Chorzów is particularly known as the location of theSilesian Stadium, one of the largest and historically most important stadiums in Poland.Ruch Chorzów, one of the most accomplished Polish football clubs, is based in the city.
The city of Chorzów was formed in 1934–1939 by a merger of four adjacent cities: Chorzów, Królewska Huta, Nowe Hajduki and Hajduki Wielkie. The name of the oldest settlementChorzów was applied to the amalgamated city.[citation needed]
Chorzów asCharzow on an 18th-century Polish map
The etymology of the name is not known. Chorzów is believed to be first mentioned asZversov orZuersov in a document of 1136 byPope Innocent II as a village with peasants, silver miners, and two inns. Another place-name likely indicating Chorzów is Coccham or Coccha, which is mentioned in a document of 1198 by thePatriarch of Jerusalem, who awarded this place to theEquestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Chorzów is then mentioned asChareu orCharev in 1257 and thenCharzow in 1292. The last name may originate from thepersonal nameCharz, short forZachary and may meanZachary's place. Thea in the early names may have been later modified to the current pronunciation witho perhaps due to similarity to thecommon adjectivechory=ill and a presence of a hospital (which was moved in 1299 to Rozbark at the gates ofBytom). Today, the place of the old village is a subdivision calledChorzów III orChorzów Stary (Old Chorzów).[citation needed]
The industrial and residential settlement south-west of Chorzów constructed since 1797 around theRoyal Coal Mine andRoyal Iron Works was namedKrólewska Huta by the Poles orKönigshütte by the Germans, both names meaningRoyal Iron Works. As it was growing quickly this settlement was grantedcity status in 1868. Today this neighbourhood is calledChorzów I orChorzów-Miasto meaningChorzów Centre.[citation needed]
The etymology ofHajduki is ambiguous and is interpreted as either related to the German word formoorland (German: die Heide), or adopted from the German/Polish/Silesian term forhajduk(s) (Polish (plural): Hajduki; German (singular): Heiduck), which locally meant bandits. The place was first mentioned in 1627 asHejduk and shown on 18th century maps as "Ober Heiduk" and "Nieder Heiduk" (i.e., Upper and Lower Heiduk). The later namesHajduki Wielkie andNowe Hajduki meanGreat Hajduks andNew Hajduks, respectively. The two settlements were merged in 1903 and named after theBismarckIron WorksBismarckhütte. When the international borders shifted, the name of Bismarck was replaced with the name of thePolish kingBatory (so-chosen to preserve that initial "B", which appeared on an economically important local trademark). Today this city subdivision is calledChorzów IV orChorzów-Batory.[4]
The oldest part of the city, the village of Chorzów, today calledChorzów Stary, belonged since 1257 to theEquestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Already at that time silver and lead ores were mined nearby, later also the ores of iron. There is more documentation for 16th century developments.[citation needed]
From 1327, the Upper Silesian duchies were ruled by the dukes of thePiast dynasty and were subject toBohemian overlordship. TheCrown of Bohemia elected Polish-LithuanianJagiellons kings from 1471 and AustrianHabsburgs kings after 1526. In 1742, the area was conquered by the PrussianHohenzollerns inSilesian Wars, setting the stage for the Prussian industrial might. The Prussian and then German period lasted for about 180 years and overlapped with the time of rapid industrialization.[citation needed]
Steelworks at Königshütte, 1872–1875 ("Das Eisenwalzwerk" byAdolf von Menzel)Ulica Wolności (Freedom Street), one of the main areas of commerce in the city
With the discovery ofbituminous coal deposits at the end of the 18th century by the Polish local priestLudwik Bojarski, new industrial sectors developed in the Chorzów area. In the years 1791–1797, the Prussianstate-owned Royal Coal Mine was constructed (Kopalnia Król,Königsgrube, later renamed several times with the changing political winds). In 1799, the firstpig iron was made in the Royal Iron Works (Królewska Huta,Königshütte). At the time, it was a pioneering industrial establishment of its kind incontinental Europe. In 1819, the ironworks consisted of fourblast furnaces, producing 1,400 tons of pig-iron. In the 1800s, the modern Lidognia Zinc Works was added in the area.
Settlements grew near the new coal and ironworks. Since 1797, one group of settlements was calledKönigshütte (Królewska Huta in Polish) after the ironworks. In 1846, Królewska Huta received arailway track toŚwiętochłowice andMysłowice and in 1857 toBytom and until 1872 to all major cities in the Silesian region. Królewska Huta received city status in 1868 as part ofBytom County, and in 1898, it was made a separatecity-county.[citation needed] The population was increasing rapidly: from 19,500 inhabitants in 1870 to 72,600 in 1910. Among them 17,300 workers were employed in the industry (similar number for 1939). In 1871, there was a workers' rebellion in the city.[5]
The Royal Iron Works were taken over in 1871 by the holding calledVereingte Königs- und LaurahütteAG für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb, which added asteel mill, rail mill and workshops. In the vicinity of the Royal Coal Mine,Countess Laura Coal Mine was opened in 1870, and by 1913–1914 coal production increased to 1 million tons a year. In 1898, athermal power plant was commissioned which was, until the 1930s, the biggest electricity producer in Poland with a power of 100 MW (electrical). Today, it operates as"ELCHO". In 1915, nitrogen chemical works (Oberschlesische Stickstoffwerke) were built nearby to produce fertilizers and explosives by newly invented processes: from the air, water and coal (seeHaber-Bosch process). Today, it operates as "Zakłady Azotowe SA".[citation needed]
Another ironworks, Bismarck Iron Works (Bismarckhütte), later called Bathory Iron Works (Huta Batory), was opened in 1872 in the village of Hajduki Wielkie, just south of Chorzów and Królewska Huta. A largecarbochemical plant was started nearby in 1889, the first suchchemical plant in what was to later become the Polish state. Today the company operates as "Zakłady Koksochemiczne Hajduki SA".
Towards the end of the 19th century, Chorzów experienced a revival of Polish national feelings. Ethnic tensions were mixed with the religious andclass conflicts.Karol Miarka was the editor of Polish books and newspapers includingKatolik (The Catholic) published in Królewska Huta since 1868,Poradnik Gospodarski (Economic Advisor) since 1879. He was also the founder of several organizations: Upper Silesian Union, Upper Silesian Peasants Union.Juliusz Ligoń was a Polish activist and poet. In 1920, the football clubRuch Chorzów was founded in the city. Later on, it would become one of the most successful Polish football teams.
In theUpper Silesia plebiscite a majority of 31,864 voters voted to remain in Germany while 10,764 votes were given for Poland.[6] Following threeSilesian Uprisings, the eastern part of Silesia, including Chorzów and Królewska Huta, was separated from Germany and awarded toPoland in 1922. Migrations of people followed. Because of its strategic value, the case of the nitrogen factoryOberschlesische Stickstoffwerke was argued for years before thePermanent Court of International Justice, finally setting some new legal precedents on what is "just" in international relations.[7] In 1934, the industrial communities of Chorzów, Królewska Huta and Nowe Hajduki were merged into one municipality with 81,000 inhabitants. The name of the oldest settlementChorzów was given to the whole city. In April 1939, the settlement of Hajduki Wielkie with 30,000 inhabitants was added to Chorzów.
In part due to the German-Polishtrade war in the 1920s, the industry of Chorzów, a border city at that time, stagnated until 1933. In 1927, a division ofHuta Piłsudski was separated into a company making rail cars, trams and bridges; today it operates asAlstom-Konstal. The State Factory ofNitrogen Compounds (Państwowa Fabryka Związków Azotowych) was in 1933 merged with a similar company (largely its copy) inTarnów-Mościce.
On the day of the outbreak ofWorld War II in September 1939, Chorzówwas taken byNazi Germany. Polish irregulars, mainly Silesian uprising veterans andscouts, put up resistance to the regular German forces for three days, afterwards the city wasoccupied by Germany, and on September 6, 1939, theEinsatzgruppe I entered the city to commit variousatrocities against Poles.[8] Most of the Polish defenders were murdered in mass executions. An execution of three Poles was carried out by the GermanFreikorps already on September 3, 1939.[9] A unit of theEinsatzgruppe I was stationed in Chorzów, and it was responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in Chorzów and the nearby cities ofCzeladź andSiemianowice Śląskie.[10] Polish property was confiscated, and Chorzów was promptly re-incorporated into German Silesia; the Upper Silesian industry being one of the pillars of the Nazi Germanywar effort. In 1939 and 1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of Polishintelligentsia, especially teachers, for which a prison was operated in the city (seeIntelligenzaktion).[11] Local Polish teachers were among Poles murdered in 1939 in Chorzów and Strzybnica (present-day district ofTarnowskie Góry), and later in theDachau concentration camp.[12]
At the end of World War II, Chorzów was given to Poland. Generally, the Chorzów industry suffered little damage during World War II due to its inaccessibility toAlliedbombing, a Soviet Armyenveloping manoeuvre in January 1945,[19] and perhapsAlbert Speer's slowness or refusal to implement thescorched earth policy. This intact industry now played a critical role in the post-war reconstruction and industrialization of Poland. After the war, businesses were nationalized and operated, with minor changes, until 1989. Some were used as Soviet labour and concentration camps. Some industrial hardware and at least 100,000 Polish Silesians were deported to the Ukrainian Donbass region. At the"fall of communism" in 1989, the area was in decline. Since 1989, the region has been transitioning fromheavy industry to a more diverse economy.
In 2007, Chorzów became a part of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union (predecessor to theMetropolis GZM), a voluntary union of a continuous chain of cities aimed at increasing the poor visibility of the area, improving its competitiveness, and modernizing the infrastructure.
The region experienced several waves of migrations, including those commencing in 1945 (to Germany and from Poland and Ukraine), in 1971–1976 (to Germany), in 1982 (toWestern countries), and from 2003 (to other countries of the EU).
Chorzów is in the middle of the largesturban center in Poland. TheMetropolis GZM is the largest legally recognized urban entity in Poland with a population of two million.
Chorzów used to be one of the most important cities in the largest Polish economic area (theUpper Silesian Industry Area) with extensive industry in coal mining, steel, chemistry, manufacturing, and energy sectors. Many heavy-industry establishments were closed or scaled down in the last two decades because ofenvironmental issues in the center of a highly urbanized area, and also because of decades-long lack of investment. Others were restructured and modernized. Wedged between a dozen of other cities, the population has been decreasing. The city character has been evolving towards theservice economy as new industrial development takes mostly place at the border of the industrial area. The unemployment rate is high (12.6% on 2007-12-31) but decreasing;[22] the workforce is generally highly technically skilled.
^abc"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved7 August 2022. Data for territorial unit 2463011.
^"Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office] (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
^Jacek Kurek "Historia Wielkich Hajduk", Związek Górnośląski Koło, Wielkie Hajduki, Chorzów, 2001
^Zalega, Dariusz (2024).Chachary. Ludowa historia Górnego Śląska (in Polish). Warszawa. pp. 113–114.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"The Seventh Year of the Permanent Court of International Justice", Manley O. Hudson, The American Journal ofInternational law, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Jan. 1929), pp. 1–29,doi:10.2307/2190232,JSTOR2190232
^Wardzyńska, Maria (2009).Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa:IPN. p. 58.
^Warzecha, Bartłomiej (2003). "Niemieckie zbrodnie na powstańcach śląskich w 1939 roku".Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (in Polish). No. 12–1 (35–36). IPN. p. 56.ISSN1641-9561.
The list includes the 107 urban municipalities governed by acity mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) ·Cities with powiat rights are initalics · Voivodeship cities are inbold
.jpg)
.jpg)
