Zabrze is a
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
in
SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
in southern
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is 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
KatowiceKatowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km on north from the Silesian Beskids and about 100 km on south-east from Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Metropolitan...
. The west district of the
Upper Silesian Metropolitan UnionMetropolitan Association of Upper Silesia also Upper-Silesian Metropolis also Metropolis "Silesia" / "Silesia" Metropolis is a union of 14 adjacent cities in the Silesian Voivodeship, Poland....
is a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It is located in the
Silesian HighlandsSilesian Highlands are highlands located in Silesia, Poland.Its highest point is the Mountain of St. Anne .-See also:*Silesian Lowlands*Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands*Silesian Foothills*Silesian-Moravian Foothills...
, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder).
Zabrze is situated in the
Silesian VoivodeshipSilesian Voivodeship is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centring on the region known as Upper Silesia...
which was reformulated in 1999, previously it was in
Katowice VoivodeshipKatowice Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Silesian Voivodeship...
. It is one of the cities within the 2,7 million conurbation -
Katowice urban areaKatowice urban area also Upper Silesian urban area - urban area/urban agglomeration/conurbation in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship and small part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Katowice urban area is largest urban area in Poland and one of largest in European Union. Its...
and in a greater
Silesian metropolitan areaThe Silesian metropolitan area is the metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeast Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava. Located in the three administrative units : Silesian Voivodeship, small part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Moravian-Silesian Region.The area...
populated by about 5,294,000 people.
Zabrze is a
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
in
SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
in southern
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is 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
KatowiceKatowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km on north from the Silesian Beskids and about 100 km on south-east from Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Metropolitan...
. The west district of the
Upper Silesian Metropolitan UnionMetropolitan Association of Upper Silesia also Upper-Silesian Metropolis also Metropolis "Silesia" / "Silesia" Metropolis is a union of 14 adjacent cities in the Silesian Voivodeship, Poland....
is a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It is located in the
Silesian HighlandsSilesian Highlands are highlands located in Silesia, Poland.Its highest point is the Mountain of St. Anne .-See also:*Silesian Lowlands*Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands*Silesian Foothills*Silesian-Moravian Foothills...
, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder).
Zabrze is situated in the
Silesian VoivodeshipSilesian Voivodeship is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centring on the region known as Upper Silesia...
which was reformulated in 1999, previously it was in
Katowice VoivodeshipKatowice Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Silesian Voivodeship...
. It is one of the cities within the 2,7 million conurbation -
Katowice urban areaKatowice urban area also Upper Silesian urban area - urban area/urban agglomeration/conurbation in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship and small part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Katowice urban area is largest urban area in Poland and one of largest in European Union. Its...
and in a greater
Silesian metropolitan areaThe Silesian metropolitan area is the metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeast Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava. Located in the three administrative units : Silesian Voivodeship, small part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Moravian-Silesian Region.The area...
populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of Zabrze as of 2008, is 189,062 .
History
Biskupice (Biskupitz), which is now a subdivision of Zabrze, was first mentioned in 1243 as
Biscupici dicitur cirka BitomBytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river .The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since...
. Zabrze (later Alt-Zabrze) was mentioned in 1295-1305 as
Sadbre sive Cunczindorf. In the
Late Middle AgesThe Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries . The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era ....
, the local
SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
n Piast dukes invited
GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
settlers into the territory resulting in increasing
German settlementThis article covers the medieval eastward migrations of Germans. For a general view, see History of German settlement in Eastern EuropeOstsiedlung, literally "settlement in the east", also called German eastward expansion, refers to the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from...
. Zabrze became part of the
Habsburg MonarchyThe Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The capital was mainly Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when the capital was Prague...
of
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
in 1526, and was later annexed by the
Kingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918, until the defeat of Germany in World War I, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire...
during the
Silesian WarsThe Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. They eventually ended with Silesia being incorporated into Prussia, and Austrian recognition of this...
. In 1774, the Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. When the first mine in Zabrze became operational in 1790, the town became an important
miningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
center. In 1905, the Zabrze commune was formed by the former communes Alt-Zabrze, Klein-Zabrze and Dorotheendorf. The Zabrze commune was renamed
Hindenburg in 1915 in honor of
GeneralfeldmarschallGeneralfeldmarschall was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
Paul von HindenburgPaul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a German field marshal and statesman....
. When
Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Lower Silesia is to the northwest. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, Bohemia, Poland, Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Prussia, and later of unified German Reich...
was divided between Poland and Germany in 1921, Hindenburg remained in Germany. It received its city charter in 1922. Following
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the city was assigned to Poland in 1945 and its previous name was restored, on May 19, 1945, to Zabrze. Most of the German inhabitants were
expelledBy the end of World War II, most of the German population fled or was expelled from areas outside the territory of post-war Germany and post-war Austria, including:...
.
Politics
Members of Parliament (
SejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
) 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
Sport
- Górnik Zabrze
Górnik Zabrze is a Polish football club from Zabrze. The club has won numerous championships, and was a dominant force in the 1960s and 1980s. After finishing 16th in the Ekstraklasa in 2008/09, the club will play in the Polish First League, the 2nd level of Polish football, during the 2009/10...
- men footballFootball is the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400,000 Poles play football regularly, with millions more playing occasionally. The first professional clubs were founded in the early 1900s, and the Polish national football team played its first international match in 1921.There are hundreds of...
team (Polish Champion 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988; Polish CupThe Polish Cup in football or officially Remes Puchar Polski, is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the First League title...
winner 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972; Polish SupercupThe Polish Super Cup in football is an annually held match between the Champion of the The Polish Super Cup in football (official Polish title: "Superpuchar Polski") is an annually held match between the Champion of the The Polish Super Cup in football (official Polish title: "Superpuchar Polski")...
winner 1988; 1st league in season 2005/2006)
- Wojtek Wolski
Wojtek Wolski [pronounced Voy-tek Vol-skee] is a Polish-born Canadian ice hockey left winger, currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL. He currently leads the league in all-time shootout goals percentage.-Playing career:Wolski was drafted in the first round, 21st overall in the 2004...
- Pro hockeyHockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round, rubber or heavy plastic disc called a puck, into the opponent's net or goal, using a hockey stick.-Field hockey:...
player for the Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1996 and 2001. The franchise was founded in...
of the National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league as a joint venture for its self perpetuating membership of 30 franchised member clubs located in the United States and Canada...
Economy
Like other towns in this populous region, it is an important
manufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
centre, having coal-mines,
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
,
wireA wire is a single, usually cylindrical, string of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various wire gauges...
,
glassIn general Glass refers to a solid, brittle, transparent material, commonly used for windows, bottles, or eyewear. Examples of glassy materials include, but are not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, or aluminium oxynitride. The term glass...
, chemical and
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
works,
breweriesA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made in the home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, etc.
Sister cities
Zabrze is twinned with the following cities:
SangerhausenSangerhausen is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, without being part of it.It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. 35 km east of Nordhausen, and 50 km west of Halle...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
SeclinSeclin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole.-References:*...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
LundLund is a city in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The town has 76,188 inhabitants in 2005, out of a municipal total of 105,000. It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Skåne County. The city is believed to have been founded around 990, when the Scanian lands belonged to Denmark...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
SønderborgSønderborg Municipality , is a municipality in Region Syddanmark partially on the Jutland peninsula and partially on the island of Als in south Denmark, at the border with Germany. The municipality covers an area of 496,57 km² , and has a total population of 76,236...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
ZahleZahlé is the capital of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 130,000 inhabitants, which makes it the 3rd largest city in Lebanon. The population of the city is almost entirely Christian, and in particular Greek Catholic. Zahle is called the bride of the Bekaa Valley...
,
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
TrnavaTrnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...
,
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
OpavaOpava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1 2005.-History:Opava was first documented in 1195...
,
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
KaliningradKaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
RivneRivne is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
External links