Silesia

Silesia (Polish: Śląsk; German: Schlesien; Latin: Silesia; Silesian: Ślůnsk) is a historical region of Poland. From 1742 to 1945, it was a province in the east of Prussia and later Germany. In 1945, all of Poland was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In the following years, the communist occupant enacted laws that in effect chased away all of the remaining owners.

Silesia
Historical region
Flag Coat of arms
Austrian Silesia, before 1740 Prussian annexation   Prussian Silesia, 1871   Oder river Basemap shows modern national borders.
Coordinates: 51.6°N 17.2°E / 51.6; 17.2
Country	Poland Czech Republic Germany
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)

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.

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

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 - Deutsche Schutzgebiete - Provinz Schlesien