Chorzów
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Chorzów is a separate city county since 1898, with the exception of 1975-1998 when the counties were abolished in Poland. Since 1999 Chorzów is part of Silesian Voivodship, previously of Katowice Voivodship.
City name
Chorzów: The early documents show the name as Charzew 1257, Charzow 1292, Charzuff1533. This means that the early name was Charzew/Charzów with a, and later in regional dialects it was modified to the modern pronunciation with o: Chorzów, probably because of similarity to the word like chory=ill. The early name comes from the personal name Charz, short of Zacharz, Zachariasz=Zacharias=Zachary and means Zachary's place. As this is the oldest part of the city today the neighbourhood is called Chorzów III or Chorzów Stary = the Old Chorzów.
Królewska Huta: The industrial and residential settlement south-west of Chorzów constructed since 1797 around the King Coal Mine and King Iron Works, was named Królewska Huta by the Poles or Königshütte by the Germans, both names meaning Royal Iron Works after the company name. As it was growing quickly this settlement was granted city status in 1868: Miasto Królewska Huta. When the settlements were integtared in 1934 only the oldest name of Chorzów was retained for the whole city. Today this neignhborhood is called Chorzów I or Chorzów-Miasto meaning Chorzów-City Centre.
Hajduki Wielkie, Nowe Hajduki: Haiduks were the Hungarian foot soldiers in the 16th century Polish army, but also the servants in the haushold of a nobleman. The settlemens was named after such servant inhabitants, Hajduki Wielkie means Great Haiduks and Nowe Hajduki means New Haiduks. The two settlements were integrated into the Chorzów City in 1939 and 1934 respectively. Today the neigbourhood is called Chorzów IV or Chorzów-Batory named after the main industrial company: Huta Batory = Bathory Iron Works
Education
- Górnośląska Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości im. Karola Goduli;
- Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa w Poznaniu;, Wydział Zamiejscowy w Chorzowie
Economy
Chorzów is one of the most important cities in the biggest Polish economic area: the Upper Silesian Industrial Basin (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy), with 3 coal mines, 2 iron works, factory of steel constructions, tramway and railway wagons, nitrogen and chemical works and a couple of other industrial sectiors.
Major companies are:
- Huta Batory - Bathory Iron Works
- Huta Kościuszko SA; - Kosciuszko Iron Works
- Zadłady Chemiczne Hajduki SA; - Hajduki Chemical Works
- Zakłady Azotowe SA; - Nitrogen Works
- CHWKS Konstal - Steel constructions
- KWK Polska Wirek, rejon Prezydent - President Coal Mine
Voivodship Park of Culture and Recreation
The eastern part of Chorzów, on the boudary with Katowice, features the Voivodship Park of Culture and recreation (Wojewódzki Park Kultury i Wypoczynku) with the
- Silesian Stadium (Stadion Śląski) the biggest sporting stadiumin Poland,
- Amusement grounds (lunapark) with cable line railway
- Nicolaus Copernicus Planetary and Astronomical Obserwatory (Planetarium i Obserwatorium Astronomiczne im. Mikołaja Kopernika),
- Upper Silesian Ethnigraphic Park (Górnosląski Park Etnograficzny) with a skasen museum,
- International Katowice Fairs (Międzynarodowe Targi Katowickie)
- Chorzów Muzeum (Muzeum w Chorzowie) with collection in ethnography, history, numismatics and arts.
Sports
- Ruch Chorzów - football team (Polish Cup winner 1951, 1974, 1996)
- Alba Echo Chorzów - men's basketball team, playing in 1st league
- SCS Sokół Chorzów; - women's voleyball team, playing in Seria B (6th place in 2003/2004)
- Clearex Chorzów - 5-player football team, Polish Cup winner, 2nd in 1st league 2003/2004
Municipal politics
City President (mayor): Marek Kopel City Council Chairman: Henryk Wieczorek
History
Village of Chorzów
The castellany of Bytom, with Chorzów area, initially belonged to the province of Cracow or Little Poland and was in 1179 awarded by the duke Casimir the Just to the duke of Opole and since that time history of Chorzów is connected to the history of Upper Silesia (Duchy of Opole).
The oldest part of the city: the village of Chorzów, today called Chorzów Stary=Old Chorzów, belonged since 1257 to the Order of the Christ's Grave Guards (Zakon Stróżów Grobu Chrystysowego, Bożogrobowcy or Miechowici) in Miechów, a small town north of Cracow. Already at this time ores of silver and lead were mined near the settlement, later also the ores of iron. The minig was started probably in the 12th century, there are more documents for the 16th century developments.
Since 1327 the Upper Silesian duchies ruled by the dukes of the Piast dynasty were subject to Bohemian overlodship, Bohemia itself belonging to the Polish Jagiellons since 1490 and to the Austrian Habsburgs since 1526. In 1742 the area was conquered by the Prussian Hohenzollerns.
Royal Iron Works and Coal Mines
With the discovery of rich coal deposits in the end of the 18th century new industrial sectors devoloped in Chorzów area. In years 1791-1797 the state-owned Royal Coal Mine was constructed (Kopalnia Król, Königsgrube, later called Huta Prezydent, Huta Piłsudski and Huta Kościuszko) and in 1802 the Royal Iron Works were opened (Królewska Huta, Königshütte) with the staff of 150 workes. In 1819 the iron works consisted of 4 big furnaces, producing 1,400 tons of pig-iron. In the 1800s a new and modern Lidognia Zinc Works were constructed in the area. In 1871 the iron works were taken over by the holding called Vereingte Königs- und Laurahütte Aktien-Geselschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb, which further extended the corporation with a steel mill, rail mill and workshops. In the vicinity of the Royal Coal Mine, Countess Laura Coal Mine was opened in 1870, and till 1913-1914 the coal production was increased to 1 million tons a year.
Królewska Huta: from village to city
Next to the coal and iron works new laborer's settlements developed, called since 1797 after the iron works: Królewska Huta. In 1846 Królewska Huta received a railway track to Świetochłowice; and Mysłowice;, in 1857 to Bytom and till 1872 to all importat town in the Silesian region. Królewska Huta received city status in 1868 as part of the Bytom County, and in 1898 it was made a separate city-county.
Population of Królewska huta was increasing quickly: from 19,500 inhabitants in 1870 to 72,600 in 1910. Among them 17,300 workers were emplyed in the industry sector (similar number for 1939). The miners and workers were chiefly of Polish origin, the upper classes were German speakers.
Hajduki Wielkie suburb
In the village of Hajduki Wielkie, south of Chorzów and Królewska Huta, Bismarck Iron Works (Bismarckütte), were opened in 1872, later called Bathory Iron Works (Huta Batory), which products were exported to Brazil, Argentina, Africa and China. A coal tar and benzol destillery was erected in 1889, the first such chemical plant in Polish lands. Today the company is called: Zakłady Koskochemiczne Hajduki SA. Electric plant was started in 1898 and till the 1930s it was the biggest electricity producer in Poland with power of 100MW.
Rebirth of Polish nation
Chorzów was the center of the Polish national revival, ethnic conflicts were mixed with the religious and class conflicts. Karol Miarka was the editor of Polish books and newspapers including Katolik (The Catholic) published in Królewska Huta since 1868, Poradnik Gospodarski since 1879. He was also the founder of several organizations: Upper Silesian Union, Upper Silesian Peasants Union. Juliusz Ligoń was the Polish activist and poet.
Chorzów City: back in Poland
After the World War I (1914-1918), Poland regained her independence in 1918. As a result of significant participation in the Silesian uprisings in 1919-1921, Chorzów and Królewska Huta area were returned to Poland in 1922. In 1934 separate industrial communities of Chorzów, Królewska Huta and Nowe Hajduki were merged into one municipality with 81,000 inhabitants. The name of the oldest settlement Chorzów was given to the whole city. In April 1939 the settlement of Hajduki Wielkie with 30,000 inhabitants were included in the Chorzów City.
As a result of the German-Polish trade war in the 1920s, heavy industries of Chorzów, a border town suffered a stagnation period till 1933, because of the lost markets and post-war reconstruction period. In 1927 a division of Huta Piłsudski; was separated into a factory od rail cars and steel bridges, what gave birth to the Chorzów Factory of Stell Constructions Konstal (Chorzówska Fabryka Konstrukcji Stalowych Konstal). State Factory of Nitrogen Compounds (Państwowa Fabryka Związków Azotowych) was in 1933 merged with a similar company in Tarnów-Mościce;.
German occupation during WWII (1939-1945)
With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Chorzów was occupied by the Nazi Germany. Polish irregulars, mainly Silesian uprising veterans and scouts, put resistance to the regular German forces for 3 days, most of them were murdered in the mass executions. Polish property was confiscated, and the Chorzów industry was put to the Nazi Gemany war effort. There were several enforced labor camps in Chorzów and in years 1944-1945 two branches of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Chorzów was liberated in 1945
After 1945
Chorzów was a separate city county Katowice Voivodship, with the exception of 1975-1998 when the counties were abolished in Poland. Since 1999 Chorzów is part of Silesian Voivodship.
Historical population
Królewska Huta City
Chorzów City- 1934: 81,000 inhabitants
- 1939: 111,000 inhabitants
- 1960: 146,600 inhabitants
- 1970: 151,900 inhabitants
- 1975: 156,300 inhabitants
- 1980: 150,100 inhabitants
- 1990: 131,900 inhabitants
- 1995: 125,800 inhabitants
- 1998: 123,000 inhabitants
- 2002: 117,430 inhabitants
Further reading
- J.Janas, Historia Kopalni Król w Chorzowie 1871-1945, Katowice 1962
- A.Stasiak, Miasto Królewska Huta. Zarys rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego i przestrzennego w latach 1869-1914, Warszawa 1962
- J.Surowiński, 75 lat Zakładów Koksochemicznych Hajduki 1888-1963, Warszawa 1963
- L. Pakuła, Chorzów, [in:] Encyklopedia Historii Gospodarczej Polski do 1945, Warszawa 1981
- Chorzów, [in:] J.Bochiński, J.Zawadzki, Polska. Nowy podział terytorialny, przewodnik encyklopedayczny, Warszawa 1999
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