Chorzow description, location, history. Poland map.

Chorzow description, location, history. Poland map.

Chorzów (until 1934 known as Królewska Huta) is a town with county rights situated in Śląskie Voivodeship (Silesia Province) in the centre of GOP (Upper Silesia Industrial Centre).

Chorzów is often referred to as "the village of the holy sepulchers", which takes its origin in the town history strongly connected with the medieval history of the Knights' Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Few districts of the town have their own separate history. The oldest one, Chorzów Stary (Old Chorzów), used to be a village of Chorzów.

At the turn of the 15th to the 16th century, the first brick church was built (St. Maria Magdalena Church). From the 16th century, silver, lead and iron ores were mined, yet it was not until 1780 when Ludwik Bojarski, the town parson, discovered rich hard coal deposits. Due to this breakthrough discovery new industrial sectors developed: "Księżna Jadwiga" - owned by the parish, and the small zink works was built. In 1810, at the ordinance of Frederyk Wilhelm III, the monastery property and wealth were confiscated and became Prussian property; the convent was secularized.

Originally, Chorzów comprised of the settlemets, which centered around the iron works Huta Królewska (the Royal Steelworks, Königshütte)). Huta Królewska was opened in 1802, during the Prussian administration, on the initiative of an Earl von Reden. In 1791, the state-owned Royal Coal Mine was constructed and was named "König", which means "King"; later, the name was changed into "Barbara-Chorzów".

Königshutte, at the beginning referred to as the industrail settlement, started to develop dynamically in the second half of the 19th century. The population was growing quickly, the roads were built and Królewska Huta received a railway track to other towns in the Silesian Region. In 1892 the Post Office was built. The trams started to run on the cobbled and illumiated streets in 1894. The power station which was opened in 1898, was the biggest in Poland during the Interwar Period. Redena Hotel was opened in 1901.

Due to the difficult commercial relations with Germany (tariff war) and the property transfer in the factories, during the Interwar Period heavy industries of Chorzów stagnated until 1933. In fact, during these years only The State Factory of Nitrogen Compounds developed (in 1933 it merged with a similar company in Tarnów-Mościce). In 1927, a division of Huta Piłsudski (from 1936 known as "Piłsudski") was separated into the factory of rail cars and steel bridges; this gave birth to the Chorzów Factory of Steel Constructions Konstal (today known as Alstom Konstal S.A. - the leading producer of the rolling stock in Poland).

In 1934, separate industrial communities of Chorzów, Królewska Huta and Nowe Hajduki were merged into one municipality. In 1939, on the strength of the Act, the neighbouring commune Hajduki Wielkie was incorporated to Chorzów (today, known as Chorzów Batory, it is the biggest district in Chorzów).

Until today, Chorzów is the centre of metallurgical, chemical, energy and metal processing industry. It is also an important culture and recreation centre. Founded in the 1968, Silesian Park of Culture and Recreation is often unofficially referred to as General Jerzy Ziętek Park. The Entertainment Theatre, established in 1984, specializes in musicals and musical performances.