Gliwice

Infobox Settlement
name = Gliwice


imagesize = 250px
image_caption = Main Square and City Hall

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image_shield = Gliwice herb.svg
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = POL
subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
subdivision_name1 = Silesian
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = "city county"
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Zygmunt Frankiewicz
established_title = Established
established_date = 13th century
established_title3 = Town rights
established_date3 = 1250
elevation_min_m = 200
elevation_max_m = 278
area_total_km2 = 134.20
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 199099
population_density_km2 = auto
population_metro = 3487000
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 50
latm = 17
lats =
latNS = N
longd = 18
longm = 40
longs =
longEW = E
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 44-100 to 44-164
area_code = +48 32
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = SG
website = http://www.um.gliwice.pl/ Gliwice Audio-IPA-pl|Pl-Gliwice.ogg|g|l|i|'|w|i|c|e ( _de. Gleiwitz) is an industrial city in southern Poland with 200,361 inhabitants (2004) on the Kłodnica River, about 20 km to the west from Katowice.

Gliwice is one of the main centers of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, the largest legally-recognized urban entity in Poland, with the population of the greater metropolitan area of 3,487,000.

Gliwice has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was in Katowice Voivodeship.

History

Late Middle Ages

Gliwice was first mentioned as a town in 1276 and was ruled during the Middle Ages by the Silesian Piast dukes. It became a possession of the Bohemia crown in 1335, passing with that crown to the Austrian Habsburgs as Gleiwitz in 1526.

Early Modern Age

Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg Monarchy during their 16 century wars against the Ottoman Empire, Gleiwitz was leased to Friedrich Zettritz for the meager amount of 14,000 thalers. Although the original lease was for a duration of 18 years, it was renewed in 1580 for 10 years and in 1589 for an additional 18 years.

During the mid 18th century Silesian Wars, Gliwice was taken from Austria by the Kingdom of Prussia along with the majority of Silesia. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Gleiwitz was administered in the Prussian district of Tost-Gleiwitz within the Province of Silesia in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. In 1897 Gleiwitz became its own Stadtkreis, or urban district.

Industrialization

Gleiwitz began to develop into a major city through industrialization during the 19th century. The town's ironworks fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area. During the late 19th century Gleiwitz had:
*14 distilleries
*2 breweries
*5 mills,
*7 brick factories
*3 sawmills
*a shingle factory
*8 chalk factories
*2 glassworks.

Other features of the 19th century industrialized Gleiwitz were a gasworks, a furnace factory, a beer bottling company, and a plant for asphalt and paste. Economically, Gleiwitz opened several banks, Savings and loan associations, and bond centers. Its tram system was completed in 1892, while its theater was opened in 1899; until World War II, Gleiwitz' theatre featured actors from through Europe and was one of the most famous theatres of entire Germany. The city's population in 1875 was 14,156.

20th century

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911 it had two Protestant and four Roman Catholic churches, a synagogue, a mining school, a convent, a hospital, two orphanages, and a barracks. Gleiwitz was the center of the mining industry of Upper Silesia. It possessed a royal foundry, with which were connected machine manufactories and boilerworks. Other industrialized areas of the city had other foundries, meal mills, and manufactories producing wire, gas pipes, cement, and paper.

After the end of World War I, clashes between Poles and Germans occurred during the Silesian Uprisings. Ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city not into Germany, but into the Second Polish Republic. The differences between Germans and Poles led to three subsequent Polish uprisings, and German resistance against them. Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on March 20 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout was listed as 97.0%. The League of Nations determined that three Silesian towns: Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Hindenburg/Zabrze and Beuthen/Bytom would remain in Germany, and the rest of Upper Silesia with its main town of Katowice (Kattowitz) would join restored Poland.

An attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on August 31, 1939, staged by the German secret police, served as a pretext for Nazi Germany to invade Poland, which was the beginning of World War II. The city was placed under Polish administration according to the 1945 Potsdam Conference and thus part of the Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship. The German population was expatriated to Germany as stated by the Potsdam Conference and replaced with Poles.

Higher Education and Science

Gliwice is a major applied science hub for the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. Gliwice is a seat of:
* Silesian University of Technology with about 32,000 students ("Politechnika Śląska")
* Akademia Polonijna of Częstochowa, branch in Gliwice
* [http://www.gwsp.gliwice.pl Gliwice College of Entrepreneurship] ("Gliwicka Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości")
* Polish Academy of Sciences ("Polska Akademia Nauk")
** Institute of Theoretical And Applied Computer Science
** Institute of Chemical Engineering
** Carbochemistry branch
* Other (commercial or government funded) applied reaserch centers:
** Oncological Research Center (Centrum Onkologii)
** Inorganic Chemistry Research Institute (Instytut Chemii Nieorganicznej)
** Research Institute of Refractory Materials (Instytut Materiałów Ogniotrwałych)
** Research Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals (Instytut Metali Nieżelaznych)
** Research Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy (Instytut Metalurgii Żelaza)
** Welding Research Intitute (Instytut Spawalnictwa)

Sports

* Piast Gliwice - men's football team playing in Orange Ektraklasa (since season 2008/2009),
* Carbo Gliwice - men's football team,
* Sośnica Gliwice - women's handball team playing in Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League: 10th place in 2003/2004 season.
* Gliwickie Towarzystwo Koszykówki - men's basketball team.
* P.A. Nova Gliwice - men's futsal team playing in 1st league (4 times Champion of Poland).

Famous people

* John Baildon, Scottish engineer
* Richard Fritz Behrendt, German sociologist
* Horst Bienek, German author of novels about Upper Silesia
* Wolfgang Bittner, German author
* William Blandowski, zoologist
* Lothar Bolz, foreign affairs minister of the communist German Democratic Republic
* Jerzy Buzek, professor of chemistry, prime minister of Poland 1997-2001, MEP since 2004
* Walther Busse von Colbe, German economist
* Ernst Degner, German Grand Prix motorcycle racer and designer
* Gottfried Bermann Fischer, German publisher
* Eugen Goldstein, German scientist
* Alfred Hauptmann, German psychiatrist and neurologist of Jewish origin
* Rudolf Herrnstadt, German communist
* Hans Kneifel, German author
* Richard Kubus, German football player
* Emanuel Larisch, German communist politician
* Paul Latussek, Vice-president of the Association of German expellees (1992-2001)
* Monika Lindner, director of the Austrian television ORF
* Gustav Neumann, German chess player
* Lukas Podolski, German (Polish born) football player
* Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and writer
* Oskar Troplowitz, pharmacist and owner of Nivea skin creams
* Leo Yankevich, poet and translator
* Agnes Wabnitz, feminist
* Richard Wetz, composer
* Christoph Zöpel, German politician (SPD)
* Wojciech Kocyan, pianist
* Erich Peter Wohlfarth, German physicist
* Krystian Zimmermann, Polish born, famous international piano player
* Stanisław Sojka, musician
* Katarzyna Groniec, vocalist
* Agata Buzek, actress, daughter of Jerzy Buzek

Politics

Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) 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

Municipal politics

President of city (Mayor) - Zygmunt Frankiewicz

Buildings

*The Gliwice Radio Tower of "Radiostacja Gliwicka" ("Radio Station Gliwice") in Szobiszowice is the only remaining radio tower of wood construction in the world, and with a height of 118 metres, is perhaps the tallest remaining construction made out of wood in the world.

*Gliwice Trynek narrow-gauge station is a protected monument. The narrow-gauge line to Raciborz via Rudy closed in 1991 although a short section still remains as a museum line.

*Castle in Gliwice dates back to the Middle Ages and hosts a museum

Sister cities

Gliwice is twinned with the following cities:

* Bottrop, Germany
* Dessau, Germany
* Doncaster, England
* Kežmarok, Slovakia
* Nacka, Sweden
* Salgótarján, Hungary
* Valenciennes, France

Literature

* Max Lamla: "Merkwürdiges aus meinem Leben (1917-1999)", Saarbrücken 2006, ISBN 3-00-018964-5
* Boleslaw Domanski (2000) "The Impact of Spatial and Social Qualities on the Reproduction of Local Economic Success: The Case of the Path Dependent Development of Gliwice", in: Prace Geograficne, zesyt 106, Cracow, pp 35-54.
* B. Nietsche, "Geschichte der Stadt Gleiwitz" (1886)
* Seidel, "Die königliche Eisengiesserei zu Gleiwitz" (Berlin, 1896)

External links

* http://www.um.gliwice.pl/
* http://www.gliwice.uc.gov.pl/
* http://www.polsl.pl/
* http://www.gliwice.pl/
* http://www.gliwice.com/
* http://www.gliwice.zobacz.slask.pl/
* http://www.forumgliwice.com/
* http://aegee.gliwice.pl/new/en/documents/travel_guide/ - Travel Guide