Silesia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Silesia
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Historical region
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Austrian Silesia,
before 1740 Prussian annexation Prussian Silesia, 1871 Oder riverBasemap shows modern national borders. |
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| Coordinates: 51°36′N 17°12′E / 51.6°N 17.2°ECoordinates: 51°36′N 17°12′E / 51.6°N 17.2°E | |||
| Country | |||
| Largest city | Wrocław | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 40,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi) | ||
| Population | |||
| • Total | c. 8,000,000 | ||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||
Silesia (Polish: Śląsk; German: Schlesien; Latin: Silesia; Silesian: Ślůnsk) is a historical region of Poland. Between 1742 – 1945, it was the eastern part of Germany and was a Prussian province. In 1945, all of Poland country was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In the following years, the occupant enacted laws that in effect chased away the remaining all of owners (communism).
Contents
Geography
Silesia is along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes mountains and the Carpathian Mountains.
The highest point of Silesia is the Śnieżka - in the Sudetes mountains.
Cities
The largest cities of Silesia (Population of 1939):
| Name | Population |
|---|---|
| Wrocław | 630,041 |
| Katowice | 127,044 (1931) |
| Zabrze | 126,211 |
| Gliwice | 117,323 |
| Chorzów | 102,349 (1931) |
| Bytom | 100,891 |
| Zgorzelec | 93,823 |
| Legnica | 83,701 |
| Walbrzych | 64,072 |
| Opole | 52,992 |
| Racibórz | 50,000 |
Other Cities are: Brzeg, Boleslawiec, Kozle, Zabkowice Slaskie, Klodzko, Głogów, Strzelce Opolskie, Zielona Gora, Zlotoryja, Jelenia Gora, Glubczyce, Nysa, Swidnica, Trzebnica
Famous people
There are many famous people who were born in Silesia:
- Writers, poets and playwrights like Andreas Gryphius, Martin Opitz, Fürst von Pückler-Muskau, Carl Hauptmann, Gerhart Hauptmann (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912), Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, Gustav Freytag
- Members of the German Resistance such as Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke,
- Military officers such as Manfred von Richthofen, Erwin von Witzleben
- Painters like Adolph von Menzel
- Philosophers like Jakob Böhme
- Actors like Dieter Hildebrandt, Victor de Kowa, Ludwig M. Lommel, Wolfgang Neuss, Willy Fritsch, Hanna Schygulla, Georg Thomalla
- Politicians like Paul Löbe (SPD), Klaus Töpfer (CDU), Manfred Kanther (CDU), Ferdinand Lassalle, Erich Mende (FDP)
- Scientists like Hans G. Dehmelt (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1989), Paul Ehrlich (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1908), Friedrich Bergius (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1931), Max Born (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1954), Fritz Haber (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1918), Reinhard Selten (Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 1994), Konrad Bloch (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1964), Bernhard Grzimek, Johannes Winkler, Maria Goeppert-Mayer (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963), Kurt Alder (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1950), Otto Stern (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1943)
- Builder and architects like Carl Gotthard Langhans
- Musicians like Katja Ebstein, Roy Etzel, Michael Jary
Gallery
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First map of Silesia (1561)
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City hall of Breslau, Germany between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900. View from the east.
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Krummhuebel, Church of Wang (German: Kirche Wang) between 1890 and 1905.
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Postcard of the market square in the city of Oppeln in 1904.
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Hotel "Haus Oberschlesien" (transl.: Upper Silesia House) in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany, 1928
Images for kids
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Silesia in an early period of Poland's fragmentation, 1172–1177
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Battle of Legnica (1241) during the Mongol invasion of Silesia
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Lands of the Bohemian Crown until 1742 when most of Silesia was ceded to Prussia
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Typical Silesian baroque architecture in Wrocław
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Coal Mine Bolesław Śmiały, Łaziska Górne
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Polish names of Silesian cities, from a 1750 Prussian official document published in Berlin during the Silesian Wars.
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Confessions in the German Empire (Protestant/Catholic; c. 1890). Lower Silesia was mostly Protestant, while Glatz and Upper Silesia were mostly Catholic.
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Henryk IV's Probus coat of arms.
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Coat of arms of Austrian Silesia (1742–1918)
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Prussian province of Lower Silesia (1919–1938 and 1941–1945)
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Churches of Peace, Świdnica and Jawor
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Centennial Hall, Wrocław
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Historic Silver Mine, Tarnowskie Góry
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Muskau Park, Łęknica and Bad Muskau
