Beskid foothills

Beskid foothills
	Boundaries of the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship (1975–1998), for which the name was established Border of the Duchy of Teschen-Auschwitz under Mieszko von Teschen Historical border between Silesia and Lesser Poland after the Middle Ages Border between the Silesian and Lesser Poland Voivodeships (after 1998) Cities;
location	Poland
part of	West Beskids
Coordinates	49 ° 50 ′ N , 19 ° 2 ′ E Coordinates: 49 ° 50 ′ N , 19 ° 2 ′ E

The Beskid foothills (also Beskid Land , Polish Podbeskidzie , about [the land] below [pod] the Beskids ) is an informal name for the area in the vicinity of the city of Bielsko-Biała , in the foothills as well as the West Beskid itself, in southern Poland in the voivodeship Silesia and the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , often to emphasize the separate identity of the area, especially to Upper Silesia , but also to Lesser Poland .

The Polish term Podbeskidzie is not exactly defined (similar to Podkarpacie , which existed before the creation of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship ), refers to the Silesian foothills , parts of the Pogórze Wielickie and parts of the Auschwitz basin . The term has been used since the beginning of the 20th century for the area around Bielsko-Biała , like the parallel German-language name Beskidenland . With the administrative reform of 1975, the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship was informally referred to as Podbeskidzie , i.e. not only the foothills of the Beskydy Mountains , but also large parts of the Western Beskids themselves.

history

Parts of the historical regions of Cieszyn Silesia and Lesser Poland belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship . These areas were largely united in the Middle Ages under Duke Mieszko von Teschen-Auschwitz , after which the western and eastern parts were divided by the border along the Biała river between the duchies of Teschen and Auschwitz . After the Duchy of Auschwitz was bought from the Polish king, this border became a state. As a result of the first partition of Poland , both areas came back to the same state. With the loss of the national border, Biala and Bielitz merged more and more. The following industrialization brought in the demographic growth and the twin cities gradually surpassed the importance of the historical centers of Teschen and Auschwitz. The border at Bialka remained, however, between the regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland or the Voivodeships of Silesia and Krakow (1920-1939). It was not until the Second World War that this border was blurred and moved to the east (see district of Bielitz ). On January 1, 1951, the cities of Bielsko and Biała Krakowska were reunited and the Biała district in the Kraków (Kraków) Voivodeship was dissolved and attached to the Bielsko (Bielitz) district in the Katowice Voivodeship .

The reform of the administration of Poland from 1975, which is often criticized today, is generally well assessed and remembered in Bielsko-Biała. For the area of the voivodeship, the name Podbeskidzie became particularly common at that time, which emphasized the new identity of the area in the vicinity of the city of Bielsko-Biała towards Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland.

After the dissolution of the voivodeship in 1998, the term remained colloquial, especially in the media with its headquarters in Bielsko-Biała (over 50% of townspeople identify with the Beskydy (foothills), while only a small proportion with Silesia). However, the designation encountered resistance, e.g. B. in Teschener Silesia, more rarely in Saybuscher Land . From a geographical perspective, the use of the name Podbeskidzie has also been criticized for including the mountains, so the Beskids themselves are often excluded. In their place, however, was z. B. the area surrounding the town of Pszczyna (Pless) included, so the area was upstream approximately to the north. The term Podbeskidzie has also found its way into numerous proper names. This is how the Bielsko Region (department) of Solidarność was named and this is how, for example, the Bielsko-Biała Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała football club is called .

Another symbolic example of the union of both landscapes is the creation in 1992 of the Bielsko-Żywiec diocese , which included areas of the former dioceses of Wroclaw and Krakow .

Individual evidence

^ Ryszard Kaczmarek: Bielsko-Biała. Monografia miasta . Bielsko-Biała w Polsce Ludowej 1945–1989. 2nd Edition. tape IV. . Wydział Kultury i Sztuki Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej, Bielsko-Biała 2011, ISBN 978-83-60136-46-1 , p. 409 (Polish).
↑ Ewa Jurczyńska-McCusley: Bielsko-Biala. Monografia miasta . 2nd Edition. tape IV . Wydział Kultury i Sztuki Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej, Bielsko-Biała 2011, ISBN 978-83-60136-26-3 , p. 632-633 (Polish).

Remarks

↑ This translation was not used in the German-language literature, but is analogous to the translation of the name of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship .
^ West of the river Biała without the municipalities Czechowice-Dziedzice and Zebrzydowice ,
↑ thus also of Galicia , east of the river Biała (Bialka)

[4] Ryszard Kaczmarek: Bielsko-Biała. Monografia miasta . Bielsko-Biała w Polsce Ludowej 1945–1989. 2nd Edition. tape IV. . Wydział Kultury i Sztuki Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej, Bielsko-Biała 2011, ISBN 978-83-60136-46-1 , p. 409 (Polish).

[5] Ewa Jurczyńska-McCusley: Bielsko-Biala. Monografia miasta . 2nd Edition. tape IV . Wydział Kultury i Sztuki Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej, Bielsko-Biała 2011, ISBN 978-83-60136-26-3 , p. 632-633 (Polish).

[1] This translation was not used in the German-language literature, but is analogous to the translation of the name of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship .

[2] West of the river Biała without the municipalities Czechowice-Dziedzice and Zebrzydowice ,

[3] thus also of Galicia , east of the river Biała (Bialka)