Bytom - History

History

Bytom is one of the oldest cities of Upper Silesia, having been known as Bitom in 1136 and Beuthen since 1440. It received city rights from prince Władysław in 1254 with its first centrally located market square. The city of Bytom benefited economically from its location on a trade route linking Kraków with Silesia from east to west, and Hungary with Moravia and Greater Poland from north to south. The first Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary was built in 1231. In 1259 Bytom was raided by the Mongols. The Duchy of Opole was split and in 1281 Bitom became a separate duchy, since 1289 under overlordship and administration by the Kingdom of Bohemia. Due to German settlers coming to the area, the city was Germanized. It came under control of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, which increased the influence of the German language. The city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the Silesian Wars and part of the German Empire in 1871. In the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries, the city rapidly grew and industrialized. Before 1939, Beuthen, along with Gleiwitz (now Gliwice), was at the southeastern tip of German Silesia. During World War II, the Beuthen Jewish community was liquidated via the first ever Holocaust transport to be exterminated at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In 1945 the city was transferred to Poland as a result of the Potsdam Conference. Its German population was largely expelled by the Polish and Soviet armies, and populated with repatriated Poles from the eastern provinces annexed by the Soviets. Some of the indigenous Silesian population remained.

In the post-war period the city did not experience significant investments. Bytom is now a typical Polish post-industrial city. The majority of its coal mines are now closed, while its steel mills are slowly fading. The city is struggling to transform its economic profile from industry to services. Bytom cooperates with two cities with more or less the same problems: Recklinghausen in Germany, and Butte-Silver Bow, United States. The city has a considerable unemployment rate which is centered in the poorest part of the city, the Bobrek subdivision.