Dąbrowa Górnicza ,ąbrowaGó German: Dombrowa, is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula, see Przemsza).
Even though Dąbrowa Górnicza belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland, it now is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and previously (1975–1998) it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Dąbrowa Górnicza is one of the cities of the Katowice urban area (2.7 million people), and within the greater Silesian metropolitan area (5.2 million people). The population of the city itself as of December 2021 is 116,971.
Area and districts
Dąbrowa Górnicza is the largest city of the province and the 9th largest in Poland in terms of territory, with total area of 188 square kilometers. The city lies among the hills, at 258 to 390 meters above sea level. Dąbrowa Górnicza borders Będzin County, Zawiercie County, Olkusz County and the city of Sosnowiec. At the same time it borders the cities and towns of Sosnowiec, Będzin, Siewierz and Sławków. The city is divided into several districts: Antoniów, Błędów, Bugaj, Centrum, Dziewiąty, Gołonóg, Korzeniec, Kuźniczka Nowa, Łazy Błędowskie, Łęka, Łęknice, Łosień, Marianki, Mydlice, Okradzionów, Piekło, Ratanice, Reden, Sikorka, Strzemieszyce Małe, Strzemieszyce Wielkie, Trzebiesławice, Trzydziesty, Tucznawa, Ujejsce, Ząbkowice. Furthermore, in 1977–1984 the town of Sławków was a district of Dąbrowa Górnicza.
The place name Dąbrowa, is derived from the Polish word dąb (oak), and denotes an oak grove, as the territory of the original village is believed to have been covered by oak forests back in the early days of its existence. From the 19th century, the settlement grew to be an important coal-mining center, and its name was supplemented by the adjective Górnicza (which refers to mining) in 1919, to distinguish it from such towns, as Dąbrowa Tarnowska and Dąbrowa Białostocka.
History
In the first half of the 18th century, Dąbrowa was a small agricultural settlement belonging to the Będzin parish of Lesser Poland's Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. It was first mentioned on 25 July 1726, when the parish priest of Holy Trinity Church at Będzin noted a woman named Anna Lisowa from Dąbrowa. At the 1787 census of the Archdiocese of Kraków, the settlement numbered 184 inhabitants. The districts of Dąbrowa, which for centuries had been separate villages, are much older. Trzebieslawice was first mentioned in the 12th century; Błędow was mentioned by Bishop of Kraków Iwo Odrowąż in the year 1220; Strzemieszyce and Ujejsce were mentioned in the 14th century; Gołonóg
in the 15th century; while Ząbkowice was described by Jan Długosz.
After the Third Partition of Poland (1795) Dąbrowa was annexed by Prussia and incorporated into its newly formed province of New Silesia. The Prussians discovered rich deposits of coal here and the first coal mine was established by Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden in 1796. In 1799, first detailed map of this area was created, on which a settlement called Stara Dąbrowa is presented. It was located along a road from Kraków to Upper Silesia. The coal mine, established by Friedrich Reden, attracted workers, and a settlement was soon established around it. In 1807, Dąbrowa was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815, after the duchy's dissolution, it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1846, the Cieszkowski Coal Mine was opened, named after Józef Cieszkowski. The Zinc Plant Konstanty operated as early as 1823, and the Huta Bankowa steel works, which is still in operation, was built in Dąbrowa Górnicza in 1834. First primary school was opened in 1820, and first Roman Catholic church of St. Alexander was built in the 1870s. During the January Uprising, in February 1863, Dąbrowa was captured by Polish insurgents after their victory in the Battle of Sosnowiec nearby. In 1909 the gmina of Dąbrowa Górnicza was established by Tsarist authorities. Even though its population reached 30,000, the Russians were reluctant to grant Dąbrowa town charter, so it remained a village until 18 August 1916, when Austrian authorities, which during World War I occupied southern part of Congress Poland, agreed to establish the town. After the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the city. 15 local Polish boy scouts were killed in fights for Polish independence in 1914–1920. In the Second Polish Republic, Dąbrowa belonged to Kielce Voivodeship.