Rybnik
Rybnik | ||
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Car plates SR | | |
Website | http://www.rybnik.pl/ |
Rybnik (Polish pronunciation:
Rybnik is the center of commerce, business, transportation and culture for the southwestern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, a consolidated city-county and the seat of a separate suburban Rybnik county. Rybnik is particularly recognized for its contributions to music, with the Szafrankowie School of Music musicians such as Henryk Górecki or Lidia Grychtołówna, among others. It is also a seat of the Rybnik Philharmonic Orchestra.
The name Rybnik derives from an old Slavic word rybnik, meaning a pond (Czech language still uses it, while in Polish the modern word is staw), which was located in the place of the current market square. In the middle ages, three settlements merged into one town, with a German-law location dating back to 1308. Fishing, trade and artistry were the main industries. Rybnik's development accelerated in late 19th century upon discovery of rich coal fields, and continued until the 1980s. Since the 1990s, the city attempts to diversify its economy with commerce, health care and business industries.
History
The city's name derives from the Proto-Slavic word for "fish" (ryba) and meant "fishpond" in the Old Polish language. The name highlights the importance of fish farming for the city's economy in the Middle Ages, which is reflected in its coat of arms until this day.
The city's origins can be traced back into the 9th and 10th century, when three
The city continued to grow and developed into a regional trade centre. In the 15th century, the
With the intensification of
Within the Second Polish Republic of the interwar period, Rybnik was part of the Silesian Voivodeship and enjoyed far-reaching political and financial autonomy. In 1933, brothers Karol and Antoni Szafranek, eminent Polish musicians, founded a music school, today known as the Karol and Antoni Szafranek Secondary and Tertiary State School of Music.
During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, in September 1939, Rybnik was captured by Germany, and the Einsatzgruppe I entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles.[6] Under German occupation the city was directly annexed into Germany. The population was ethnically categorized and either "re-Germanized" or disfranchised and partially expelled into the General Government (German-occupied central Poland). Local teachers and school principals were among Polish teachers and principals murdered in Nazi concentration camps.[7] The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city.[8] The Polenlager No. 97, a forced labour camp for Poles, was operated in the city from 1942 to 1945.[9][10] In the camp, the Germans mainly held children whose parents were either arrested or deported to Germany, and also elderly people.[11] Nevertheless, the Polish resistance movement was active in Rybnik. In the final stages of the war, in January 1945, the Germans murdered 385 prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the city during a death march.[12]
After the eventual German defeat which ended World War II in the European theatre of war in 1945, Rybnik was once more integrated into Poland, the territory of which was shifted westward on
In the post-war period, coal mining continued to gain importance. Under Poland's
Population
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1581 | 340 | — |
1725 | 680 | +100.0% |
1796 | 1,190 | +75.0% |
1855 | 2,907 | +144.3% |
1910 | 11,700 | +302.5% |
1931 | 28,500 | +143.6% |
1946 | 23,052 | −19.1% |
1950 | 27,222 | +18.1% |
1960 | 34,099 | +25.3% |
1970 | 43,700 | +28.2% |
1980 | 122,732 | +180.9% |
1990 | 143,980 | +17.3% |
2000 | 143,218 | −0.5% |
2010 | 141,410 | −1.3% |
2020 | 137,128 | −3.0% |
source [13] |
Historical population
Historically, Rybnik was a small town, with population exceeding 1,000 people only in the late 1700s. It was similar in size to neighboring Żory and Wodzisław Śląski, around half the size of Gliwice and 1/3 the size of Racibórz. The population development accelerated after Upper Silesia was annexed by Prussia in 1740. In 1818, Rybnik became a county seat and in 1856 Rybnik was connected with Racibórz by rail. Two years later, in 1858, Rybnik gained a rail connection with Katowice, further accelerating growth. While the discovery of large coal deposits around Rybnik in late 1800s and early 1900s caused capital inflow and population growth of neighboring villages and settlements, Rybnik continued to be primarily a market town rather than transform into a large industrial city like other towns in the region, particularly in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region. This changed after World War II, when the Polish communist government doubled-down on its heavy industrialization platform, increasing coal production in existing coal mines around Rybnik and building a new city for miners nearby. Due to its central location and existing infrastructure, Rybnik became the center of the Rybnik Coal Area, growing to 44,400 people in 1972.
In the 1970s, under administrative reform, Rybnik annexed a number of neighboring mining towns and villages, growing to 118,200 by the end of the decade. Labor shortages on the local market, created in part by emigration to Germany through the family reunification schemes since the 1950s,[14][15] motivated large state enterprises to recruit workers in other parts of the country. As a result, by 1970s and 80s approximately 30% of people in Rybnik were recent internal migrants.[16] That migration was a source of ethnic conflict since the 1950s, given that in the eyes of Poles from other parts of the country, indigenous Silesians were Germans, and the anti-German sentiment was still strong in Poland at the time.[17] Rybnik's population continued to grow until the peak in 1997 at 144,943.
Current population estimates
On January 1, 2021, Rybnik had 137,128 inhabitants,[2] with a population density of 955.3 per km².
In 2020, age breakdown was as follows: 25,166 (18.4%) under 18, 50,183 (36.6%) aged 18–44, 31,248 (22.8%) aged 45–64, 30,531 (22.3%) 65 and older. Total fertility rate in Rybnik is 1.39 as of 2020, below the replacement level of 2.1 but above the country average of 1.38.
As of the 2011 national census, education breakdown among 15-year-olds and older was as follows: 17,919 (15.8%) had a college degree, 35,709 (31.6%) had a high school diploma, 36,249 (32%) had a vocational school diploma, and 21,265 (20.6%) did not have a high school or vocational school diploma.
Nationality, language and religion
According to the 2011 census, 85.2% of Rybnik citizens declared Polish nationality, while 28.6% declared nationality other than Polish (since 2011, in the Polish census, one can declare up to two nationalities). Silesians were the largest national minority, at 28.6% (40,311 people), followed by Germans at 0.5% (707). Polish was the most-common language spoken at home, with 94.5% inhabitants declaring it. 24,372 people (17.3%) declared they speak Silesian at home.[18] Since the 2011 census, Poland has experienced a significant influx of immigrants, particularly from the Ukraine. In Rybnik, the city hall estimates the Ukrainian immigrant population at around 10,000 as of 2021.[19]
Catholicism was the largest religious denomination in Rybnik according to the 2011 census, with 127,809 adherents (90.69% of all inhabitants). The only other denomination with more than 300 adherents were Jehovah's Witnesses, at 434 adherents (0.31%). 2,270 (1.61%) people declared they had no religion, while 6,785 (4.81%) refused to answer the question and for 2,790 (1.98%) people the question could not be answered.[18] Other religions with places of worship in Rybnik include: Buddhists, Seventh Day Adventists, Lutherans (with a parish since 1742, and a church from 1853), and Pentecostals.
Neighborhoods
Rybnik is divided into 27 neighborhoods that are considered auxiliary administrative units. Most of them are suburban areas, including:
Government and politics
Local politics
Since the 1999 administrative reform, Rybnik is a consolidated city-county (miasto na prawach powiatu), with the mayor (prezydent miasta) who is the executive branch of local government, and a city council (rada miasta) of 25 people, which is the legislative branch. The mayor is elected in a citywide election, while the city council is elected in a proportional elections from four voting districts. Additionally, city charter divides Rybnik into 27 districts with a council each. These district councils have auxiliary status, and their main tasks are: organizing public consultations for decisions such as the zoning plan, social control over city investments in their respective areas, lobbying in the city hall for the district. Rybnik is also the seat of the surrounding suburban Rybnik county but is not a part of it.
The current mayor of Rybnik is Piotr Kuczera of the
National politics
In Sejm elections, Rybnik is part of the 30th voting district together with
Place | Party | Votes | Vote share |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Law and Justice | 29,524 | 45.53% |
2 | Civic Coalition | 19,732 | 30.43% |
3 | Democratic Left Alliance | 6,424 | 9.91% |
4 | Confederation Liberty and Independence | 4,725 | 7.29% |
5 | Polish People's Party | 3,425 | 5.28% |
6 | Coalition of Non-Partisan Local Government Leaders | 1,022 | 1.58% |
Total | 64,852 | 100% |
In the Senate elections, Rybnik is part of the 73rd voting district together with Rybnik and Mikołów counties, represented by Wojciech Piecha (Law and Justice). The most-recent election results in Rybnik city were:[21]
Place | Candidate | Party | Votes | Vote share |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wojciech Piecha | Law and Justice | 28,837 | 44.94% |
2 | Grzegorz Wolnik | Civic Coalition | 25,538 | 39.79% |
3 | Paweł Helis | Silesians Together | 9,799 | 15.27% |
Total | 64,174 | 100% |
Tourism
In contrast to the central part of the
Sights worth visiting:
- the neo-gothic basilicaof St. Anthony (Bazylika św. Antoniego)
- the building of the former district authority (1887)
- the neo-classical new town hall (1928)
- the neo-classical old town hall with clock-tower, today housing the registry officeand the museum of local history
- the Church of St. Catherine (Kościół św. Katarzyny) (1534)
- the Church of St. Lawrence (Kościół św. Wawrzyńca) (1717)
- a late Baroque estate house (1736)
- a Piastcastle from the early 13th century, completely redesigned in the 18th century
Sports
In 2006, the 8th European Glider Aerobatic Championships took place in Rybnik.
The aeroclub of Rybnik is very successful in national and international glider aerobatic competitions: Jerzy Makula won the European Glider Aerobatic Championships two times and the World Glider Aerobatic Championships six times.[22] Other current or former members of the Polish national glider aerobatics team from Aeroklub ROW are Małgorzata Margańska, Krzysztof Brzikalik, Lucjan Fizia, Stanisław Makula and Ireneusz Boczkowski.[23]
Teams from Rybnik
- ROW Rybnik – multi-sports club
- Thunders Rybnik – american football
Climate
Rybnik has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb).
Climate data for Rybnik (1971–2000 normals, extremes 1981–2000) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 16.0 (60.8) |
17.5 (63.5) |
22.1 (71.8) |
27.3 (81.1) |
31.9 (89.4) |
35.3 (95.5) |
36.0 (96.8) |
37.0 (98.6) |
29.5 (85.1) |
25.6 (78.1) |
19.8 (67.6) |
17.6 (63.7) |
37.0 (98.6) |
Mean maximum °C (°F) | 9.3 (48.7) |
10.8 (51.4) |
17.0 (62.6) |
23.2 (73.8) |
27.3 (81.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
31.6 (88.9) |
31.8 (89.2) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.3 (73.9) |
14.7 (58.5) |
10.2 (50.4) |
33.0 (91.4) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1.6 (34.9) |
3.2 (37.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
14.1 (57.4) |
19.6 (67.3) |
21.9 (71.4) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.1 (75.4) |
19.0 (66.2) |
13.9 (57.0) |
6.5 (43.7) |
2.3 (36.1) |
13.2 (55.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.3 (29.7) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
3.5 (38.3) |
8.7 (47.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.9 (62.4) |
18.9 (66.0) |
18.4 (65.1) |
13.9 (57.0) |
9.3 (48.7) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.7 (25.3) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
0.1 (32.2) |
3.8 (38.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
13.5 (56.3) |
13.2 (55.8) |
9.7 (49.5) |
5.7 (42.3) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
4.9 (40.7) |
Mean minimum °C (°F) | −13.3 (8.1) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
5.7 (42.3) |
8.4 (47.1) |
7.5 (45.5) |
3.2 (37.8) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−12.8 (9.0) |
−17.3 (0.9) |
Record low °C (°F) | −24.8 (−12.6) |
−23.8 (−10.8) |
−15.6 (3.9) |
−5.9 (21.4) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
2.5 (36.5) |
6.1 (43.0) |
3.9 (39.0) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
−15.5 (4.1) |
−24.5 (−12.1) |
−24.8 (−12.6) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 39.6 (1.56) |
36.9 (1.45) |
43.9 (1.73) |
56.3 (2.22) |
75.9 (2.99) |
87.4 (3.44) |
99.1 (3.90) |
82.5 (3.25) |
73.5 (2.89) |
52.2 (2.06) |
51.6 (2.03) |
46.9 (1.85) |
745.8 (29.36) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 13.9 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 13.4 | 14.3 | 15.7 | 14.9 | 13.1 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 169.6 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
81.7 | 78.7 | 75.0 | 70.2 | 70.9 | 74.1 | 72.6 | 74.7 | 81.1 | 81.6 | 84.0 | 85.1 | 77.5 |
Average dew point °C (°F) | −3 (27) |
−3 (27) |
−1 (30) |
3 (37) |
8 (46) |
11 (52) |
13 (55) |
13 (55) |
10 (50) |
6 (43) |
2 (36) |
−2 (28) |
5 (41) |
Source 1: Meteomodel.pl[24] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Time and Date (dewpoints, 2005-2015)[25] |
Notable people
- Otto Landsberg (1869–1957), German politician
- Hermann Boehm (1884–1972) Kriegsmarine Admiral
- Lidia Grychtołówna (born 1928), pianist
- classical music
- Adam Makowicz (born 1940), jazz pianist
- Piotr Paleczny (born 1946), pianist
- Olek Krupa(born 1947), actor
- Tomasz Zdebel (born 1973), Polish-German footballer
- Jerzy Dudek (born 1973), footballer
- Thomas Godoj (born 1978), Polish-German singer, winner of 2008 Deutschland sucht den Superstar
- Krzysztof Bodziony (born 1985), footballer
- Ewa Sonnet (born 1985), model and singer
Twin towns – sister cities
- Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (2003)
- Bar, Ukraine (2007)
- Dorsten, Germany (1994)
- Eurasburg, Germany (2001)
- Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2001)
- Karviná, Czech Republic (2004)
- Labin, Croatia (2019)
- Larissa, Greece (2003)
- Liévin, France (2000)
- Mazamet, France (1993)
- Saint-Vallier, France (1961)
- Topoľčany, Slovakia (2008)
- Vilnius District Municipality, Lithuania (2000)
- Budaörs, Hungary (2022)
References
- ^ "Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Data for territorial unit 2473000.
- ^ a b "Największe miasta w Polsce pod względem liczby ludności". Polska w liczbach (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "Historia Powiatu Prudnickiego - Starostwo Powiatowe w Prudniku". 2020-11-16. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
- ^ a b "Landsmannschaft der Oberschlesier in Karlsruhe". 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "Landsmannschaft der Oberschlesier in Karlsruhe". 2015-05-02. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ISBN 978-83-7629-063-8.
- ^ Wardzyńska (2009), p. 138-139
- ^ "NS-Gefängnis als Straflager Rybnik". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ^ "Polenlager Nr. 97 Rybnik". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-83-8098-174-4.
- ^ Wardzyńska (2017), p. 448, 452
- ^ "Szlakiem Marszów Śmierci". Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau (in Polish). Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ^ "Rybnik (śląskie) » mapy, nieruchomości, GUS, noclegi, szkoły, regon, atrakcje, kody pocztowe, wypadki drogowe, bezrobocie, wynagrodzenie, zarobki, tabele, edukacja, demografia".
- ^ "1971: Ankunft erster Aussiedler aus Polen in der Bundesrepublik - Ein weiter Weg nach Westen". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ Kijonka, Justyna (2013). "Migracje z Górnego Śląska do Republiki Federalnej Niemiec w latach 1970-1989, czyli między ojczyzną prywatną a ideologiczną" (PDF). Górnośląskie Studia Socjologiczne. 4: 29–47.
- ^ "Historia - Rybnik - serwis miejski". www.rybnik.eu. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ Salamon, Izabela (2012). "Jak się biły hanysy i gorole". Nowiny. Retrieved Sep 23, 2021.
- ^ a b GUS. "Struktura narodowo-etniczna, językowa i wyznaniowa ludności Polski - NSP 2011". stat.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "III Dni Kultury Ukrainy w Rybniku". www.rybnik.eu (in Polish). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "Wybory do Sejmu i Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 2019 r." sejmsenat2019.pkw.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "Wybory do Sejmu i Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 2019 r." sejmsenat2019.pkw.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ Rankings of Jerzy Makula in FAI European and World Aerobatic Championships Archived 2007-11-03 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 2008-02-09
- ^ Aeroclub ROW: aerobatics (in Polish) - accessed 2008-02-09
- ^ "Średnie i sumy miesięczne" (in Polish). Meteomodel.pl. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Climate & Weather Averages in Rybnik". Time and Date. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ "Miasta Partnerskie". rybnik.eu (in Polish). Rybnik. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
External links
- Rybnik's official website (Polish, some content in English)
- Rybnik City Guide (in English)
- Commercial information portal (Polish only)
- Photo-website (Polish and Silesian)
- Rybnik, Silesia (Polish, some content in English)
- German minority in Rybnik (German)
- Company Information portal (Polish only)
- Smolna information portal (Polish only)
- Rybnik during World War II (Polish only)
- Jewish Community in Rybnik on Virtual Shtetl
- rybnickie pismo akademickie KAMPUS