Zones.Global Free Zones of the Year 2023
– fDi Intelligence, 2023

Katowice has been classified as a Gamma – global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network and is a centre of commerce, business, transportation, and culture in southern Poland, with numerous public companies headquartered in the city or in its suburbs including energy group Tauron and metal industry corporation Fasing, important cultural institutions such as Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, award-winning music festivals such as Off Festival and Tauron New Music, and transportation infrastructure such as Katowice Korfanty Airport. It also hosts the finals of Intel Extreme Masters, an Esports video game tournament. Katowice is also home to several institutions of higher learning, notably the University of Silesia, the Silesian University of Technology and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music. The city is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network having been recognized as a City of Music.

History

Before the industrial revolution

The area around Katowice, in Upper Silesia, has been inhabited by Lechitic Silesian tribes from its earliest documented history. While the name Katowice (''Katowicze'') is mentioned for the first time in 1598, other villages and settlements that would eventually become parts of modern Katowice have been established earlier, with ''Dąb'' being the oldest, mentioned in 1299 for the first time in a document issued by Duke Casimir of Bytom. Bogucice, Ligota, Szopenice and Podlesie were all established in early 14th century. Aside from farming, people living in the area would also work in hammer mills: the first one, ''Kuźnica Bogucka'', is mentioned in 1397.

The area which would become Katowice was initially ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty until its extinction. From 1327, the region was under administration of the Kingdom of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire. As part of the Bohemian Crown, it was passed to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria in 1526. In 1742, along with most of Silesia, it was seized by Prussia following the First Silesian War. The two subsequent Silesian Wars left the area severely depopulated and with an economy in ruins. In 1838, Franz von Winckler bought Katowice from Karl Friedrich Lehmann and in 1841, he made it the headquarters of his estate.

Emergence as an industrial centre

On 3 October 1846, the works of the final stage of the Breslau- Myslowitz (''Wrocław-Mysłowice'') rail line ended, built and operated by the Upper Silesian Railway. It was opened by king Frederick William IV of Prussia. A year later, on 6 August 1847, the first train arrived at the new Katowice station.

The railway connection with major European cities (Katowice gained connections to Berlin, Kraków, Vienna and Warsaw, among others, between 1847 and 1848) fostered economic and population growth. The population grew enough to erect the first Lutheran church on 29 September 1858 ( Church of the Resurrection), and the first Catholic church two years later, on 11 November 1860. Katowice (then called Kattowitz) gained city status on 11 September 1865 in the Prussian Province of Silesia, by the act of the king Wilhelm I Hohenzollern.

The city flourished due to large mineral (especially coal) deposits in the area. Extensive city growth and prosperity depended on the coal mining and steel industries, which took off during the Industrial Revolution. The city was inhabited mainly by Germans, Poles incl. Silesians, and Jews. In 1884, 36 Jewish Zionist delegates met here, forming the Hovevei Zion movement. Previously part of the Beuthen district, in 1873 it became the capital of the new Kattowitz district. On 1 April 1899, the city was separated from the district, becoming an independent city.

In 1882, the Upper Silesian Coal and Steelworks Company (''Oberschlesischer Berg- und Hüttenmännischer Verein'') moved its headquarters to Katowice, followed by creation of the Upper Silesian Coal Convention (''Oberschlesische Kohlen-Konvention'') in 1898. Civic development followed industrial development: in 1851, the first post office opens in Katowice, and in 1893 the current regional post office headquarters have been opened; in 1871 the first middle school was opened (later expanded to high school); in 1889, Katowice got a district court; in 1895, the city bath opened and regional headquarters of the Prussian state railways has been established in the city; in 1907, the city theater (currently the Silesian Theatre) opened.

Under the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, the Upper Silesia plebiscite was organised by the League of Nations. Though Kattowitz proper voted 22,774 to remain in Germany and 3,900 for Poland, it was attached to Poland as the larger district voted 66,119 for Poland and 52,992 for Germany. Following the Silesian Uprisings of 1918–21 Katowice became part of the Second Polish Republic with some autonomy for the Silesian Parliament as a constituency and the Silesian Voivodeship Council as the executive body. In 1924, the surrounding villages and towns were incorporated into Katowice, and the number of inhabitants increased to over 112,000, since then the number of Poles exceeded the number of Germans – throughout the interwar period, the number of Germans decreased (in 1925 they constituted 12% of the inhabitants of Katowice, and in 1939 only 6%, while Poles constituted 93%). At the end of the interwar period, the number of inhabitants exceeded 134,000.

From 1926 to 1933, Katowice and the Polish part of Upper Silesia were connected with Gdynia and the Polish part of Pomerania through the Polish Coal Trunk-Line ().

World War II

During the early stages of World War II and the Poland Campaign, Katowice was essentially abandoned by the Polish Land Forces, which had to position itself around Kraków. Nevertheless, the city was defended by local Poles, and the invading Germans immediately carried out massacres of captured Polish defenders. In the following weeks the German ''Einsatzkommando 1'' was stationed in the city, and its units were responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in the region.

Under German occupation many of the city's historical and iconic monuments were destroyed, most notably the Great Katowice Synagogue, which was burned to the ground on 4 September 1939. This was followed by the alteration of street names and the introduction of strict rules. Additionally, the use of Polish in public conversations was banned. The German administration was also infamous for organising public executions of civilians and by the middle of 1941, most of the Polish and Jewish population was expelled. The Germans established and operated a Nazi prison in the city, and multiple forced labour camps within present-day city limits, including two camps solely for Poles ('' Polenlager''), four camps solely for Jews, two subcamps (E734, E750) of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp, and a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Eventually, Katowice was captured by the Red Army in January 1945. Significant parts of the downtown and inner suburbs were demolished during the occupation. As a result, the authorities were able to preserve the central district in its prewar character.

Postwar period

The postwar period of Katowice was characterised by the time of heavy industry development in the Upper Silesian region, which helped the city in regaining its status as the most industrialised Polish city and a major administrative centre. As the city developed so briskly, the 1950s marked a significant increase in its population and an influx of migrants from the Eastern Borderlands, the so-called ''Kresy''. The city area began to quickly expand by incorporating the neighbouring communes and counties. However, the thriving industrial city also had a dark period in its short but meaningful history. Most notably, between 7 March 1953 and 10 December 1956, Katowice was called ''Stalinogród'' in honour of Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. The change was brought upon by an issued decree of the State Council. The date of the alteration of the city name was neither a coincidence or accidental as it happened on the day of Stalin's death. In this way, the Polish United Workers' Party and the socialist authority wanted to pay tribute to the dictator. The new name never got accepted by the citizens and in 1956 the former Polish name was restored.

The following decades were more memorable in the history of Katowice. Regardless of its industrial significance, it started to become an important cultural and educational centre in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1968, the University of Silesia in Katowice, the largest and most valued college in the area, was founded. Simultaneously the construction of large housing estates began to evolve. Furthermore, many representative structures were erected at that time, including the Silesian Insurgents' Monument (1967) and Spodek (1971), which have become familiar landmarks and tourist sights. The 1960s and 1970s saw the evolution of modernist architecture and functionalism. Katowice eventually developed into one of the most modernist post-war cities of Poland.

One of the most dramatic events in the history of the city occurred on 16 December 1981. It was then that 9 protesters died (7 were shot dead; 2 died from injury complications) and another 21 were wounded in the pacification of Wujek Coal Mine. The Special Platoon of the Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (''ZOMO'') was responsible for the brutal handling of strikers protesting against Wojciech Jaruzelski's declaration of martial law and the arrest of Solidarity trade union officials. On the 10th anniversary of the event, a memorial was unveiled by the President of Poland Lech Wałęsa.

In 1990, the first democratic local elections that took place marked a new period in the city's history. The economy of Katowice has been transforming from the heavy industry of steel and coal mines into "one of the most attractive investment areas for modern economy branches in Central Europe".

21st century

In 2008, Katowice was awarded the Europe Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for having made exceptional efforts to spread the ideal of European unity.

The city's efficient infrastructure, rapid progress in the overall development and an increase in office space has made Katowice a popular venue for conducting business. The Katowice Expo Centre (''Katowickie Centrum Wystawiennicze'') organises trade fairs or exhibitions and attracts investors from all over the world. In 2018, the city was the host of the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP24). In 2022, the city hosted the 11th edition of the World Urban Forum, the world's most important conference on sustainable urbanization and development of cities.

Geography

Katowice encompasses an area of . The city is situated in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids (part of the Carpathian Mountains). Kłodnica and Rawa (tributaries of the Oder and the Vistula respectively) are the largest rivers in Katowice, and the border between catchment areas of Oder and Vistula goes through the city. With a minimal elevation of and median elevation of above sea level, Katowice has the highest elevation among large cities in Poland.

Climate

Katowice has a temperate, ocean-moderated humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Dfb/Cfb''). The average temperature is 8.2 °Celsius ( in January and up to in July). Yearly rainfall averages at . Characteristic weak winds blow at about from the southwest, through the Moravian Gate.

Neighborhoods

Katowice has 22 officially recognized neighborhoods. Śródmieście, Osiedle Paderewskiego-Muchowiec, Zawodzie and Koszutka form the dense central urban core where most cultural and educational institutions, businesses and administrative buildings are located.

Most Northern and Eastern neighborhoods around the downtown core are more working-class and developed from worker's estates build around large industry such as coal mines, manufactures and steelworks. Each of these neighborhoods has its own dense commercial strip surrounded by mid-rise apartment buildings and some single-family homes. Szopienice, located between downtown Katowice and Mysłowice, used to be a separate town until mid-1960s. Nikiszowiec, a former mine's town, has undergone strong gentrification in recent years, and emerged as a major tourist attraction in the region thanks to its unique architecture and art galleries.

Western and Southern neighborhoods (with the exception of Brynów-Załęska Hałda, which is a working-class neighborhood built around a coal mine) are more suburban in nature, concentrating the city's middle and upper middle classes.

Metropolitan area

Katowice lies in the centre of the largest conurbation in Poland, one of the largest in the European Union, numbering about 2.7 million. The Katowice metropolitan area (mostly within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin) over 50 cities or towns and a population of 5,008,000. In 2006, Katowice and 14 adjacent cities united as the Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia (predecessor to the current Metropolis GZM). Its population was 2 million and its area was 1,104 km². In 2006–2007 the union planned to unite these cities in one city under the name "Silesia", but this proved unsuccessful.

The Katowice conurbation comprises settlements which have evolved because of the mining of metal ores, coal and raw rock materials. The establishment of mining and heavy industry which have developed for the past centuries has resulted in the unique character of the cityscape; its typical aspects are the red brick housing estates constructed for the poorer working class, factory chimneys, manufacturing plants, power stations and quarries. The inhabitants of a large mining community like Katowice, and local administrations within the conurbation, which have only evolved due to mining, are a subject to overall decline after the liquidation of coal mines and factories. This is one of the reasons which led to the development of the service sector, including office spaces, shopping centres and tourism.

Demographics

The Polish Statistical Office estimates Katowice's population to be 292,774 with a population density of . There were 139,274 males and 153,500 females. Age breakdown of people in Katowice is: 12.9% 0–14 years old, 13.7% 15–29 years old, 23.8% 30–44 years old, 19.5% 45–59 years old, 20.1% 60–74 years old, and 9.9% 75 years and older.

Katowice is a centre of the Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area, with a population of approx. 5.3 million. This metropolitan area extends into the neighboring Czechia, where the other centre is the city of Ostrava. 41 municipalities that constitute the core of the metropolitan area created the Metropolis GZM association, which has 2.3 million people

Historical population

Katowice's population grew very fast between 1845 and 1960, fueled by the expansion of heavy industry and administrative functions. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, the city grew by another 100,000 people, reaching a height of 368,621 in 1988. Since then, the decline of heavy industry, emigration, and suburbanization reversed the population development; Katowice lost approx. 75,000 people (20%) since the fall of communism in Poland.

Before World War II, Katowice was mainly inhabited by Poles and Germans. The 1905 Silesian demographic census has shown that Germans made up nearly 70–75% of the total population (including German Jews) and Poles constituted 25–30% of inhabitants of Katowice. After the plebiscite in Upper Silesia, Silesian uprisings and the incorporation of Katowice into Poland in 1922, and then the incorporation of several nearby villages and towns into the city, the number of inhabitants of Katowice increased significantly, but the number of Germans in Katowice fell to 12% in 1925 and to 6% in 1939 (most Germans left Poland, many ethnic Silesians who used to identify as Germans switched their identification to Poles, and areas with a Polish majority were incorporated). Thus, in 1939 the ethnic breakdown of the city was: 93% Poles, 6% Germans, and 1% Jews.

After the German aggression against Poland in 1939, some Poles were displaced from Katowice and Germans were settled in their place. During the war, the Nazi occupiers committed severe crimes against the local Roma and Jewish communities, either killing them on the spot or transporting them to concentration camps such as Auschwitz for complete extermination. This led to a wartime population drop. In 1945, practically the entire German minority has either left fleeing the Red Army or was forced to leave after Poland regained control of the city, and Poles from Kresy (Eastern Borderlands of interwar Poland that were annexed by USSR after the war) and other parts of the country started to come to settle in the city. Katowice enjoyed a population boom after World War II, driven primarily by internal economic migration from less developed parts of the country.

Since the late 1960s, Katowice and the surrounding area experiences low birth rates, which, paired with the decline of heavy industry and reduced job opportunities, caused the population of Katowice to start decreasing in the late 1980s. As of recent years, increased economic activity in the area has stopped outward migration but the negative natural change (more deaths than births) continues to fuel population decline.

Ethnic diversity

Katowice is one of the more diverse cities in Poland. In the 2021 census, 93.87% of inhabitants declared a Polish nationality while 19.38% declared a nationality other than Polish (in the Polish census, respondents are allowed to declare up to two nationalities or ethnicities). Indigenous Silesians were the largest minority, at 17.8%, followed by Germans (0.43%), Ukrainians (0.18%), the English (0.12%), Jews (0.07%) and Italians (0.07%).

In addition, Katowice is home to a large immigrant population that is largely unaccounted for in the official population data in Poland. According to the Polish Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology, there have been 20,527 foreigners (7% of official population figure) on a special worker permit for citizens of Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine in Katowice in 2020, 19,003 of them from Ukraine. By the end of 2021, this number has increased to 26,990, with 23,207 of them from Ukraine. Additionally, 11,568 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis, refugees settled in Katowice since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion on Ukraine. By the December 2024, the number has increased to 11,894.

Socioeconomics

According to the 2021 census, 32.3% of the population aged 13 and older had a college degree, 34.3% had a high school diploma or some college, 17.9% completed a vocational secondary school, 2.4% only completed a gimnazjum, 8.4% only completed a primary school while 2.1% did not complete primary school. In 2011, in the 25–34 age group, college graduates share is 44.9%, and an additional 31.8% has a high school degree. According to Eurostat data, Katowice and its surrounding Silesian Voivodeship, Silesian region had one of the highest share of people who have attained at least an upper secondary level of education (more than 90%), and one of the lowest share of school dropouts in Europe (less than 5%).

There were 120,869 households in Katowice as of the 2021 census, a drop from 134,199 in the 2011 census. Average household size was 2.33, virtually unchanged from the 2.3 reported in the previous census. 32.4% households were single-person households, 31.2% had two people, 18.5% had three people, 11.5% had four people and 6.4% had five people or more. Compared to the 2011 census, the largest difference was an increase in households with 5 and more people (from 4.9%).

As of 2022, Katowice placed third in the country among cities with the highest average salaries, at PLN 8,017.49, behind Warsaw and Kraków. Poverty rate places Katowice on average with other big cities in Poland, at 4.09% of inhabitants eligible for welfare benefits

Religion

Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism is the main religion in Katowice; Polish census, 60.52% (172,915 people) of Katowice residents declared to be Roman Catholic, representing a significant drop from the 2011 census when Roman Catholics were 82.43% of the population.

No other denomination had at least 1,000 followers as of the 2021 census. In the 2011 census, denominations with at least 1,000 worshippers included the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, Lutheran Church in Poland – 0.43% (1,336 people) and Jehovah's Witnesses – 0.42% (1,311 people). Other religions with presence and places of worship in the city include Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, as well as other Protestantism, Protestant denominations.

Christianity

Katowice is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Katowice, Roman Catholic Archdiocese, with the suffragan bishoprics of Roman Catholic Diocese of Gliwice, Gliwice and Roman Catholic Diocese of Opole, Opole, and around 1,477,900 Catholics. The Cathedral of Christ the King, Katowice, Cathedral of Christ the King, constructed between 1927 and 1955 in a classicist style, is the largest cathedral in Poland. There are 36 Catholic Church, Catholic Church (building), churches in Katowice (including two Basilicas in the Catholic Church, basilicas), as well as 18 Monastery, monasteries. Katowice is also a seat of a diocesan Catholic seminary, as well as one of the Order of Friars Minor. Katowice Archdiocese owns several media companies headquartered in Katowice: ''Księgarnia św. Jacka'', a Catholic publishing company, and ''Instytut Gość Media'', a multi-channeled media company that owns ''Radio eM'', a regional Catholic radio, and a few magazines. Gość Niedzielny, owned by ''Instytut Gość Media'' and published in Katowice, is currently the most-popular Catholic magazine in the country with approx. 120,000 copies sold weekly.

Katowice is also the seat of a Lutheran Diocese of Katowice, Lutheran Diocese which covers Upper Silesia, Lesser Poland and Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian region and has 12,934 adherents Lutherans have two churches in Katowice, including a cathedral, which is the oldest church built originally in Katowice, completed on 29 September 1858. Historically, Lutheran population in Katowice was mostly Germans, German, and with the expulsion of Germans from Poland after the Second World War, number of Lutherans dropped in Katowice.

Other denominations with churches or praying houses in Katowice include Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, Christ Church in Poland, Pentecostalism, Pentecostals and other Evangelicalism, evangelical groups.

Judaism

Judaism has historically been present in Katowice since at least 1702. First synagogue, designed by a local architect Ignatz Grünfeld, was consecrated on 4 September 1862, while the Jewish cemetery was established in 1868. Dr. Jacob Cohn was the first rabbi of Katowice, appointed to this function on 6 January 1872 and holding it until 1920s. Zionism was strong in Katowice, and in 1884 the city was the place of the Katowice Conference, the first public Zionist meeting in history. On 12 September 1900, the Great Synagogue (Katowice), Great Synagogue was opened.

Following World War I and subsequent creation of the Second Polish Republic, Polish state, most Katowice Jews, who identified with Germany, left the city and settled primarily in Bytom, a nearby city that was still part of Germany. They were partially replaced by Jews moving from the East, particularly the neighboring Dąbrowa Basin region that had a large Jewish population. In 1931, 60% of 5,716 Jews in Katowice were recent immigrants from other parts of Poland. On 1 September 1939, Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany, and Katowice, a border city, surrendered on 3 September. The Great Synagogue was burned by the German army the same day, and in the following months, Katowice Jews were deported to Nazi ghettos, ghettos in Dąbrowa Basin (primarily Sosnowiec Ghetto, Sosnowiec and Będzin Ghetto, Będzin) or directly to various Nazi concentration camps, concentration and Extermination camp, death camps where most of them were murdered in the Holocaust. After the war, around 1,500 Jews were living in Katowice, but most of them left Poland and emigrated to the United States and other Western countries.

Currently, Katowice has one Qahal with approximately 200 members. It owns houses of prayer in Katowice (along with a Kosher foods, kosher cafeteria) and nearby Gliwice, and the current rabbi is Yehoshua Ellis.

Other religions

There are two buddhist groups in Katowice: Kwan Um School of Zen, first registered in 1982, and the Diamond Road of Karma Kagyu line association. Jehovah's Witnesses maintain 13 houses of prayer and one Kingdom Hall in Katowice. Aside from Polish-language congregations, there is one for English language, English speakers and one for Ukrainian language, Ukrainian speakers.

Architecture and urban design

Late 19th/early 20th century

Unlike most other large Polish cities, Katowice did not originate as a medieval town, therefore it does not have an old town with a street layout and architectural styles characteristic to cities founded on Magdeburg rights. Katowice's urban layout is a result of expansion and annexation of various towns, industrial worker estates, and villages.

Katowice city centre has an axis design, along the main railway line, developed by an industrialist Friedrich Grundman in mid-19th century. Most of the city centre in Katowice developed in late 19th and early 20th century, when it was part of the Kingdom of Prussia and had a German-speaking majority. As a result, architectural styles of that era are similar to those in other Prussian cities such as Berlin or Wrocław (then Breslau); primarily Renaissance Revival architecture, renaissance revival and Baroque Revival architecture, baroque revival, with some buildings in Gothic Revival architecture, gothic revival, Romanesque Revival architecture, romanesque revival, and Art Nouveau, art nouveau styles.

Interwar architecture

In 1922, Katowice and the eastern portion of Upper Silesia were reintegrated with reborn Poland, and an Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939), autonomous Silesian Voivodeship was established, with Katowice as its capital. This event has marked the beginning of a period of unprecedented architectural development in the city. Since most traditional styles, especially Gothic architecture, gothic and gothic revival, were perceived as connected to imperial Germany by the new Polish authorities, all new development was to be built in, at first in the Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical, and later in Functionalism (architecture), functionalist/Bauhaus style. The city, which needed to build administrative buildings for the new authorities and housing for people working in regional administration, began expansion southward creating one of the largest complexes of modern architecture in Poland, comparable to Warsaw and Gdynia (newly built port on the Baltic Sea) only.

The modernist district is centered around the monumental Silesian Parliament building (1923–1929), which architecture is mostly neoclassical, albeit with early modernist influences. During World War II, the building became headquarters of the Province of Upper Silesia, Reichsgau Oberschlesien and part of the interior was redesigned by Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler, Hitler's favorite architect, to resemble the interior of the Reich Chancellery. The nearby Cathedral of Christ the King, Katowice, Cathedral of Christ the King (1927–1955, with dome lowered by 34 meters compared to original design) is also neoclassical but with an ascetic, modernist-inspired interior (including a tabernacle and a golden mosaic funded by future pope, Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger). Other buildings, designed in mid-to-late 1920s and 1930s, are mostly modernist or functionalist. A symbol of the city in the interwar period, Drapacz Chmur (literally: ''The Skyscraper''), was the first skyscraper built in Poland after World War I, and the first building in the country to be based on a steel frame.

Post-war architecture

After World War II, Katowice again expected a period of rapid growth, particularly under the regional leadership of Jerzy Ziętek, Marshall Jerzy Ziętek. Pałac Młodzieży (''Youth Palace'') became the first major new building completed in Katowice after the war, erected in the Socialist realism, socrealist style with elements of late modernism in 1949–1951. The largest development of the 1950s in Katowice was the expansion of the Koszutka neighborhood, also in the Socialist realism, socialist realist style, in early 1950s.

Following the death of Joseph Stalin, Stalin in 1956, and the end of socrealism, Jerzy Ziętek and city authorities commissioned a group of young architects and urbanists to create a project of the new urban design of Katowice. The collective, named ''Miastoprojekt Katowice'', came up with a design heavily influenced by Le Corbusier's Five Points of Architecture, Le Corbusier's ideas. The project was centered around a grand avenue (current ''Aleja Korfantego'') surrounded by simple, modern blocks and monuments, scattered in distance to each other according to modernist ideals of preserving space and light for the masses. The most important buildings from that time include:

* Spodek, Spodek Arena (1964–1971), widely considered the symbol of Katowice and ranked among the finest achievements of modern architecture in Poland; one of the first buildings in the world with a tensegrity rooftop. Arena's unique design, resembling a typical depiction of a UFO at the time, gave it its Polish name (literally meaning "a saucer", a shorthand for UFO in Polish).
* Katowice railway station, Katowice Railway Station (1959–1972), considered to be the most outstanding example of brutalism in Poland, controversially demolished in 2010 and partially rebuilt as an addition to the Galeria Katowicka shopping centre.
* Superjednostka (1967–1972), a massive (187.5 meters length, 51 meters high) residential block heavily inspired by Le Corbusier's Unité d'habitation, Unite d'habitation in Marseille
* Osiedle Gwiazdy (1978–1985), a housing estate of eight 27-floor residential buildings on a plan resembling a star
* Osiedle Tysiąclecia (1961–1982, later expanded), a large housing estate connecting to the Silesian Park, built with modernist principles (separation of foot and automobile traffic, vast green spaces, self-sufficiency in terms of schools, basic shops and healthcare). Later expansion of the estate includes Kukurydze high-rises, a group of 26-floor high residential towers inspired by Marina City in Chicago
* Stalexport Skyscrapers, Stalexport Towers (1979–1982), twin office towers with 22 and 20 floors, a prime example of early Postmodern architecture, postmodernism in Poland

Contemporary architecture

Following the collapse of communism in Poland and other Eastern Bloc countries, and the centrally-planned economy with it, Poland's economy suffered a downturn, and construction slowed down. One of the most significant buildings of the 1990s was the new branch of the Silesian Library, in postmodernism style.

The situation changed in the early aughts, when several new notable developments were completed:

* Chorzowska 50 (1999–2001) – first modern, A-grade office building in Katowice; currently owned and occupied by ING Bank Śląski
* Altus Skyscraper, Altus, previously known as Uni Centrum (2001–2003) – for many years the highest skyscraper in Poland outside of Warsaw, at 125 meters (410 ft) high.
* Silesia City Center (2003–2005), the flagship brownfield development of the era, built in place a defunct coal mine Gottwald. It remains one of the largest shopping centres in Poland, at , and also includes a housing estate and a chapel.
* Dom z Ziemi Śląskiej (2001–2002), a modern suburban villa, nominated to European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Award in 2002
* Department of Law at the University of Silesia (2001–2003), a postmodernist building aiming to resemble industrial installations of the region
* Department of Theology at the University of Silesia (2002–2004), built in the style resembling early Christian hermitages

Another wave of architectural revival came after Poland joined the European Union in 2004. European Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund, cohesion funds, along with private capital investment, flew into the city resulting in a number of architecturally acclaimed buildings and complexes, including:

* Strefa Kultury (''Zone of Culture'', a brownfield urban redevelopment in downtown Katowice):
** Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) building (2012–2014) contains two concert halls (for an audience of 1,800 or 300). Nominated to European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Award in 2014, first prize in European Commercial Property Awards.
** Katowice International Congress Centre in Katowice, International Conference Centre (2012–2015), the largest conference centre in Poland (capacity up to 12,000 people), connected to the Spodek Arena. The design of the centre, with a distinct canyon going through it in order to remove any obstruction from view of Spodek, has been hailed and the building was nominated to European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe award in 2017
** Silesian Museum (Katowice), New Silesian Museum (2011–2013) located in place of a former coal mine, most of the museum is located underground, with only glass cubes that provide daylight, visible above ground. Shortlisted for Mies van der Rohe award in 2015.
* CINiBA (2009–2011) – academic library of the University of Silesia and University of Economics in Katowice, Katowice University of Economics, shortlisted to Mies van der Rohe award in 2013.
* Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School at the University of Silesia (2014–2017) – awarded with Wienerberger Brick Award in 2020, shortlisted to Mies van der Rohe award in 2019. Located in a decayed neighborhood, the building aims at kick-starting an urban renewal process there.
* KTW (Katowice), KTW (2018–2022) – the taller tower, KTW II, is List of tallest buildings in Katowice, the tallest building in Katowice and List of tallest buildings in Poland, one of the tallest in Poland at .
* Global Office Park (2022–2023) – mixed-use complex featuring four buildings, with two office towers reaching .

Tourist attractions

*Market square in Katowice, Market square and adjacent streets: Warszawska Street, Katowice, Warszawska, Teatralna, Dyrekcyjna, Staromiejska, Dworcowa, św. Jana, Pocztowa, Wawelska, 3 Maja, Stawowa, Mielęckiego, Starowiejska and Mickiewicza, the so-called "Great Market Square of Katowice" or "Old town of Katowice"—many historic (monument) buildings. This is a group of functional-architectural. On the market square and most of the above-mentioned streets are prohibitions or restrictions on cars. Streets: Staromiejska, Dyrekcyjna, Wawelska, Stawowa and Warszawska is lined decorative cobblestone creating a pedestrian zone. The authority plans to Katowice—Quarter streets: św. Jana, Dworcowa, Mariacka, Mielęckiego, Stanisława and Starowiejska is to become so "small market square".
* Nikiszowiec – historical settlement of Katowice, candidate to UNESCO
*Cathedral of Christ the King, Katowice, Cathedral of Christ the King
*St. Mary's Church, Katowice, St Mary's Church
*Church of the Resurrection in Katowice, Church of the Resurrection, Evangelical-Augsburg, built in 1856–1858
*St. Michael's church, Katowice, Church of St Michael Archangel, the oldest church in the city, built in 1510
*Drapacz Chmur, one of the first skyscrapers in Europe
*Silesian Parliament, built in 1925–1929. For a very long time, it was the biggest structure in Poland
*Modernist old town
*Spodek (a large sports centre/List of concert halls, concert hall, whose name translates as the 'saucer', from its distinctive shape resembling a Unidentified flying object, UFO flying saucer)
*Silesian Insurgents Monument (Polish: ''Pomnik Powstańców Śląskich''), the largest and heaviest monument in Poland. It is a harmonious combination of architecture and sculpture with appropriate symbolism: the wings symbolize the three Silesian Uprisings (1920–1921) while the names of places that were battlefields are etched on the vertical slopes. The monument, which was funded by the people of Warsaw for Upper Silesia, is considered Katowice's landmark.
*Silesian Theater, built in 1907
*Rialto Cinetheater, built in 1912
*Silesian Museum, built in 1899
*Old train station in Katowice, built in 1906
*The Goldstein Palace
*The Załęże Palace
*Parachute Tower Katowice, Parachute Tower, a tall lattice tower was built in 1937 for training parachutists. It was used in the first days of World War II and is the only parachute tower in Poland.

Other:
*Franciscan Monastery in Panewniki
*Church of St. Joseph in Katowice, Church of St Joseph (Załęże)
*St. Stephen's Church (Katowice), St Stephen's Church
*Church of Christ Resurrection in Katowice, Church of Christ Resurrection
*The Monument to Marshal Józef Piłsudski, Piłsudski by Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić, 1937–39. It was commissioned in 1936 but brought to Poland in 1991
*Monopol Hotel, Katowice, Monopol Hotel
*Jerzy Ziętek Rondo, Katowice Rondo, the large Town square, square/roundabout, reconstructed recently, with the semi-circular Galeria Rondo Sztuki in the centre.

Economy

Katowice has been classified as a Gamma – global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network and is considered as an emerging metropolis. Katowice's metropolitan area is the List of cities by GDP, 16th most economically powerful urban area in the European Union by GDP, with an output amounting to $114.5 billion. The city is one of the major industrial, commerce and financial hubs of Poland and has successfully transformed its economy from heavy industry-based to knowledge-based one.

Employment and incomes

As of August 2024, 252,841 people are employed in Katowice, which makes the city the 7th largest job market in Poland, slightly ahead of Gdańsk. Main sectors include professional services (including the IT sector and finance) at 15.8%, retail (13.7%), and government (12.6%). Unemployment rate is extremely low at 1%, as of June 2024.

Median monthly income for residents of Katowice stood at PLN 7,220.00 while median monthly income for those employed in Katowice was higher at PLN 8,053.30 as of August 2024, both above the country's median of PLN 6,697.52.

Business and commerce

Katowice is a large business, convention and trade fair centre. As of 2012, 44,050 businesses were registered in Katowice. 13 of them are traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with ING Bank Śląski being the largest one by far, while 11 are traded on the NewConnect floor.

Largest private corporations headquartered in Katowice include Polska Grupa Górnicza (coal mining and energy), Farmacol (pharmaceuticals), Famur (mining equipment manufacturing), Mistal (steel products manufacturing), Emiternet (renewable energy systems). Major international corporations with regional headquarters in Katowice include IBM, Unilever, PwC, Deloitte, Groupon, Eurofins Scientific, Eurofins, Capgemini, Sopra Steria, Accenture, Fujitsu, Citibank, HSBC, KPMG, RSM International, RSM, Baker Tilly International, Baker Tilly, and others.

Katowice is also the seat of Katowice Special Economic Zone (Katowicka Specjalna Strefa Ekonomiczna).

Heavy industry and manufacturing

Since its creation, Katowice's development was tightly connected to heavy industry, especially coal mining, steelworks and machine production. In 1931, 49.5% of inhabitants worked in industry, and 12.5% in coal mining alone. In 1989 industry accounted for 36% of all jobs in the city (112,000 employees). As of 2018, 34,294 people worked in industry in Katowice, 20.4% of total, below the national average.

The first reported coal mine in Katowice (''Murcki'' coal mine) was established in 1740, and in 1769 construction on ''Emanuelssegen'' mine started. As the demand for coal kept rising in the Kingdom of Prussia, further mines were opened: ''Beata'' (1801), ''Ferdinand'' (1823), ''Kleofas'' (1845). Later in 19th and early 20th century additional mines were opened: ''Katowice'', ''Wujek'', ''Eminenz'' (later renamed ''Gottwald'' and merged with ''Kleofas''), ''Wieczorek'', ''Boże Dary'', ''Staszic'' and renewed ''Murcki''. Currently only one (''Murcki-Staszic'') remains in operation. Katowice is also the seat of :pl:Polska Grupa Górnicza, Polska Grupa Górnicza, the largest coal mining corporation in Europe. Metallurgy was another important part of Katowice's economy. In 1863 a dozen zinc metallurgy facilities were reported in Katowice, with ''Wilhelmina'' (founded in 1834) being the largest. In early 1900s, ''Wilhelmina'' (later renamed ''Huta Metali Niezależnych Szopienice'') was enlarged and became the largest Silesian producer of non-ferrous metals and world's largest producer of cadmium. Two major steelworks existed in the city: ''Huta Baildon'', established in 1823 by the Scottish engineer and industrialist John Baildon (declared bankruptcy in 2001), and ''FERRUM SA, Huta Ferrum'', established in 1874 and operating to this date in limited capacity.

Culture

Vibrant and progressive artistic communities, particularly around musical arts, make Katowice one of the leading cultural spots in Poland. Since mid-2000s, Katowice has established a strategy to redevelop the post-industrial areas using culture – the pinnacle of which was a massive development on the site of a former coal mine known as :pl:Strefa Kultury (Katowice), Strefa Kultury (the "Zone of Culture"), where numerous cultural and convention institutions are located.

Performing arts

Katowice's status as the UNESCO City of Music, designated when Katowice joined UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2015, comes from a long and rich history of musical arts. Katowice is the seat of an internationally renowned Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, whose faculty and graduates created the nationally important informal group called the Silesian school of composers. Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra has been located in Katowice since 1945 and has gotten a new internationally acclaimed concert hall in 2014, built on a site of a former coal mine near Katowice's city center. The Silesian Philharmonic also has its seat in Katowice. The city is a venue for numerous classical concerts and festivals, such as: the International Festival of Young Music Competition Laureates, Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors, Chamber Music Festival, Ars Cameralis Festival and Katowice's opera, operettas and most of all ballet.

There are currently 6 theater buildings in Katowice, and some theater groups without a permanent location. Silesian Theatre, Teatr Śląski is the oldest still-functioning theater in Katowice, first opened for audience in 1907 and located on the main square. It was the first theater to give plays in Silesian language, Silesian dialect of Polish. Every first Monday of the month, the Silesian Opera singers from nearby Bytom give a performance there, as Katowice does not have an opera house of its own. Teatr Ateneum is an important puppetry theater, while Teatr Korez was one of the first non-public theaters in post-war Poland.

Katowice is home to many nationally and internationally renowned popular music festivals. Rawa Blues Festival, Rawa Blues, named after a stream that passes through Katowice's city center, is one of the largest blues festivals in Europe. Electronic music's Mayday (music festival), Mayday Festival takes place every year in early November and is a sister event to its namesake in Dortmund. Off Festival, OFF Festival, dedicated to alternative music, moved to Katowice in 2010 and has been held every August. Tauron Nowa Muzyka festival, oriented more towards dance and techno has been named one of the major European festivals to attend. Other music festivals, such as the Silesian Jazz Festival, KatoHej (dedicated to chants and touristic music), and Gardens of Sound, are also organized. In 2019, 475,806 people attended various big cultural events such as concerts and festivals, which gave the city the third place in Poland, behind Warsaw and Kraków. Nearby Chorzów, with the Stadion Śląski, Silesian Stadium right across the street from Katowice, gathered another 319,783 attendees.

Museums and art galleries

The Silesian Museum is the largest and most-important museum in Katowice. It originally opened in 1929, and its radically modern, Bauhaus-style new building was demolished immediately after the Nazis seized Katowice in 1939, considering it too degenerate and too Polish. The museum has been placed in temporary buildings with its collections dispersed until 2015, when a new, mostly underground building has been constructed in the Zone of Culture. The museum exhibits works by famous and renowned Polish artists like Józef Chełmoński, Artur Grottger, Tadeusz Makowski, Jacek Malczewski, Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański. It is also well known for its collection of naïve art paintings, including local coal miners from Katowice area. The museum has a number of sketches of globally recognizable artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt.

The City History Museum of Katowice exhibitions include: immersive typical urban apartments from early 20th century, naïve art paintings from local artists and the history of Katowice from a village to an industrial center. Other museums in Katowice include Museum of the History of Computers and Informatics and the Museum of Smallest Books in the World.

The BWA Contemporary Art Gallery in Katowice, established in 1949, is a notable institution concerning the Contemporary arts. Every three years, it is responsible for organizing the Polish Graphic Art Triennial. Several other galleries feature exhibitions of the works by artists from abroad along with film screenings, workshops for children and public fairs.

Media

:''TV stations:''
*TVP 3 Katowice
*TVS (Poland), TVS (TV Silesia)
*TVN24 – department Katowice (TVN24 – oddział Katowice)
:''radio stations:''
*Radio Katowice
*Antyradio
:''newspapers:''
*Dziennik Zachodni
* – Katowice section
*Fakt – Katowice section
*Metro International – Katowice
*Nowy Przegląd Katowicki

Festivals and events

* Rawa Blues Festiwal – Spodek
*Metalmania – Spodek
*Off Festival
*Mayday (music festival), Mayday – Spodek
*International Competition of Conductors by Fitelberg
*International Cycling Film Festival
*International Festival of Military Orchestras
*International Exhibition of Graphic arts "Intergrafia"
*Esports tournament ESL One Katowice 2015, ESL One Katowice Tournament in 2015.
*Esports tournament Intel Extreme Masters World Championship, one of the biggest esports events in the world
*Poland hosted the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP24), with the meeting held in Katowice.
*Wikimania, Wikimania 2024 was held at the International Congress Centre in Katowice, International Congress Centre August 7–10, 2024.

Parks and squares

:''parks:''
*Silesian Park (Wojewódzki Park Kultury i Wypoczynku)
*Kościuszko Park (Park im. Tadeusza Kościuszki)
*Forest Park of Katowice (Katowicki Park Leśny)
*Valley of Three Ponds (Dolina Trzech Stawów)
*Zadole Park

:''squares:''
* Katowice market square (Rynek w Katowicach)
*Freedom Square (Plac Wolności)
*Andrzej Square (Plac Andrzeja)
*Miarka Square (Plac Miarki)
*Council of Europe Square (Plac Rady Europy)
*Alfred Square (Plac Alfreda)
*A. Budniok Square (Plac A. Brudnioka)
*J. Londzin Square (Plac J. Londzina)
*A. Hlond Square (Plac A. Hlonda)

Nature reserves and ecological areas

*Nature reserve Las Murckowski
*Nature reserve Ochojec
*Szopienice-Borki
*Źródła Kłodnicy
*Staw Grunfeld
*Stawy Na Tysiącleciu
*Płone Bagno

Education and science

Katowice is a large scientific centre and has been designated as the European City of Science 2024 by EuroScience (ESOF). It has over 20 schools of higher education, at which over 100,000 people study.

* University of Silesia in Katowice
* University of Economics in Katowice
* Medical University of Silesia
* Silesian University of Technology
* University of Social Sciences and Humanities
* Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music
* Akademia Lospuma Training Institute
* Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Katowicach, Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice
* Academy of Physical Education im. Jerzy Kukuczka in Katowice
* Higher Silesian Seminary in Katowice
There are also:
*around 80 High school (upper secondary), high schools
*around 35 Gymnasium (school), gimnasia
*around 55 primary schools
*around 50 Library, libraries, including the Silesian Library

Transportation

Public transportation

The public Transport network, transportation system of the Katowice consists of commuter and long-distance trains, trams, buses and city bikes. Around 38 percent of people in Katowice use trams and buses on their daily commute (40 percent if counted those using the park-and-ride facilities), 10 percent walk, 4 percent cycle, and 2 percent takes the train, according to a 2020 report. There are also three park-and-ride centers in Katowice with over 1,000 parking spaces.

Tram and bus lines

The transit authority of the Metropolis GZM, Zarząd Transportu Metropolitalnego (ZTM), operates the city trams and buses.

The Silesian Interurbans, Silesian Interurban tram system is one of the largest and oldest in Europe, in operation since 1894 and covering over 200 km of rails, including 62 km in Katowice proper. The network in Katowice is mostly located in the northern part of the city has a star-like shape, with most lines converging on the Rynek square and expanding to all directions. There are 13 tram lines in Katowice, all but 2 expanding into neighboring cities. 116 tram stops are located in Katowice proper, as of 2020. A new tram line is planned to the southern suburbs since 2016.

In addition to trams, bus lines are organized by ZTM. There are currently 63 regular lines in Katowice (including night lines), and additional 10 express metropolitan lines, with 609 bus stops as of 2020. ZTM organizes a bus line to their airport as well, which runs every 30 minutes between 4am and 9:30pm and every hour at night.

Commuter trains

Koleje Śląskie (Silesian Railways), a regional railway authority, connects Katowice with its suburbs and other major cities in Silesian Voivodeship, Silesian and Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Lesser Poland voivodeships: Gliwice, Rybnik, Częstochowa, Bielsko-Biała, Kraków, and Oświęcim, among others. It operates 9 regular lines and 1 tourist weekend line (to Zakopane).

Polregio operates commuter trains from Katowice to cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Świętokrzyskie voivodeships: Trzebinia, Olkusz, and Kielce, among others.

Long-haul trains

Katowice is the main railway hub in southern Poland. Katowice's main railway station is the fifth-busiest train station in Poland as of 2019 (and third outside Warsaw), with 17.6 million passengers and growing 47 percent since 2015. 16% of the passengers travelled on PKP Intercity train, the main long-distance train operator in Poland.

Katowice has a direct High-speed rail in Poland, Express Intercity Premium (high-speed) connection to Warsaw through the Grodzisk Mazowiecki–Zawiercie railway, Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa, with a run time of 2 hours 21 minutes. PKP Intercity also offers direct standard connections to Kraków (under 1 hour), Wrocław, Kielce and Ostrava (under 2 hours), Warsaw, Rzeszów, Olomouc, and Łódź (under 3 hours), Poznań (under 4 hours), Brno, Vienna and Bratislava (under 5 hours), as well as Prague, Budapest, and Berlin.

Long-haul coach lines

Katowice has a modern international bus station located close to the city center. There are over 400 connections on a typical weekday, with the most-popular ones being domestic destinations in Poland and cities in Ukraine.

Cycling, walking and other

Cycling is becoming a more popular mode of transportation in Katowice. As of 2021, the city had of dedicated bicycle lanes, up from in 2015. Metrorower, The metropolitan bicycle system is operated by Nextbike and has 924 stations with over 7000 bicycles in Katowice and in surrounding cities. Rides under 30 minutes costs PLN 1, less than 1 hour costs PLN 2.50 and each additional hour becomes more expensive.

Bolt (company), Bolt and Blinkee operate commercial systems of scooter share. Traficar and Panek Car Share operate commercial carshare systems.

Freeways, roads and streets

Katowice has an extensive network of freeways, roads and streets, totaling over 1,120 km in length. The well-developed network supports over 200,000 cars registered in Katowice, and 49 percent of commuters that drive alone, a high share compared to other major cities in Poland. Several freeways in Katowice are among the busiest in Poland: Expressway S86 (Poland), expressway S86 between Sosnowiec and Katowice's city center and A4 autostrada (Poland), highway A4 between Murckowska and Mikołowska interchanges both see over 100,000 cars passing each day.

Katowice has a ring around its city center, consisting of highway A4, Murckowska freeway, Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa (a freeway-style road connecting downtowns of cities in the Katowice urban area) that partly goes in a tunnel underground and Bocheńskiego road. Many of the roads and freeways in Katowice expand radially from the city center and replaced old local roads.

Main roads

European route E40 passes through Katowice as A4 autostrada (Poland), highway A4. It enters the city from Chorzów and continues eastward, with three lanes in each direction on the main road and two to three lanes in parallel access roads. It meets Bocheńskiego road and continues towards Mikołowska interchange, which is one of the only Interchange (road), combination interchanges in Poland and the main exit towards the city center. After that interchange, the highway loses its access roads due to lack of space in the dense urban area and continues east with four lanes in each direction. Access roads appear again (only on the south side, though) after around 500 meters and there is an exit towards Francuska Street. After another 1.5 kilometer, access roads appear again on the north side, too, and there is a tight exit towards Pułaskiego Street. The highway then runs into Murckowska interchange, before exiting the city.

National roads in Poland#List of national roads, National road 79 (DK79) enters Katowice from Chorzów and separates the Silesian Park and Osiedle Tysiąclecia in Katowice. It then merges with Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa (DTŚ) at the junction with Bocheńskiego road and Złota Street. It continues with DTŚ through the Katowice city center and descents into a tunnel under the Rondo roundabout. It then emerges overground again, right before an interchange with DK86. The road continues eastward as a freeway with exits towards Zawodzie and Szopienice neighborhoods for several more kilometers, before entering Mysłowice and becoming a standard-access road.

National roads in Poland#List of national roads, National road 81 (DK81) enters Katowice from Mikołów and runs through the southern residential neighborhoods as an arterial road with two lanes in each direction, named Tadeusz Kościuszko, Kościuszki Street. In the Brynów neighborhood, Kościuszki Street continues towards Katowice's city center while NR 81 turns east, to run through the forest towards the interchange with DK86.

National roads in Poland#List of national roads, National road 86 (DK86) enters Katowice from Sosnowiec as expressway S86 up until Roździeńskiego interchange where it meets DK79 and loses its expressway status. It then continues south as Murckowska freeway east of the city center. It meets highway A4 and then passes by Giszowiec neighborhood and continues through the woods southward, with exits towards Murcki neighborhood (from which it gets its name) and Kostuchna. It bypasses Murcki from the east and continues south towards Tychy.

Tempo 30 Zone

In 2015, Katowice designated most of its city center as a zone, in an effort to curb traffic fatalities and crashes. Within 3 years of operation, the number of accidents dropped by 41 percent, including 37 percent drop in accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. The accidents are also less severe: there was a 55 percent drop in injured pedestrians and cyclists.

Airports

Located approximately north of the city center, Katowice Airport is the main airport serving Katowice. The airport is a focus city for LOT Polish Airlines, Ryanair and its subsidiary Buzz (airline), Buzz, Wizz Air, Smartwings Poland, Smartwings, and Enter Air. The busiest routes are: London, Dortmund, Antalya, Eindhoven, Warsaw and Frankfurt. Katowice is the largest leisure travel airport in Poland. Long-haul flights are operated from Katowice to Varadero in Cuba, Bangkok in Thailand, Cancún in Mexico, Malé in Maldives and to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata as well as Punta Cana in Dominican Republic. Katowice is also the second-largest cargo airport, after Warsaw Chopin. The airport is accessed through a metropolitan express bus line, running every 30 minutes between 4am and 9:30pm and every hour at night. A new train station at the airport is under construction, scheduled to be operational in 2023.

Katowice is also within an hour drive from Kraków John Paul II International Airport, Kraków Airport, which offers additional destinations and airlines such as Amsterdam (KLM), Paris (Air France), Helsinki (Finnair), Chicago and Newark, New Jersey, Newark (LOT Polish Airlines), Copenhagen and Stockholm (Scandinavian Airlines, SAS) and Zürich, Zurich (Swiss International Air Lines, Swiss). The airport can be accessed through scheduled buses leaving from Katowice bus station every 30–60 minutes.

Sports

Katowice has a long sporting tradition and hosted the final of EuroBasket 2009 and 1975 European Athletics Indoor Championships, 1975 European Amateur Boxing Championships, 1976 World Ice Hockey Championships, 1957, 1985 European Weightlifting Championships, 1974, 1982 FILA Wrestling World Championships, World Wrestling Championships, 1991 World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships, 2011 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships, 2014 FIVB Men's World Championship and others.

The Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Stadion Śląski is between Chorzów and Katowice. It was a national stadium of Poland, with more than 50 international matches of the Poland national football team played here and around 30 matches in UEFA competitions. There were also a Speedway World Championship, Speedway Grand Prix of Europe and many concerts featuring international stars.

Tourists can relax playing tennis or squash, doing Watersport, water sports also sailing (for example—in :pl:Dolina Trzech Stawów, Dolina Trzech Stawów), horse-riding (in :pl:Wesoła Fala, Wesoła Fala and Silesian Park), cycling or going to one of numerous excellently equipped fitness clubs. Near the city centre are sporting facilities like swimming pools (for example "Bugla", "Rolna") and in neighbourhood—Golf courses (in Siemianowice Śląskie).

Sports clubs

*GKS Katowice – men's Football in Poland, football, ice hockey, volleyball, Women's association football, women's football Sports club, club (Ekstraklasa, Polish Football League Runners-Up (4): 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994 Polish Cup Winners (3): 1986, 1991, 1993; Polish SuperCup, Polish Super Cup Winners (2): 1991, 1995; Polska Hokej Liga, Polish Ice Hockey League Champions (8): 1958, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1970, 2022, 2023; Ekstraliga (women's football), Polish Women's Football League Winners (1): 2023, Runners-Up (1): 2024, Polish Cup (women's football), Polish Women’s Cup Winners (1): 2024.
*1. FC Katowice - men’s and women’s football club
*AZS AWF Katowice – various sports, women's Handball in Poland, handball team playing in Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League, Polish Women's Handball Superleague, men's basketball team playing in the second league, fencing section – many medals in the Polish Championship
*Naprzód Janów Katowice – hockey club playing in Polish Hockey Superleague, vice-champion of Poland (5x): 1971, 1973, 1977, 1989, 1992; bronze medal (7x): 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987; Polish Cup (1x): 1970.
*AZS US Katowice – various sports, many medals in the Polish Championship in various sports
*HKS Szopienice – various sports, many medals in the Polish and Europe and World Championship in Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting
*Silesia Miners – American football club playing in Polish American Football League, Polish champion in 2009, vice-champion in 2007
*Jango Katowice – futsal club playing in Polish Futsal Superleague; Polish Cup (1x): 2007; bronze medal Polish Championship (2x): 2001, 2007
*Rozwój Katowice – football club playing in Polish Third League
*MK Katowice – football club playing in Polish Fourth League
*Hetman Szopienice – chess club, many medals in the Polish Championship
*Sparta Katowice – various sports, many medals in the Polish Championship in various sports
*Policyjny Klub Sportowy Katowice – various sports, many medals in the Polish Championship in various sports
*AWF Mickiewicz Katowice – basketball club
*Silesian Flying club (Aeroklub Śląski)

Defunct sports clubs:
*Diana Kattowitz – football club
*1. FC Kattowitz – football club, vice-champion of Poland: 1927; champion of Upper Silesia: 1907, 1908, 1909, 1913, 1922, 1932, 1945
*Germania Kattowitz – football club
*KS Baildon Katowice – various sports, many medals in the Polish Championship in various sports
*Pogoń Katowice – various sports, many medals in the Polish Championship in various sports

Sports events

*1975 European Athletics Indoor Championships
*1976 World Ice Hockey Championships
*FIVB World League 2001
*FIVB World League 2007
*Eurobasket 2009
*Tour de Pologne 2010
*BNP Paribas Katowice Open
*EMS One Katowice 2014 (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, CS:GO Major Championship)
*Intel Extreme Masters Season IX – World Championship, IEM World Championship Katowice 2015
*ESL One Katowice 2015 (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, CS:GO Major Championship)
*Intel Extreme Masters Season X – World Championship, IEM World Championship Katowice 2016
*IEM Katowice CS:GO Championship 2017, IEM World Championship Katowice 2017
*Overwatch World Cup 2017 Qualifier
*Intel Extreme Masters Season XII – World Championship, IEM World Championship Katowice 2018
*Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – World Championship, IEM World Championship Katowice 2019 (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, CS:GO Major Championship)
*ESL One Katowice 2019
*BWF World Senior Badminton Championships 2019
*IEM Katowice 2020
*IEM Katowice 2021
*Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI – Katowice
*Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023

Notable people

*Hans Sachs (serologist), Hans Sachs (1877–1945), serologist
*Kurt Goldstein (1878–1965), neurologist
*Erich Przywara (1889–1972), priest
*Hans Mikosch (1898–1993), general
*Hans Källner (1898–1945), general
*Franz Leopold Neumann (1900–1954), politician
*Willy Fritsch (1901–1973), actor
*Hans Bellmer (1902–1975), surrealist photographer
*Hans-Christoph Seebohm (1903–1967), politician
*Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906–1972), physicist, Nobel Prize winner
*Gwendoline Jarczyk (1927–2021), philosopher and historian
*Kurt Schwaen (1909–2007), composer
*Rudolf Schnackenburg (1914–2002), priest
*Georg Thomalla (1915–1999), actor
*Ernst Wilimowski (1916–1997), football player
*Ernst Plener (1919–2007), football player
*Anneli Cahn Lax (1922–1999), mathematician
*Richard Herrmann (1923–1962), football player
*Chaskel Besser (1923–2010), Rabbi, Orthodox rabbi
*Kazimierz Kutz (1929–2018), film director and politician
*Waldemar Świerzy (1931–2013), artist, illustrator and cartoonist
*Wojciech Kilar (1932–2013), classical and Film score, film music composer
*Henryk Górecki (1933–2010), List of classical music composers, classical composer
*Władysław Masłowski (1933–1986), journalist and press researcher
*Janusz Sidło (1933–1993), javelin thrower
*Josef Kompalla (born 1936), ice hockey player and referee
*Henryk Broder (born 1946), journalist
*Krzysztof Krawczyk (1946–2021), singer, guitarist and composer
*Jerzy Kukuczka (1948–1989), alpine and high altitude climber
*Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska (born 1963), politician
*Elżbieta Bieńkowska (born 1964), politician
*Robert Konieczny (born 1969), architect
*Anna Kańtoch (born 1976), writer
*Alicja Kwade (born 1979), contemporary visual artist
*Jan P. Matuszyński (born 1984), film director
*Grzegorz Kosok (born 1986), volleyball player
*Zuzanna Bijoch (born 1994), fashion model
*Mateusz Musiałowski (born 2003), footballer

International relations

Consulates

There are 15 honorary consulates in Katowice, of Austria, Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Chile, France, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Peru, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Twin towns – sister cities

Katowice is Sister city, twinned with:

* Cologne, Germany
* Groningen, Netherlands
* Košice, Slovakia
* Lviv, Ukraine
* Miskolc, Hungary
* Mobile, Alabama, Mobile, United States
* Opava, Czech Republic
* Ostrava, Czech Republic
* Pula, Croatia
* Saint-Étienne, France
* Shenyang, China

See also

* List of mayors of Katowice
* List of tallest buildings in Katowice
* Wojciech Korfanty Avenue, Katowice, Wojciech Korfanty Avenue

Notes

References

External links

The Municipal Council of the City of Katowice

Katowice Portal in English

{{Authority control

Katowice,
Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship
Cities in Silesia
City counties of Poland
Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland
Holocaust locations in Poland