Katowice: pks katowice, flight to katowice, katowice vacation

Katowice was founded in the 19th century and gained city status in 1865 as Kattowitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. The city flourished due to large mineral (especially coal) deposits in the nearby mountains. Extensive city growth and prosperity depended on the coal mining and steel industries, which took off during the Industrial Revolution. Kattowitz was inhabited mainly by Germans, Silesians, Jews and Poles. Previously part of the Beuthen district, in 1873 it became the capital of the new Kattowitz district. On 1 April 1899, the city of Kattowitz was separated from the district, becoming an independent city.

According to the Treaty of Versailles after World War I the Upper Silesia plebiscite was organised by the League of Nations. While in the city of Katowice the plebiscite resulted 22,774 votes to remain in Germany and 3,900 votes for Poland^[8] in the voting district of Katowice overall (combined with rural areas near the city and castle area) they were 66119 votes for Poland and 52992 for Germany^[9] and following the Silesian Uprisings (1918-21) Katowice became part of the Second Polish Republic with a certain level of autonomy (Silesian Parliament as a constituency and Silesian Voivodeship Council as the executive body).

In 1953 the city was renamed Stalinogród ("Stalin City") by the Polish communist government. However, the new name was never accepted by the city's population and in 1956 the former name of 'Katowice' was restored.

Geography

Location

Climate

The climate of the area is continental humid. The average temperature is 8 degrees Celsius (average -1.7°C in January and up to average 17.7°C in July). Yearly rainfall averages at 750 mm. The area's characteristic weak winds blow at about 2 m/s from the west - Moravian Gate.

Districts

Demographics

Conurbation

Katowice lies in the centre of the largest conurbation in Poland and is one of the largest in the European Union, numbering at about 2.7 million. This urban expansion boomed in the 19th century thanks to the rapid development of the mining and metallurgical industries. The Katowice urban area consists of about 40 adjacent cities and towns. However, the whole Silesian metropolitan area (mostly within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin) consists of over 50 cities/town. This metropolitan area has a population of 5,294,000. Katowice is also part of a megalopolis of over 7 million inhabitants covering Katowice, Ostrava, Kraków and Częstochowa regions.

In the year 2006 Katowice and 14 adjacent cities united under one municipal organism - the union of cities - Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. Its population is 2 million and its area is 1,104 km². In 2006 and 2007, the union planned to unite these cities in one city under the name "Silesia"; however, this proved unsuccessful^[11].

Culture

Theater

Cinema

Music

Museums

Media

Festivals and events

Art galleries

Parks and squares

Nature reserves and ecological areas

Architecture

General information

Katowice are to the group of Polish cities whose centers do not originate from the medieval town. Downtown City was formed in the mid-nineteenth century. Established at the time the buildings are decorated eclectic (mostly Renaissance and Baroque) as elements of Art Nouveau style (secesja). The end of the nineteenth century, which may seem surprising for visitors today, the center of Katowice, was regarded as a "little Paris"^[12]

Katowice's mixture of architectural styles. Most of the historical buildings were thoroughly reconstructed. However, some of the buildings from the 19th century that had been preserved in reasonably reconstructible form were nonetheless eradicated in the 1950s to 1970s. Mass residential blocks were erected, with basic design typical of Eastern bloc countries.

Public spaces attract heavy investment, so that the city has gained entirely new squares, parks and monuments. Katowice's current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture.

Examples of Modernism (International Style and Bauhaus inspired architecture) may be found in the city downtown. Central Katowice also contain a significant number of Art Nouveau (Secesja) buildings along with the Communist Era giants such as Spodek or Superjednostka.

Katowice's Rynek is the old centre and marketplace of the city. Unfortunately many old buildings were demolished in the 1950s to make space for monumental communist modern buildings. Several streets around the Rynek and the Rynek itself are now closed to traffic and have been made into a shopping promenades.

Regeneration of the Rynek area should start at 2007-2008 and there was an international architectural competition in 2006 to find the best design.

Tourist attractions

Economy

Industry

Katowice is a large coal and steel centre. It has several coal mines (Wujek Coal Mine, Mysłowice-Wesoła Coal Mine, Wieczorek Coal Mine, Murcki Coal Mine, Staszic Coal Mine) organized into unions - Katowice Coal Holding company (pl: Katowicki Holding Węglowy), two steelworks (Huta Baildon, Huta Ferum), and one foundry of non-ferrous metals (Huta Metali Nieżelaznych Szopienice).

Business and commerce

Katowice is also a large business and trade fair centre. Every year in Katowice International Fair and Spodek, tens of international trade fairs are organized. Katowice has the second largest business centre in Poland (after Warsaw Business Centre). Skyscrapers stand along Chorzowska, Korfantego and Roździeńskiego street in the centre of the city. The newest office buildings (A-class) in Katowice are the Chorzowska 50, Altus Skyscraper and Silesia Towers (under construction).

General

Katowice is the seat of Katowice Special Economic Zone (Katowicka Specjalna Strefa Ekonomiczna).

The unemployment rate in Katowice is one of the lowest in Poland, at 2% (in 2008), according to the official figures^[14]. The city is still characterized by its working class strength and thus attracts many people seeking jobs from neighbouring cities (other districts USMU).

The average monthly salary in Katowice is the highest in Poland - about 4222,52 zł ($~1,220), in Warsaw it's about 4135,93 zł ($~1,200)^[15].

Education

Katowice is the third largest scientific centre in Poland (after Warsaw and Cracow). It has over 20 schools of higher education, at which over 100,000 persons study.

Transport

Public transport

The public transportation system of the Katowice and Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union consists of four branches - buses and trams united in the KZK GOP and furthermore the regional rail. Additional services are operated by private companies and the state-owned railways.

Roads

Airports

The city and the area is served by the Katowice International Airport, located about 30 km from the center of Katowice. With over 20 international and domestic flights daily, it is by far the biggest airport in Silesia (~2,5 million passengers served in 2008; 2 terminals: A and B).

Because of the long commute to the airport, there is a proposal to convert the much nearer sport aviation-serving Katowice-Muchowiec Airport into a so-called city airport, a second international airport for smaller, business-oriented traffic.

Railways

The first railroad reached this area in 1846 (the Upper Silesia Railway, in Polish: Kolej Górnośląska; in German: Oberschlesische Eisenbahn). Nowadays Katowice is one of the main railway nodes and exchange points in Silesia and in Poland. Cheap and fairly efficient, the Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State-Owned Railways) in the area of the proposed union constitute one of the main transport hubs in Poland (the most important one being Warsaw). The main railroad station is Katowice Central Station. Both the domestic and the international connections run from there to almost every major city in Poland and Europe.

Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronym LHS, English: Broad gauge metallurgy line) is Sławków near Katowice is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland. Except for this one line, and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses the standard gauge for its railways, unlike Russia and the other former countries of the Soviet Union. The line runs on a single track for almost 400 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of Hrubieszów, to Sławków (one of the suburbs of the proposed union). It is used only for freight transport, mainly iron ore and coal. It is the westernmost broad gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad gauge rail system of the countries which before 1991 constituted the Soviet Union. The line is managed by PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa Spólka z o.o. company. Previous name of this line was Linia Hutniczo Siarkowa (English: Metallurgy - Sulfur Line), but after sulfur ceased to be transported on the line its name was changed.

Water transport

In Gliwice near Katowice operates Gliwice Canal (pl:Kanal Gliwicki) which links Gliwice Harbour to the Oder River and thus to the waterway network across much of Germany and to the Baltic Sea.

Kłodnica Canal (pl: Kanal Klodnicki) is no longer used to transport goods, but it is popular with leisure cruisers.

Sports

There are many sports centers in the city as well. Most of these facilities are swimming pools and sports halls, many of them built by the municipality in the past several years.

Katowice is a city where you can enjoy active leisure as well. Tourists can relax playing tennis or squash, doing water sports also sailing (for example - in Dolina Trzech Stawów), horse-riding (in Wesoła Fala and Silesian culture and refreshment park), cycling or going to one of numerous excellently equipped fitness clubs. Near the city center are sporting facilities like swimming pools (for example "Bugla", "Rolna") and in neighbourhood - golf courses (in Siemianowice Śląskie).