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Gliwice

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Template:Infobox Poland Gliwice (pronounce: [gli'viʦε]; German: Gleiwitz), is an industrial city in southern Poland with 200,361 inhabitants (2004) over the Kłodnica River, about 20 km to the west from Katowice. While it was situated in the Katowice Voivodeship from 1975-1998, Gliwice has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999.

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 in 1526.

Early Modern Age

Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg Monarchy during their 16th century wars against the Ottoman Empire, Gliwice 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 Silesian Wars fought from 1740- 1746 and then again from 1757-1763, 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 Tost-Gleiwitz Landkreis ("district") in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the German Empire in 1871. 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 latter 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

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 boiilerworks. 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 Upper Silesian town Gleiwitz under its polish name Gliwice not into Germany, but into the resurrected Polish state. 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 Gleiwitz should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for staying in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The vote in Gliwice may have been rigged [citation needed] though, as the total voter turnout was probably [citation needed] fraudulently listed as 97.0%.[citation needed] The League of Nations determined, that three Silesian towns: Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Zabrze and Beuthen/Bytom will remain in Germany, and the rest of Upper Silesia with its main town of Katowice (Kattowitz) will join the newly founded 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. Following World War II, Silesia has been reunited. Gliwice became a part of Poland and thus part of the Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship in 1945. The ethnic German population was expatriated to Germany as stated by the Potsdam Conference.

Education

Gliwice is a hometown of

Sports

Piast Gliwice, Polish football club
Piast Gliwice, Polish football club

Famous people

Politics

Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency

Gliwice
Gliwice

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

  • Chojnacki Jan, SLD-UP
  • Dulias Stanisław, Samoobrona
  • Gałażewski Andrzej, PO
  • Janik Ewa, SLD-UP
  • Kubica Józef, SLD-UP
  • Martyniuk Wacław, SLD-UP
  • Okoński Wiesław, SLD-UP
  • Szarama Wojciech, PiS
  • Szumilas Krystyna, PO
  • Widuch Marek, SLD-UP

Municipal politics

President of city (Mayor) - Zygmunt Frankiewicz

Buildings

  • The Gliwice Radio Tower of Radiostacja Gliwicka ("Radio Station Gliwice") in Szobiszowice is the only remaining radio tower of wood construction in the world, and with a height of 118 metres, is perhaps the tallest remaining construction made out of wood in the world.
  • Gliwice Trynek narrow-gauge station is a protected monument. The narrow-gauge line to Raciborz via Rudy closed in 1991 although a short section still remains as a museum line.

Sister cities

Gliwice is twinned with the following cities:

Literature

  • Boleslaw Domanski (2000) "The Impact of Spatial and Social Qualities on the Reproduction of Local Economic Success: The Case of the Path Dependent Development of Gliwice", in: Prace Geograficne, zesyt 106, Cracow, pp 35-54.
  • B. Nietsche, Geschichte der Stadt Gleiwitz (1886)
  • Seidel, Die königliche Eisengiesserei zu Gleiwitz (Berlin, 1896)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gliwice.

Template:Metropolia Katowice

Template:Silesia

50°17′N 18°40′E / 50.283°N 18.667°E / 50.283; 18.667

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