Upper Silesia

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Image:Superiorem Silesiam AD1746.jpg Upper Silesia (Czech: Horní Slezsko; German: Oberschlesien; Latin: Silesia Superior; Polish: Górny Śląsk; Silesian: Górny Sloonsk) was a southeastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland (Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship) and to the Czech Republic (Silesian-Moravian Region). The region is situated in the Silesian highlands, between the upper Oder and upper Vistula rivers. Total population of the Upper Silesian Industry Area is 3,487,000.

1 Major cities and towns
2 Cieszyn and Opole Silesia
3 History
4 The Silesian Uprisings 1919-1921 against Germany
5 Literature
6 See also
7 Links

[edit] Major cities and towns

(All in Poland unless otherwise indicated; population figures are for 1995)

Katowice (Kattowitz) (354,200)
Ostrava (Mährisch Ostrau) (320,000) - Czech Republic (eastern districts, Cieszyn Silesia)
Bytom (Beuthen) (227,600)
Gliwice (Gleiwitz) (214,000)
Zabrze (Hindenburg O.S.) (201,600)
Bielsko-Biała (Bielitz) (180,307)
Ruda Śląska (Ruda) (166,300)
Rybnik (Rybnik) (144,300)
Tychy (Tichau) (133,900)
Opole (Oppeln) (130,600) - the historical capital of Upper Silesia
Chorzów (Königshütte) (125,800)
Jastrzębie Zdrój (Bad Königsdorff-Jastrzemb) (103,500)
Mysłowice (Myslowitz) (80,000)
Siemianowice Śląskie (Siemianowitz) (78,100)
Kędzierzyn-Koźle (Kandrzin-Cosel) (70,700)
Tarnowskie Góry (Tarnowitz) (67,200)
Piekary Śląskie (Deutsch Piekar) (67,200)
Żory (Sohrau) (66,300)
Racibórz (Ratibor) (65,100)
Opava (62,000) (Troppau) - Czech Republic
Świętochłowice (Schwientochlowitz) (59,600)
Nysa (Neisse) (49,000)
Mikołów (Nikolai) (38,900)
Cieszyn (Teschen) (37,300)
Czechowice-Dziedzice (Czechowitz-Dzieditz) (35,600)
Pszczyna (Pleß) (34,600)
Kluczbork (Kreuzburg) (26,900)
Lubliniec (Lublinitz) (26,900)
Krnov (25,400) (Jägerndorf) - Czech Republic
Rydułtowy (Rydultau) (24,100)
Łaziska Górne (Ober-Lazisk) (23,000)
Bieruń (Bierun) (22,100)
Pyskowice (Peiskretscham) (21,900)
Strzelce Opolskie (Groß Strehlitz) (21,900)

[edit] Cieszyn and Opole Silesia

Opole and especially Cieszyn Silesia are historical parts of Upper Silesia. Opole nowadays is a major part of Opole Voivodeship.

[edit] History

Upper Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Poland in the High Middle Ages. Then it was under Bohemian control in the Late Middle Ages, as well as under influence of German language, culture and settlers, afterwards it became Austrian, and Prussian administered. After 1919 the eastern part, which was predominantly ethnic Polish, came under Polish rule as the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship, while the mostly German-speaking western part remained part of Germany as the Province of Upper Silesia. After 1945 virtually entire Upper Silesia became part of Poland and the German populations were expelled by force and deported to West Germany.

[edit] The Silesian Uprisings 1919-1921 against Germany

[edit] Literature

H. Förster, B. Kortus (1989) "Social-Geographical Problems of the Cracow and Upper Silesia Agglomerations", Paderborn. (Bochumer Geographische Arbeiten No. 51)

Krzysztof Gwosdz (2000) "The Image of Upper Silesia in geography textbooks 1921-1998", in: Boleslaw Domanski (Ed.), Prace Geograficzne, No. 106, Institute of Geography of the Jagiellonian University Kraków. pp. 55-68

Rudolf Carl Virchow. "Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia." (1848) Am J Public Health 2006;96 2102-2105.

http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/extract/96/12/2102?etoc Excerpted from: Virchow RC. Collected Essays on Public Health and Epidemiology. Vol 1. Rather LJ, ed. Boston, Mass: Science History Publications; 1985:204–319.