Katowice

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History

The area around Katowice, in Upper Silesia, has been inhabited by Lechitic Silesian tribes from its earliest documented history. While the name Katowice (Katowicze) is mentioned for the first time in 1598, other villages and settlements that would eventually become parts of modern Katowice have been established earlier, with Dąb being the oldest, mentioned in 1299 for the first time in a document issued by Duke Casimir of Bytom. Bogucice, Ligota, Szopenice and Podlesie were all established in early 14th century. Aside from farming, people living in the area would also work in hammer mills: the first one, Kuźnica Bogucka, is mentioned in 1397. The area which would become Katowice was initially ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty until its extinction. From 1327, the region was under administration of the Kingdom of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire. As part of the Bohemian Crown, it was passed to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria in 1526. In 1742, along with most of Silesia, it was seized by Prussia following the First Silesian War. The two subsequent Silesian Wars left the area severely depopulated and with an economy in ruins. In 1838, Franz von Winckler bought Katowice from Karl Friedrich Lehmann and in 1841, he made it the headquarters of his estate. On 3 October 1846, the works of the final stage of the Breslau-Myslowitz (Wrocław-Mysłowice) rail line ended, built and operated by the Upper Silesian Railway. It was opened by king Frederick William IV of Prussia. A year later, on 6 August 1847, the first train arrived at the new Katowice station. The railway connection with major European cities (Katowice gained connections to Berlin, Kraków, Vienna and Warsaw, among others, between 1847 and 1848) fostered economic and population growth. The population grew…

Geography

Katowice encompasses an area of . The city is situated in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids (part of the Carpathian Mountains). Kłodnica and Rawa (tributaries of the Oder and the Vistula respectively) are the largest rivers in Katowice, and the border between catchment areas of Oder and Vistula goes through the city. With a minimal elevation of and median elevation of above sea level, Katowice has the highest elevation among large cities in Poland. Katowice has a temperate, ocean-moderated humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb/Cfb). The average temperature is 8.2 °Celsius ( in January and up to in July). Yearly rainfall averages at . Characteristic weak winds blow at about from the southwest, through the Moravian Gate. Katowice has 22 officially recognized neighborhoods. Śródmieście, Osiedle Paderewskiego-Muchowiec, Zawodzie and Koszutka form the dense central urban core where most cultural and educational institutions, businesses and administrative buildings are located. Most Northern and Eastern neighborhoods around the downtown core are more working-class and developed from worker's estates build around large industry such as coal mines, manufactures and steelworks. Each of these neighborhoods has its own dense commercial strip surrounded by mid-rise apartment buildings and some single-family homes. Szopienice, located between downtown Katowice and Mysłowice, used to be a separate town until mid-1960s. Nikiszowiec, a former mine's town, has undergone strong gentrification in recent years, and emerged as a major tourist attraction in the region thanks to its unique architecture and art galleries. Western and Southern neighborhoods (with the exception of Brynów-Załęska Hałda, which is a working-class…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,368
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,345
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  3,566
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,421
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,395
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,901
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,873
• Eurasian Jay

  Garrulus glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,547

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2026-04-09
  1 km WNW of Radlin, Poland
• M 2.9 — 2025-04-29
  4 km WSW of Bytom, Poland
• M 3.2 — 2025-01-27
  1 km NE of Radlin, Poland
• M 2.9 — 2024-07-11
  4 km N of Jejkowice, Poland
• M 3 — 2023-10-04
  2 km W of Murcki, Poland
• M 2.8 — 2023-01-12
  2 km ENE of Karviná, Czechia