Upper Silesian industrial area

Central part of the Upper Silesian industrial area ( Upper Silesian Metropolitan Association )

The Upper Silesian Industrial Area ( Polish: Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy, GOP ) is the most important industrial area in Poland on the border between historical Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland . It is the center of Polish hard coal mining and heavy industry (16.8% of the country's production) and has 98% of Poland's hard coal deposits.

It is also the second largest metropolitan area in Poland with around 2.7 million inhabitants (2008). Major cities of the Upper Silesian industrial area are Beuthen ( Bytom ), Dombrowa ( Dąbrowa Górnicza ), Gleiwitz ( Gliwice ), Hindenburg ( Zabrze ), Jaworzno , Katowice ( Katowice ), Chorzow ( Chorzów ), Ruda ( Ruda Śląska ), Sosnowiec ( Sosnowiec ) and Tichau ( Tychy ). 14 cities in the Upper Silesian industrial area founded the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Association in 2007 .

history

Upper Silesian industrial area at the beginning of the 20th century on a map from approx. 1905 (map excerpt)

Polish or Dombrowa coal basin in Congress Poland in 1843

Katowice, Memorial to the Polish soldiers who fell in the Polish uprisings in Upper Silesia 1919–1921

The mining of silver and lead ores began as early as the 12th century , and hard coal has been mined since at least the 18th century ( Reden mine , 1785). Since there was no efficient transport infrastructure in the form of a waterway in the Upper Silesian Revier, a coherent industrial area was not formed until 1842 when the Upper Silesian Railway was connected to the railway network. The rapid development of the region began in the 19th and 20th centuries with industrialization (through hard coal mining and the iron and steel industry) ; it developed into the second largest heavy industrial center in the German Empire after the Ruhr area , similar to the Polish coal basin in the Russian-dominated Congress Poland and Kraków Mining area around Jaworzno in Austrian Galicia .

The division of Upper Silesia between Poland and Germany in 1922 brought economic problems with it, as the new border was drawn right through the district. As a result, coordinated production facilities and the infrastructure were separated and the economic area was considerably disturbed. In the time of the Sanacja there were controversial plans for the administrative unification of the area through the annexation of the heavily industrialized areas from the Kielce and Kraków Voivodeships to the Silesian Voivodeship .

The situation changed after the Second World War : Now that the entire industrial area had been placed under Polish administration by the Soviet occupying power , the state had an extensive economic area at its disposal. Although Polish industrial plants were badly damaged in World War II and most of them had to be rebuilt, the Upper Silesian industrial area survived this period comparatively well. In the course of the reconstruction of the Polish economy, the Upper Silesian industrial area was specifically expanded by the state according to a planned economy model.

Energy generation and steel production were essential for the further industrialization of the country, for which large quantities of hard coal had to be extracted. The expansion of heavy industry was driven forward very quickly, regardless of factors such as the environment or the health of the population. Even after 1970 under Edward Gierek , even from the area, new ironworks were built, such as the largest ironworks in Poland, "Katowice" near Dąbrowa Górnicza .

transformation

Tram Kattowitz – Königshütte – Beuthen

At the turn of 1989, the transformation from a planned economy to a free market economy began. The essential step, the privatization of the majority of the state-owned companies, was taken early and very rapidly. This proceeded with great turbulence, such as the drastic fall in the wage level and mass unemployment, as many production facilities were closed because they had to orientate themselves on the free market and the state subsidies did not materialize. The high population density and the high proportion of employees in the secondary sector as well as the orientation of the infrastructure towards heavy industry also contributed to the loss of over 320,000 jobs.

This situation has normalized and new jobs have been created in the service industry to compensate for the jobs lost in the secondary sector. Nevertheless, the area remains a problem region with the highest unemployment in Poland (20%). There are still several mines and some steel works, but these are still being dismantled. In a mine, for example, an office center could be built in the former administration building. There is more and more investment in the most populous region of Poland, especially as a result of joining the EU . The state-owned mining companies such as Katowicki Holding Węglowy and Kompania Węglowa are in deficit, but make an outstanding contribution to the country's electricity supply.

Line bus traffic

The seat cushions of the Upper Silesian tram show a conveyor shaft and an impeller

The area is accessible by tram in the Upper Silesian industrial area . The operators are Tramwaje Śląskie . The lines are integrated into the municipal transport association ZTM .

environmental issues

Jaworzno III power plant

Gas and dust emissions in the Katowice area are 20 times higher than the national average. At times 40 percent of the country's total air pollution was concentrated on just 2.1 percent of the state's territory. The water quality does not yet meet European standards either. The high density of settlements in the Upper Silesian industrial area caused a mixture of residential and industrial areas. This put a considerable strain on the health of the residents. In the Upper Silesian industrial area, the disease rate is well above the national average. For example, there are 50 percent more respiratory diseases and the cancer rate is a third higher than in the rest of Poland. These circumstances result in a significantly lower life expectancy.

The main reasons for these problems are the outdated industrial facilities. For example, the wastewater from the factories is insufficiently purified or discharged directly into the water without being treated. The high concentration of industrial plants close to the densely populated residential areas is another cause of the increased disease rate. After the Second World War, protecting the environment was not important, all that mattered was increasing productivity. Nobody bothered with environmental protection. More and more factories and mines were built regardless of water and air pollution.

The EU and the government are counteracting these problems with various measures. Some polluting companies have been relocated from the cities, emissions protection has been improved and the companies have been modernized. In addition, a large number of environmental agreements have been signed with investors and the EC. A number of sewage treatment plants have been funded by the EU. From now on, violations of environmental regulations should also be pursued more efficiently and, if necessary, punished. Already between 1990 and 1999 the environmental situation could be noticeably improved, nevertheless the Upper Silesian industrial area remains an "environmental emergency area".

Administrative division

The following cities, municipalities ( Gminas ) and districts ( Powiats ) belong to the Upper Silesian Industrial Area .

rank	Surname	Population (December 31, 2008)	Area (in km²)	Density (inhabitants / km²)
1.	Katowice	309,621	164.67	1,880
2.	Sosnowiec	221,775	91.26	2,447
3.	Gliwice	196.968	134.20	1,474
4th	Zabrze	188,717	80.47	2,357
5.	Bytom	184,328	69.32	2,680
6th	Powiat będziński	150,951	368.02	410
7th	Ruda Śląska	144.254	77.70	1,865
8th.	Powiat tarnogórski	137,646	642.63	214
9.	Tychy	129,540	82.63	1,578
10.	Dąbrowa Górnicza	128,560	188.00	688
11.	Powiat gliwicki	114.066	663.35	173
12.	Chorzów	113,469	33.50	3,395
13.	Jaworzno	95,383	152.20	628
14th	Powiat mikołowski	91,866	231.53	395
15th	Mysłowice	74,940	66.00	1,136
16.	Siemianowice Śląskie	71,425	25.50	2,824
17th	Piekary Śląskie	58,915	39.60	1,495
18th	Powiat bieruńsko-lędziński	56,345	156.68	358
19th	Świętochłowice	54,447	13.22	4.141
20th	gmina Chrzanów	50.166	79.33	632
21st	Oświęcim	41,382	30.30	1,366
22nd	Trzebinia	20,373	31.30	651
23.	Libiąż	17,671	35.88	493
24.	gmina Łazy	15,077	132.56	121
25th	gmina Chełmek	12,877	27.24	473
26th	Bukowno	10,765	63.42	167
27.	gmina Bolesław	7,842	41.42	189
	total	2,656,851	3,359.74	791

literature

• Lutz Budraß , Barbara Kalinowska-Wojcik, Andrzej Michalczyk (eds.): Industrialization and nationalization. Case studies on the history of the Upper Silesian industrial area in the 19th and 20th centuries (= publications on culture and history in Eastern Europe, Volume 40). Klartext, Essen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8375-0378-4 .
• Norman Davies: In the heart of Europe. History of Poland. Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-46709-1 .

Web links

• Map of the area around Katowice

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dariusz Majchrzak: Śląska autonomia dla Zagłębia Dąbrowskiego? Sprawa włączenia Zagłębia Dąbrowskiego do województwa śląskiego w II RP (Polish)
2. ^ Anne Kunz: The model country Poland threatens to get stuck on the EU drip. welt.de, May 11, 2015, accessed on May 11, 2015
3. ^ Central Statistical Office (Ed.) Population. Size and structure by territorial division as of December 31, 2008. ( Memento from June 3, 2009 on WebCite ) (PDF, Polish and English; 1.3 MB).