Nowy Bytom () 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 ...

serving as administrative centre 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 ...

. 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 was split off to form a new district, Czarny Las.

History

Until the early 19th century the area was covered by ''

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one ...

's Black Forest'' (German: ''Beuthener Schwarzwald'', Polish: ''Czarny Las''), which was first mentioned in 1369. In the course of the 19th-century industrial development steel mills and coal mines had been established on its territory, among them ''Friedenshütte'' (Polish: Frydenshuta), after which a wider area took name. Administratively it formed an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of Bytom up to 1921. 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 ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

and gained status of an independent municipality (

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

) named ''Nowy Bytom'' (lit. ''New Bytom'') in place of colloquial Polish ''Frydenshuta'' (after the local steel mill) and temporarily ''Polski Bytom'' (lit. ''Polish Bytom''). In 1929 Zgoda was split off to be joined with

Świętochłowice Świętochłowice (; ; ) is a city with powiat rights in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is also one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM, with a population of 2 million, and is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

. Nowy Bytom was 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 ...

. After the war it was restored to Poland. In 1947 it gained town rights. In 1951 it absorbed

Wirek Wirek () is a dzielnica, district in the centre of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. In 2006 it had an area of 5.9 km2 and was inhabited by 20,595 people. On January 12, 2006 a part of it was split off to form a new distric ...

. On December 31, 1958 it was amalgamated with Ruda to form contemporary Ruda Śląska.

Famous people

Nowy Bytom is the place of birth for the Polish football legend

Lucjan Brychczy Lucjan Antoni Brychczy (nicknamed Kici; 13 June 1934 – 2 December 2024) was a Polish footballer who played as a striker. Born in New Bytom, Upper Silesia, where after starting at local lower league clubs, he played for nearby the then third ...

Gallery

File:Nowy Bytom Niedurnego street.jpg, Niedurnego Street File:Familoki222.JPG,

Familok Familok is a type of multi-family house, originally designed for workers of industries and their families, mainly coal miners. It was built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, in the cities and towns of Silesia. ...

References

Districts of Ruda Śląska {{Silesian-geo-stub