Chorzów, Industrial city in Upper Silesia, Poland
Chorzów is an industrial city in the Upper Silesian Basin in Poland, positioned between coal mines and steel plants. The streets run between factory grounds and housing estates, where red brick facades and grey concrete buildings shape the skyline.
The village was first mentioned in 1136 and grew into an industrial center after coal deposits were discovered in 1790. The Kościuszko ironworks opened in 1802, shaping the development of the region for over two centuries.
The name comes from the Polish word for heather, which once covered the local hills before mining activity began. Today you can walk through neighborhoods where workers from different regions settled, each leaving traces in the street names and building styles.
The city lies on the Kraków–Wrocław railway line with regular connections to other Upper Silesian towns. Paths between residential areas and industrial zones are mostly flat and well signposted.
The Historical and Ethnographic Museum holds mining tools and documents that trace the shift from German to Polish population after 1945. The Kościuszko works, one of the oldest still active plants in Upper Silesia, has run for over 200 years without major interruption.
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