Silesia

Silesia (Polish: [Śląsk] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); German: [Schlesien] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); Latin: [Silesia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); Silesian: Ślůnskcode: szl is deprecated ; Schlasian: Schläsing) is a historical region of Germany, Czechia, and Poland. From 1742 to 1945, it was a province in east Prussia and later Germany. In 1945, all of Poland was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In the following years, the communist poles forcibly chased away all of the remaining owners.

Ślůnsk/Schläsing
Historical region
Flag 80px Coat of arms
Austrian Silesia, before 1740 Prussian annexation     Prussian Silesia, 1871     Oder riverBasemap shows modern national borders.      Austrian Silesia, before 1740 Prussian annexation     Prussian Silesia, 1871     Oder riverBasemap shows modern national borders.
Coordinates: 51.6°N 17.2°E / 51.6; 17.2
Country	Poland Czech Republic Germany
Largest city	Breslau(Wroclaw)
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)

Geography

Silesia is along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes and the Carpathian Mountains.

The highest point of Silesia is the Śnieżka, in the Sudetes.

Administrative region of Breslau, 1914

Cities

Here is a list of cities in Silesia with a population of over 20,000 in 2015:

		Name	Population	Area	Country	Administrative	Historic subregion
1	25px	Wrocław	632,067	293 km2 (113 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
2	25px	Katowice	304,362	165 km2 (64 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
3	25px	Ostrava*	287,968	214 km2 (83 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia/Moravia
4	25px	Gliwice	185,450	134 km2 (52 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
5	25px	Zabrze	178,357	80 km2 (31 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
6	48px	Bielsko-Biała*	173,699	125 km2 (48 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia/Lesser Poland
7	25px	Bytom	173,439	69 km2 (27 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
8	25px	Ruda Śląska	141,521	78 km2 (30 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
9	25px	Rybnik	140,173	148 km2 (57 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
10	25px	Tychy	128,799	82 km2 (32 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
11	25px	Opole	120,146	97 km2 (37 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
12	25px	Zielona Góra	118,405	58 km2 (22 sq mi)		22px Lubusz Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
13	25px	Wałbrzych	117,926	85 km2 (33 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
14	25px	Chorzów	110,761	33 km2 (13 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
15	File:POL Legnica COA.svg	Legnica	101,992	56 km2 (22 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
16	25px	Jastrzębie-Zdrój	91,235	85 km2 (33 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
17	25px	Jelenia Góra	81,985	109 km2 (42 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
18	25px	Mysłowice	75,129	66 km2 (25 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
19	25px	Lubin	74,053	41 km2 (16 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
20	25px	Havířov	71,200	32 km2 (12 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia
21	25px	Głogów	68,997	35 km2 (14 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
22	25px	Siemianowice Śląskie	68,844	25 km2 (10 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
23	25px	Kędzierzyn-Koźle	63,194	124 km2 (48 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
24	25px	Żory	62,038	65 km2 (25 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
25	25px	Tarnowskie Góry	60,957	84 km2 (32 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
26	25px	Świdnica	59,182	22 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
27	25px	Opava	57,676	91 km2 (35 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia
28	25px	Piekary Śląskie	57,148	40 km2 (15 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
29		Frýdek-Místek*	56,450	52 km2 (20 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia/Moravia
30	25px	Racibórz	55,930	75 km2 (29 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
31	25px	Görlitz**	55,255	68 km2 (26 sq mi)		Free State of Saxony	Historically part of Lusatia, Görlitz was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1319–1329 and 1815–1945
32	25px	Karviná	52,128	57 km2 (22 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia
33	25px	Świętochłowice	51,824	13 km2 (5 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
34	File:POL Wodzisław Śląski COA.svg	Wodzisław Śląski	48,731	50 km2 (19 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
35	25px	Nysa	44,899	27 km2 (10 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
36	25px	Mikołów	39,776	79 km2 (31 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
37	25px	Nowa Sól	39,721	22 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Lubusz Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
38	25px	Bolesławiec	39,603	24 km2 (9 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
39	25px	Knurów	39,090	34 km2 (13 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
40	25px	Oleśnica	37,303	21 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
41	25px	Brzeg	36,980	15 km2 (6 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
42	File:POL Cieszyn COA.svg	Cieszyn	35,918	29 km2 (11 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
43	25px	Czechowice-Dziedzice	35,684	33 km2 (13 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
44	25px	Třinec	35,002	85 km2 (33 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia
45	25px	Dzierżoniów	34,428	20 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
46	25px	Hoyerswerda/Wojerecy**	33,843	96 km2 (37 sq mi)		Free State of Saxony	Historically part of Lusatia, Hoyerswerda was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1825–1945
47	25px	Oława	32,240	27 km2 (10 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
48	25px	Zgorzelec**	31,890	16 km2 (6 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Historically part of Lusatia, Zgorzelec was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1319–1329 and 1815–1945
49	File:POL Bielawa COA.svg	Bielawa	31,186	36 km2 (14 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
50	25px	Kluczbork	24,207	12 km2 (5 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
51	25px	Lubliniec	24,105	89 km2 (34 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
52	File:Krnov znak.png	Krnov	24,079	44 km2 (17 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia
53	25px	Jawor	23,650	19 km2 (7 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
54	25px	Żagań	23,235	40 km2 (15 sq mi)		22px Lubusz Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
55	25px	Świebodzice	23,197	30 km2 (12 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
56	25px	Nowa Ruda	22,823	37 km2 (14 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
57	25px	Polkowice	22,535	24 km2 (9 sq mi)		22px Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
58	25px	Łaziska Górne	22,413	21 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
59	25px	Świebodzin	21,963	11 km2 (4 sq mi)		22px Lubusz Voivodeship	Lower Silesia
60	25px	Rydułtowy	21,741	15 km2 (6 sq mi)		22px Silesian Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
61	25px	Prudnik	21,472	21 km2 (8 sq mi)		22px Opole Voivodeship	Upper Silesia
62	25px	Bohumín	21,340	31 km2 (12 sq mi)		22px Moravian-Silesian Region	Czech Silesia

* Only partly in Silesia

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 like 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

• 

  First map of Silesia (1561)

• 

  City hall of Breslau, Germany between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900. View from the east.

• 

  Krummhuebel, Church of Wang (German: Kirche Wang) between 1890 and 1905.

• 

  Postcard of the market square in the city of Oppeln in 1904.

• 

  Hotel "Haus Oberschlesien" (transl.: Upper Silesia House) in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany, 1928

Silesia Media

• Wappen Niederschlesiens (links) und Oberschlesiens (rechts) in generischer Darstellung. Bearbeitet unter Verwendung der nachfolgenden Datei:

• Map of Poland with Silesia (Śląsk) in the year 992 during the rule of Mieszko I

• Silesia in the early period of Poland's fragmentation, 1172–1177, Lower Silesia with Lubusz Land in orange, Upper Silesia in green and yellow

• Lands of the Bohemian Crown between 1635 and 1742, before most of Silesia was ceded to Prussia

• Typical Silesian baroque architecture in Wrocław

• Mother Tongues of Silesia, according to the 1905 Census

• Verbreitung der Konfessionen im deutschen Reich.jpg

  Confessions in the German Empire (Catholic/Protestant; c. 1890). Lower Silesia was mostly Protestant, while Glatz (Kłodzko) and Upper Silesia were mostly Catholic.

• Silesia Physical Map.png

  Physical map of Silesia in 1905

Other websites

• http://www.schlesien-lm.de - official website of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien
• http://www.schlesierbund.de - Schlesierbund from Nürnberg, Germany
• http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/provinz_schlesien.htm Archived 2013-03-23 at the Wayback Machine - Deutsche Schutzgebiete - Provinz Schlesien