BIELSKO-BIALA CITY WITH HISTORY
Bielsko-Biala is a city in Southern Poland with the population of approx. 174,000 (December 2013).The city is a centre of the approx. 325,000 large Bielsko Urban Agglomeration and is a major industrial (particularly automotive), transport and touristic hub. Neighbouring the Beskid Mountains to the south, Bielsko-Biala is composed of two former cities on opposite banks of the Biala River, Silesian Bielsko and Lesser Poland's Biala, merged in 1951.
The remnants of a fortified settlement in what is now the Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko) district of the city were discovered between 1933 and 1938 by a Polish archaeological team. The settlement was dated to the 12th - 14th centuries. Its dwellers manufactured iron from ore and specialized in smithery. The current centre of the town was probably developed as early as the first half of the 13th century. At that time a castle (which still survives today) was built on a hill.With Bohemia and the Upper Silesian Duchy of Cieszyn, Bielsko in 1526 was inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg and incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy. From 1560 Bielsko was held by Frederick Casimir of Cieszyn, son of Duke Wenceslaus III Adam, who due to the enormous debts his son left upon his death in 1571, had to sell it to the Promnitz noble family at Pless. With the consent of Emperor Maximilian II, the Promnitz dynasty and their Schaffgotsch successors ruled the Duchy of Bielsko as a Bohemian state country; acquired by the Austrian chancellor Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz in 1752, the ducal status was finally confirmed by Empress Maria Theresa in 1754.
The opposite bank of the Biala River, again Polish since 1475, had been sparsely settled since the mid-16th century. A locality was first mentioned in a 1564 deed, it received the name Biala in 1584, and belonged at that time to Kraków Voivodeship. Its population increased during the Counter-Reformation in the Habsburg lands, when many Protestant artisans from Bielsko (which did not belong to Poland) moved across the river. Though already named a town in the 17th century, Biala officially was granted city rights by the Polish king Augustus II the Strong in 1723.
With the dissolution of Austria–Hungary in 1918 according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, both cities became part of the reconstituted Polish state. The ethnic German citizens formed an aggressively anti-Polish, rabidly racist and anti-Jewish Jungdeutsche Partei sponsored financially by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Third Reich and trained in propaganda, sabotage and espionage activities against the Polish state. Its members smuggled military weapons, and waged a campaign of intimidating other members of the community to leave for Nazi Germany, with tangible incentives. A considerable number of young ethnic Germans joined the rank-and-file of the Party during the mid-1930s as a result of the Nazi indoctrination and aggressive recruitment. During World War II the city was annexed by Nazi Germany. Many of its Jewish population was sent aboard Holocaust trains to nearby Auschwitz extermination camp never to return. After the defeat of Nazism in 1945, the remaining German population fled westward or were expelled by the Soviet-installed communist government.
Bielsko-Biala is one of the most business friendly medium size cities in Poland. In the 2014 ranking of the 'Most Attractive Cities for Business' published yearly by Forbes the city was ranked 3rd in the category of cities with 150,000–300,000 inhabitants. About 5% of people are unemployed (compared 9,6% for Poland). Bielsko-Biala is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry. Four areas in the city belong to the Katowice Special Economic Zone. The city region is a home for several manufacturers of high-performance gliders and aircraft.
Pawel Grajewski made all photos for this side.I want to change some aspect of my surrounding world and show it in a better light.I hope this side will be my motivation to make shooting like this and you will see my vision of beauty.
Bielsko-Biala is a beautiful city, as are the surrounding landscapes. It is abundant in stunning Art Nouveau architecture and is often referred to as Little Vienna. It is also a vibrant student city with enjoyable nightlife, rich in both historical and natural sights.