Gliwice

Gliwice
Main Square and City Hall
Main Square and City Hall
Flag of Gliwice
Flag		 Coat of arms of Gliwice
Coat of arms
Gliwice (Poland)
Gliwice
Gliwice
Coordinates:
Country Flag of Poland.svg Poland
Voivodeship Silesian
County city county
Established 13th century
Town rights 1250
Government
 - Mayor Zygmunt Frankiewicz
Area
 - City 134.20 km² (51.8 sq mi)
Highest elevation 278 m (912 ft)
Lowest elevation 200 m (656 ft)
Population (2006)
 - City 199,099
 - Density 1,483.6/km² (3,842.5/sq mi)
 - Metro 3,487,000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 44-100 to 44-164
Area code(s) +48 32
Car plates SG
Website: http://www.um.gliwice.pl/

Gliwice [glʲiˈvʲit​͡sɛ] (Ltspkr.png listen) (German: Gleiwitz) is an industrial city in southern Poland with 200,361 inhabitants (2004) on the Kłodnica River, about 20 km to the west from Katowice.

Gliwice is one of the main centers of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, the largest legally-recognized urban entity in Poland, with the population of the greater metropolitan area of 3,487,000.

Gliwice has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was in Katowice Voivodeship.

Contents

History

Late Middle Ages

Gliwice was first mentioned as a town in 1276 and was ruled during the Middle Ages by the Silesian Piast dukes. It became a possession of the Bohemia crown in 1335, passing with that crown to the Austrian Habsburgs as Gleiwitz in 1526.

Early Modern Age

Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg Monarchy during their 16 century wars against the Ottoman Empire, Gleiwitz was leased to Friedrich Zettritz for the meager amount of 14,000 thalers. Although the original lease was for a duration of 18 years, it was renewed in 1580 for 10 years and in 1589 for an additional 18 years.

During the mid 18th century Silesian Wars, Gliwice was taken from Austria by the Kingdom of Prussia along with the majority of Silesia. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Gleiwitz was administered in the Prussian district of Tost-Gleiwitz within the Province of Silesia in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. In 1897 Gleiwitz became its own Stadtkreis, or urban district.

Industrialization

Gleiwitz began to develop into a major city through industrialization during the 19th century. The town's ironworks fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area. During the late 19th century Gleiwitz had:

Other features of the 19th century industrialized Gleiwitz were a gasworks, a furnace factory, a beer bottling company, and a plant for asphalt and paste. Economically, Gleiwitz opened several banks, Savings and loan associations, and bond centers. Its tram system was completed in 1892, while its theater was opened in 1899; until World War II, Gleiwitz' theatre featured actors from through Europe and was one of the most famous theatres of entire Germany. The city's population in 1875 was 14,156.

20th century

Main street - Zwycięstwa

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911 it had two Protestant and four Roman Catholic churches, a synagogue, a mining school, a convent, a hospital, two orphanages, and a barracks. Gleiwitz was the center of the mining industry of Upper Silesia. It possessed a royal foundry, with which were connected machine manufactories and boilerworks. Other industrialized areas of the city had other foundries, meal mills, and manufactories producing wire, gas pipes, cement, and paper.

After the end of World War I, clashes between Poles and Germans occurred during the Silesian Uprisings. Ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city not into Germany, but into the Second Polish Republic. The differences between Germans and Poles led to three subsequent Polish uprisings, and German resistance against them. Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on March 20 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout was listed as 97.0%. The League of Nations determined that three Silesian towns: Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Hindenburg/Zabrze and Beuthen/Bytom would remain in Germany, and the rest of Upper Silesia with its main town of Katowice (Kattowitz) would join restored Poland.

An attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on August 31, 1939, staged by the German secret police, served as a pretext for Nazi Germany to invade Poland, which was the beginning of World War II. The city was placed under Polish administration according to the 1945 Potsdam Conference and thus part of the Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship. The German population was expatriated to Germany as stated by the Potsdam Conference and replaced with Poles.

Gliwice - Wszystkich Świętych Church.
Castle in Gliwice.

Higher education and science

Gliwice is a major applied science hub for the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. Gliwice is a seat of:

Sports

Famous people

Radio station Gliwice wooden tower

Politics

Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency

Gliwice

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency

Municipal politics

President of city (Mayor) - Zygmunt Frankiewicz

Buildings

Twin towns - Sister cities

Gliwice is twinned with the following cities:

Literature

External links

Counties of Silesian Voivodeship
City counties
Katowice (capital) • Bielsko-Biała • Bytom • Chorzów • Częstochowa • Dąbrowa Górnicza • Gliwice • Jastrzębie-Zdrój • Jaworzno • Mysłowice • Piekary Śląskie • Ruda Śląska • Rybnik • Siemianowice Śląskie • Sosnowiec • Świętochłowice • Tychy • Zabrze • Żory
 Coat of arms of Silesian Voivodeship
Land counties
Będzin • Bielsko • Bieruń-Lędziny • Cieszyn • Częstochowa • Gliwice • Kłobuck • Lubliniec • Mikołów • Myszków • Pszczyna • Racibórz • Rybnik • Tarnowskie Góry • Wodzisław • Zawiercie • Żywiec
Gliwice County

Urban gminas: Knurów • Pyskowice

Urban-rural gminas: Gmina Sośnicowice • Gmina Toszek  Rural gminas: Gmina Gierałtowice • Gmina Pilchowice • Gmina Rudziniec • Gmina Wielowieś

Seat (not part of the county): Gliwice

 POL powiat gliwicki COA.svg