The Silesian Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo śląskie) is the eastern
part of the Greater Silesian Region and is located in southern Poland.
It borders on the Świętokrzyskie and Lesser Poland Voivodeships to the
east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, the Opole
Voivodeship to the west and the Łódź Voivodeship to the north. The
voivodeship is divided into three parts from north to south: White
Silesia (Karst of the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura), Black Silesia (Upper
Silesian industrial area with heavy industry and mining) and Green
Silesia (mixed mountain forests of the Beskids):
There are
numerous rock formations, caves and castles in the Jura. The karst
region is popular with hikers, climbers, horseback riders, water sports
enthusiasts and cross-country skiers in winter. The only desert in
Central Europe is located here in the Błędów district of Jaworzno.
In the metropolises of Upper Silesia there is a rich cultural offer
of museums, galleries and concert performances. Several of today's
industrial cities date back to the Middle Ages and have preserved
Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque monuments. From the late 18th century,
coal mining flourished and numerous buildings were built in the classic,
historicism and art nouveau styles. Modernism shaped its architecture in
the interwar period and socialism in the early People's Republic. Since
the end of the 20th century, numerous post-modern skyscrapers have been
built, especially in Katowice.
In the south there are beautiful
mountain ranges, among which the highest are the Saybuscher Beskids at
approx. 1600m (Pilsko), the Silesian Beskids at approx. 1300m
(Skrzyczne) and the Small Beskids at approx. 1000m. To the north are the
Silesian foothills and the Auschwitz basin. The Vistula, which is the
longest river in Poland at over 1000 km, has its source on the western
slope of the Widderberg and is still largely free of commercial shipping
today.
Today's Silesian Voivodeship includes the eastern area of
Upper Silesia, parts of western Lesser Poland and the so-called Cieszyn
Silesia. These areas had a partly different history. Cieszyn is one of
the oldest cities in Poland and already existed at the time of the Great
Moravian Empire. Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia also belonged to the
Great Moravian Empire. From about 990 all these areas belonged to
Poland.
In the 14th century, Teschen and parts of Upper Silesia
came under Bohemia and in the 16th century under the Habsburg monarchy,
while Lesser Poland remained Polish until the first partition of Poland
in 1772. After the Silesian Wars, Upper Silesia became Prussian, while
Teschen Silesia remained with Austria. After the First World War almost
the whole area went to Poland. The West around Gleiwitz became part of
the Weimar Republic. After World War II this part also became Polish.
Today's Silesian Voivodeship was formed in 1999 from the areas of four
old Voivodeships.
Upper Silesia still has strong cultural
characteristics that differ from the rest of Poland and many people
identify strongly with their region. In the 2011 census, around 700,000
residents stated their ethnicity as "Silesians" (about half of them only
Silesian, the rest Silesian and Polish). Another 32,000 identify as
German.
The Silesian Voivodeship consists of several regions. In the south
are the mountain ranges of the Saybuscher and Silesian Beskids. The
Kraków-Częstochowa Jura, which historically belongs to Lesser Poland,
joins in the north-east. The middle represents the Silesian plateau. In
the vernacular, Silesia is divided into three regions from north to
south. The northern part is called White Silesia because of the
limestone rocks of the Jura, the middle is called Black Silesia because
of the hard coal deposits in the Upper Silesian industrial area and the
southern part is called Green Silesia because of the dense forests of
the Beskids.
The name possibly comes from the prehistorically
important cult mountain Ślęża (Latin: Silensi, German: Zobtenberg),
which is located in Lower Silesia. According to other theories, the
Slavic Slensanen or the Germanic Silingen gave their name. The term
Silesia is confusing at first, because the voivodeship only includes the
eastern edge of historical Silesia. It has no share in Lower Silesia and
only a part in Upper Silesia. However, the voivodeship is the most
populous part of historical Silesia.
Historical Upper Silesia
makes up most of the region, the original capital of which was Opole,
which today is not in the voivodeship. In the east, larger parts of
Lesser Poland also belong to the Silesian Voivodeship. Parts of the
north lie in historic Greater Poland. On the other hand, parts of
historical Upper Silesia are now in the Voivodeships of Opole and Lesser
Poland, and to a small extent also in the Czech Republic.
In the
north, the voivodeship has a share in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura with
its chalk cliffs
A large part of the Woischnik-Welun Plateau is
located in the Voivodeship.
The voivodeship has a share in the
Silesian Plateau in the north and in the middle.
In the southwest,
the Upper Oder Valley runs through the Silesian Plain in the
Voivodeship.
East of the Oder Valley is the Vistula Valley with the
Auschwitz Basin.
The Silesian foothills to the south extend to Lesser
Poland.
In the south, the voivodeship shares part of the West
Beskids.
The Silesian Beskids are located in the border triangle of
Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The Little Beskids adjoin the
Silesian Beskids to the east.
The Saybuscher Beskydy lie in the
extreme south on the border with Slovakia.
The Saybuscher basin with
its reservoirs lies between the Beskydy mountain ranges.
The official language of the Silesian Voivodeship is Polish,
depending on the region with a Silesian, Lesser Polish or Goral dialect.
Most Poles also speak good or very good English. Some also have a
second foreign language such as German, Russian, Spanish, French or
Italian, which is mainly spoken and understood in the large and
touristically relevant cities.
By plane
Katowice International Airport (IATA: KTW) is located in
Katowice, with connections from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, among
others.
There are also connections from Germany to Kraków Airport
(IATA: KRK) near Kraków in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
By
train
The rail network is very good and well developed. It is the
densest in Poland.
Three continuous Trilex trains run daily from
Dresden via Görlitz and Legnica to Wroclaw and on to Kattowitz.
From Berlin there are connections with a change in Poznań from the EC to
other trains to Katowice.
The state railway company PKP has two
information offers on the web: travel information and intercity.pl for
booking their own long-distance transport offers. Both pages are also
available in German, English and Russian.
One operator of local
trains in Silesia is Koleje śląskie (kś). The company is 100% owned by
the voivodeship. The kś website provides information about local rail
transport, timetables and prices. The site is also available in German
and English. According to this page, buying tickets on the train is from
the conductor. Stationary ticket machines usually also accept credit
cards.
By bus
Numerous bus companies offer long-distance
connections via Katowice.
In the street
The road conditions
are very good and well developed. The road network is one of the densest
in Poland. The motorways are very well developed. In Silesia, the A4
usually has three lanes and is illuminated. The A1 is almost complete.
There are numerous expressways. In the Upper Silesian industrial area
with its almost 5 million inhabitants, there are many national trams and
buses.
The journey from Germany is recommended via Dresden on the
A4 motorway or via Berlin on the A18 motorway, which meets the A4 east
of Bolesławiec.