Piekary Slaskie
Encyclopedia
Piekary Śląskie p is a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

 in southern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, near Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

. The north district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union
Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union
The Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia or Upper Silesia Metroplex, Silesia Metroplex / Silesia Metroplex is a union of 14 adjacent cities in the Polish province of Silesia....

 - metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesian Highlands
Silesian Highlands
Silesian Highlands are highlands located in Silesia and Lesser Poland, Poland. It is the part of Lesser Poland Highlands Its highest point is the Mountain of St. Anne .-See also:...

, on the Brynica
Brynica
Brynica is a river in Silesia and Lesser Poland , Poland. It has a length of 55 km and is the main confluence of Czarna Przemsza. It has a source in Wymysłów, and flows through Piekary Śląskie, Wojkowice, Czeladź, Siemianowice Śląskie, Świerklaniec, Katowice, Sosnowiec and finally Mysłowice...

 river (tributary of the Vistula).

It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centering on the historic region known as Upper Silesia...

 since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship
Katowice Voivodeship
Katowice Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Silesian Voivodeship...

, and before then, of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
The Silesian Voivodeship was an autonomous province of the interwar Second Polish Republic. It consisted of territory which came into Polish possession as a result of the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, the Geneva Conventions, three Upper Silesian Uprisings, and the eventual partition of Upper...

. Piekary Śląskie is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area
Katowice urban area
The Katowice urban area, also known as the Upper Silesian urban area, is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland. It is located in the Silesian Voivodeship and in a small part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The Katowice urban area is the largest urban area in Poland and one of the largest...

 and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area
Silesian metropolitan area
The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is the metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeast Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia...

 populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 59,061 (2008).

Piekary is a spiritual center of Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

, a Marian shrine which is a pilgrimage site for thousands of the faithful, and a mining town. It was the stage for patriotic Polish demonstrations and one of the centers of Silesian Uprisings
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...

 and in 1922 was ceded to the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

 by Germany
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

 as 86 % of the population voted for joining the re-established Polish state.

History

The town Piekary Śląskie was created in 1934 by joining the communes of Szarlej and Wielkie Piekary. In 1975 the administrative reform led to joining the nearby towns: Dąbrówka Wielka, Brzeziny Śląskie, Brzozowice, Kamień and Kozłowa Góra.

Between 1303 and 1318, the first church and independent parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 were created there. In the 15th century zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 and lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 mining industry developed and the process of settlement evolution begun.

In the 12th and 14th centuries, the Germanised
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...

 Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

n duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

s governed the town, but a short visit of the King Jan III Sobieski rushing to relief Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

 in 1683 cause that memory about the Polish origin livened among them. The next years brought several peasant revolts against the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 magnates. In 1697, Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....

 visited Piekary. He converted himself into Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 in the local church and at the same time he sworn the pacta conventa
Pacta conventa (Poland)
Pacta conventa was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" and a newly-elected king upon his "free election" to the throne.The pacta conventa affirmed the king-elect's pledge to respect the laws of the...

.

In the 18th, colonisation
Colonisation
Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...

 and Germanisation of Piekary Śląskie was increased. The result was a strong movement towards maintaining the Polish origins of the land. In 1842, Piekary's rector, priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 Alojzy Ficek, commissioned a new neo-romanesque basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 designed by Daniel Grötschel. A painting of the Virgin Mary was placed there.

Districts

  • 1 Kozłowa Góra
  • 2 Piekary-Centrum
  • 3 Szarlej 
  • 4 Brzozowice
  • 5 Kamień
    Kamien
    Kamień is the Polish word for stone. It appears in several Polish toponyms, and was a past Polish unit of measurement.Places in Poland called Kamień include:* Kamień Pomorski, a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , seat of Kamień County...

  • 6 Brzeziny Śląskie
  • 7 Dąbrówka Wielka
    Dabrówka Wielka
    Dąbrówka Wielka may refer to the following places:*Dąbrówka Wielka, Łódź Voivodeship *Dąbrówka Wielka, Pomeranian Voivodeship *Dąbrówka Wielka, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...


People

  • Hans Kroll
    Hans Kroll
    Hans Kroll was a German career diplomat and after World War II ambassador in Belgrade, Tokyo and Moscow where he played a prominent role between 1958 to 1962.Kroll entered Weimar German diplomatic services...

  • Karol Langner
    Karol Langner
    Karol Langner was a Polish priest and schoolmate of Jan Pitass...

  • Wilhelm Antoni Góra
    Wilhelm Góra
    Wilhelm Antoni Góra was a Polish midfield soccer player.His career started in...

  • Hans Marchwitza
    Hans Marchwitza
    Hans Marchwitza was a German writer, proletarian poet, and communist.- Life :Marchwitza was the son of miner Thomas Marchwitza and his wife Thekla Maxisch, and was born in Scharley near Beuthen in Upper Silesia. Already at fourteen years old Marchwitza was working underground in the mines...

    , born at Szarlej
  • Adam Matysek
    Adam Matysek
    Adam Matysek is a retired Polish football goalkeeper.He made 34 appearances for the Polish national team, and was a member of their squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he did not play any matches at the tournament.After his playing career, Matysek worked for the Polish Football Association...

  • Jerzy Polaczek
    Jerzy Polaczek
    Jerzy Polaczek is a Polish politician. He was elected to Sejm on 25 September 2005 getting 39,335 votes in the 31st Katowice district as a candidate for the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość list....

  • Marek Siwiec
    Marek Siwiec
    Marek Maciej Siwiec is a Polish politician and since 2004 Member of the European Parliament for the Greater Poland Voivodship with the Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union, part of the Socialist Group and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. In the European elections of...

  • Walter Winkler
    Walter Winkler
    Walter Winkler is a former Polish football player.He played 23 times for Poland.-References:*...

  • Dariusz Wosz
    Dariusz Wosz
    Dariusz Wosz is a German former footballer who played mostly as a playmaker. He is coach of the VfL Bochum U-19 team-Early life:Wosz's family migrated to Halle from Polish part of Silesia.-Club career:...

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