The cultural heritage of Silesia – Poland

The whole European cultural heritage is made up of individual nations, but their values ​​are the cultural regions, as part of a whole. By cultural regions, traditions and the heritage of past centuries still exist. Culture is a determinant of social development, and it consists of material property passed from generation to generation and spiritual heritage, which is one of the elements of national consciousness. 

Polish culture has existed for over a thousand years. After the old days numerous traces have been left: medieval castles and fortresses, Old Town districts of large cities and aristocratic palaces. Poland also has a wealth of contemporary artistic life, which in many areas - music, literature, film and the visual arts - is gaining a wide resonance in the world.  Among many monuments of Poland, a lot have been inscribed on the UNESCO list (including the Old Town in Warsaw, Wawel Castle in Krakow, Malbork Castle).

The influence of the regional tradition on the achievements of the whole of Europe can be seen in numerous international competitions and folk festivals, where there is no shortage of Polish songs and dance (eg "Silesia" and "Mazowsze"). Many literary works of our national poets are translated into different languages ​​ (eg Cz. Milosz, W. Szymborska) and the works of theater and film (eg A. Wajda, K. Kutz) that is also very important for us, Poles. 

         

Silesia

In Poland, there are many cultural regions within which traditions are constantly cultivated, these are "little homelands". One of them is the most industrial region of Poland - Upper Silesia, where my family has lived for many generations. Since ancient times the territory of the present Silesian province has developed mining for ore of silver and lead.The Cistercians, who resided in Silesia, were engaged in mining, iron smelting and glass making, in the thirteenth century. Silesian landscape is dominated by steel mills chimneys, power plants, coal mines and slag heaps.

Silesian Province (created in 1999) is the area of ​​ multicultural influences shaped by its people of Polish, German, Czech and Jewish descent. It is a region with culturally diverse areas and a strong sense of ethnic identity. It covers the eastern part of the historical lands of Upper Silesia and the western part of Małopolska with Dabrowski Basin. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This is the second (after Mazowieckie Province) most populous province in Poland (4.6 million people - 12% of the population).  

Material heritage

Material expression of the richness and multifaceted traditions are attractions specific to the region, such as wooden churches of framework construction (in three Polish regions, including Silesia, there are more of them than in the entire Europe), monuments associated with the industrial culture (including housing estates – Giszowiec and Nikiszowiec, Ficinus and Kaufhaus in Ruda Slaska, underground excavations – Tarnowskie Gory, Zabrze, Rybnik, technical monuments - their number is estimated at several thousand), residential architectural monuments (eg. 38 urban systems, Bytom secession), the landscape compositions (including 98 historic parks).

Changing borders, which ran through the area of today’s Silesia, left a unique monument of military architecture - from the castles - fortresses located on the Krakow – Czestochowa Upland to the fortified  Silesian region from the '30s of the twentieth century.
Due to its location on the border of cultures and extensive history over the centuries, rich and varied cultural heritage of Silesian has been maintained until nowadays. There are more than 4000 monuments  inscribed to the register of historic monuments in Silesia. The register of archaeological monuments contains 231 archaeological sites. The register of movable monuments includes about 6,000 objects.

Institutions

In Silesia there are numerous cultural institutions:

• 3 theaters: dramatic - Silesian Theatre in Katowice, musical - Entertainment Theatre in Chorzow and Silesian Opera House in Bytom,
• Silesian Philharmonic, which is the organizer of the International Competition for Conductors named after Gregory Fitelberg,
• numerous museums (Museum of Coal Mining in Zabrze, along with open-air museum "Queen Louise", Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom with natural and ethnographic collections  as well as valuable collection of contemporary Polish art, the Museum "Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park in Chorzów" - museum exhibiting traditional buildings from Silesian region by using original works or their reconstruction, Silesian Museum in Katowice, Pless Castle Museum, the Museum in Bielsko-Biala with branches: the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry, Weaver's House and Julian Fałat’s Museum in Bystra, historic Coal Mine  "Guido" in Zabrze,
• Library of Silesia in Katowice (situated on Europe Square)
• regional cultural centers - in Bielsko-Biala, Czestochowa and Katowice - dealing with professional development of the creators of culture, promotion of artistic groups and creators of culture, presenting the culture through artistic events, folklore and exhibitions designed to protect and preserve the wealth of folk culture,
• Song and Dance Ensemble "Slask" named after Stanislaus Hadyna with its seat in a castle in Koszecin,
• Film Institution Silesia Film,
• Institution of Culture Ars Cameralis Silesiae Superioris - Upper Silesian Chamber Arts Festival promoting culture outside the region and the country.
• Besides, urban green spaces, especially the Regional Park of Culture and Recreation in Chorzów are noteworthy. 

Nature

Despite considerable industrialization and urbanization, Silesia is rich in wildlife and landscape values, ​​forming together with cultural works unique combinations - the best example is situated within the historical Lesser Poland, Eagle Nests Landscape Park - a set of castles and fortresses built in the picturesque Cracow-Czestochowa Jura. The most popular ones are stored in the form of stable ruins of castles in Ogrodzieniec, Olsztyn, Bobolice and Mirow.

Residential properties, coming into existence in a later period, often forming vast palace and park complexes, as well as residences of factory owners also include prince’s residence in Pless, Hunting Lodge in nearby Promnice, palace in Pławniowice, Schön’s palace in Sosnowiec, palaces in Swierklaniec and Kamieniec.

Religious heritage

In addition to secular objects, places of worship also play an important role. A unique religious place is a monastery of Pauline Fathers at Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, the most important pilgrimage destination in the country, declared a historical monument - a monument of special importance to the culture of our country. Among other places of worship, the ones that  deserve attention are: the shrine of Piekary and Zarki-Lesniow and Cistercian monastery and palace complex in Rudy Wielkie, where the Nature Park was created. Compact group of objects is a complex of about seventy wooden churches, chapels and bell towers that make up the Wooden Architecture Route. Among many places of worship were also churches and synagogues with the emerging places of burial of the faithful Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, Lutheran (eg Cieszyn, Jasienica, Katowice, Molna) and Jewish (eg Gliwice, Katowice, Krzepice, Kromołów, Zawiercie), providing a multi-cultural history of the region.

Fortifications

The province also preserved fortified area "Silesia", which consists of objects and fortifications such as in Bobrowniki, Tarnowskie Gory, Wyry, Ruda Slaska, Bytom. Fortifications are the second largest Polish defensive structures formed during the Second Republic.   

However, the most characteristic of the Upper Silesian history and landscape of the province are monuments of technology creating Monuments Route of the Silesian Province, numbering 31 buildings (including the old railway and narrow gauge railways, housing umbrella, objects associated with the coal mining industry, mining and processing of metals as well as numerous museums dedicated to the technical monuments. Among them there is an important place for the history of World War II - the radio station in Gliwice with the mast considered to be the world's tallest wooden building, and the underground of an old mine of Silver Ores and the drift "Black Trout" in Tarnowskie Gory).

Feel invited to visit our beautiful country and the Region of Silesia where we live, to learn about our rich cultural heritage and to enjoy Silesian dishes such as sour soup, roulade with potato dumplings and red cabbage, and to taste krupnioki with beer from Tychy or Zywiec. And for dessert I recommend a Silesian cake with cheese, poppy seeds and sprinkle. 

    

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