POLSKA	POLAND
województwo: Śląskie	voivodship: Silesia
miasto na prawach powiatu: Katowice	city: Katowice

map →

Katowice is situated at an elevation of 266 m in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers (tributaries of the Oder and the Vistula respectively). Katowice has been the capital of the Silesian Voivodship since its formation in 1999. Previously, it was the capital of the Katowice Voivodship (1975–1998), before then of the Silesian Voivodship (1920–1935). Presently, Katowice has a population of about 306,800 (2010).

The area around Katowice in Upper Silesia has been inhabited by ethnic Silesians from its earliest documented history. It was first ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty (until its extinction). From 1335, it was a part of the Crown of Bohemia. In 1526 the territory passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy after the death of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. In 1742, with the Treaty of Breslau (Wrocław) and the Treaty of Berlin which ended the First Silesian War (1740–1742), most of Silesia was annexed from Austria by the Kingdom of Prussia. Katowice gained city status in 1865 as Kattowitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. The city flourished due to large mineral (especially coal) deposits in the nearby mountains and due to its location on the Upper Silesian Railroad from Breslau (Wrocław) via Kosel (Koźle) to Myslowitz (Mysłowice), built between 1841 and 1847. Extensive city growth and prosperity depended on the coal mining and steel industries, which took off during the Industrial Revolution. Kattowitz was inhabited mainly by Germans, Silesians, Jews and Poles. Previously part of the district Beuthen (today Bytom), in 1873 it became the capital of the new Kattowitz district. On 1 April 1899, the city of Kattowitz was separated from the district, becoming an independent city. According to the Treaty of Versailles after World War I the Upper Silesia plebiscite was organised by the League of Nations. Though in the city of Katowice the plebiscite resulted 22,774 votes to remain in Germany and 3,900 votes for Poland, it was however attached to Poland as the district in which it was located the overall (combined with rural areas near the city and castle area) they were 66,119 votes for Poland and 52,992 for Germany. Following the Silesian Uprisings (1918–1921) Katowice became part of the Second Polish Republic with a certain level of autonomy. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945 and during this period, in 1941, became the capital of the Gau Oberschlesien (Upper Silesia). In 1953 the city was renamed Stalinogród ("Stalin City") by the Polish communist government to honor the passing of Josef Stalin, the Soviet dictator (see also Orașul Stalin/Brașov in Romania). However, the new name was never accepted by the city's population and in 1956 the former Polish name of Katowice was restored.

Glass no. 2735 [left] shows a view of the street, August-Schneider-Straße, named for Katowice's fourth mayor, August Schneider (1851–1929, mayor 1890–1905). Before that, the name of the street had been Uferstraße ('Embankment Street'). Today, the street is named ul. Mickiewicza, named for the Polish national poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855).

The Great Synagogue [centre] was built in 1900 and replaced the older synagogue of 1862. The Great Synagogue was one of the largest in Upper Silesia with a capacity of 1184 (the old synagogue only had a capacity of 320). The construction began in 1896, and the architect in charge was Max Grünfeld, son of Ignatz Grünfeld who had designed the old synagogue. The brick synagogue was designed on the basis of a modified rectangle in style mixing neogothic with neorenaissance, eclecticism and the mauretian style. In 1901 the newly build synagogue hosted the World Zionist Congress. The synagogue was set on fire by Nazis on 4 September 1939, soon after they gained control of the city after the invasion of Poland (1939). After the war the few Jews who survived the Holocaust were unable to gather enough resources and support to rebuild the synagogue. Today in the place where this building once stood is a square (Plac Synagogi, Synagogue Square). In the 1988 a monument was raised in the square, dedicated to the Jewish inhabitants of the city who perished during the Second World War.

The building visible just behind the synagogue is the Municipal School (Städtsches Gymnasium), also built in 1900 in similar architectonic style.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katowice, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katowice, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Schneider, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Große_Synagoge_in_Kattowitz, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Synagogue_(Katowice), http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synagoga_Wielka_w_Katowicach]