From the history of Katowice

About the exhibition

The exhibition shows the dynamic past of Katowice up till modern times, set against the tumultuous historical events in this part of Europe. At the same time, it contains threads from the past of various districts of the city, which used to be separate settlements.

Katowice was granted city privileges on 11 September 1865. Although it was a major event in its history, it was by no means the beginning of its story, which can be found a few centuries earlier. Some of today’s districts of Katowice go back to the Middle Ages. Also, the metallurgical traditions of Katowice date back to the medieval period, as the natural conditions allowed for many centuries’ operation of a few iron smelters on the terrain of  today’s Katowice, primarily at the Rawa river. Next to the river, one of the smelters called ”bogucka” was established, whose structures were located precisely in the today’s city centre, near the main square. A settlement under the same name grew in the vicinity of the smelter, mentioned as early as in 1397. Most probably, it was one of the owners of the smelter, Andrzej Bogucki, who founded a homestead village called Katowice, first mentioned in documents from 1598.

Certainly, at the time of the foundation of the village, nobody suspected what a significant role Katowice was going to play in the centuries to come. The time of breakthrough for the settlement came with the industrial revolution, which brought about great technological changes. As a result, in the first half of the 19th century, in the area of today’s Katowice, iron started to be smelted in coke-heated blast furnaces. Numerous zinc smelters and coal mines were established. After Katowice was granted city privileges, it swiftly rose to the rank of a major economic and administrative centre in Upper Silesia. Within a few years, it became a district town, after a few dozen – the capital of the whole voivodeship (district). Since then, it continuously plays a leading role in the region.

The exhibition is planned in a way allowing for absorbing it at three levels of narration, varied with respect to the degree of detail and the form of communication. Both tourists and history buffs, children and adults – everybody will find something of interest here. The descriptions have been translated into English in full, while the films introducing particular threads are available also in the version for the hearing-impaired. Multimedia display cases, applications and slides bringing back the times of the People’s Republic of Poland, as well as graphic design evoking the spirit of the past epochs – all this is just a part of what we can offer to the viewer. We aim at modernity and interactivity, but the main focus of the exhibition are the artefacts – over 500 of them – as well as numerous reproductions of archival documents, maps and plans, old postcards and photographs. They form the core around which the substantive content is organised.

Joanna Tofilska

The event is under the patronage of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.

The modernisation of the permanent exhibition „From the History of Katowice” was co-financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Check also