Rydułtowy

Sister cities

• Hvidovre Municipality
• Orlová

History

Rydułtowy was first mentioned in a document of the Diocese of Wrocław from 1228 as Rudolphi Willa, when it was part of the Duchy of Racibórz of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. In 1861, Rydułtowy Dolne had an entirely Polish population of 1,066, while Rydułtowy Górne had 360 inhabitants. In the late 19th century, the main occupation of the population was farming and coal mining. Rydułtowy Dolne and Rydułtowy Górne were merged in 1926. Following the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Rydułtowy was occupied by Germany until 1945. Many local Polish scouts were killed during the war, whereas two Polish policemen were murdered by the Russians in the Katyn massacre in 1940. The German Nazi administration operated five forced labour camps in Rydułtowy, including a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The prisoners of the camps were initially Poles from nearby settlements, and then also French, English and Soviet prisoners of war. Over 1,000 mostly Jewish prisoners were held in the subcamp of Auschwitz.

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,129
• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  978
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  956
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  880
• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  801
• Graylag Goose

  Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  780
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  761
• Caspian Gull

  Larus cachinnans Pallas, 1811 · Aves
  755

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