Bielsko Voivodeship

Bielsko-Biała (Polish: [ˈbjɛlskɔ ˈbjawa] ; Czech: Bílsko-Bělá; German: Bielitz-Biala, Silesian: Biylsko-Biołŏ; Wymysorys: Byłc-Bejł) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of 124.51 km2 (48.07 sq mi). It is the core of the broader metropolitan area with around 335,000 inhabitants. It serves as the seat of the Bielsko County, Euroregion Beskydy, Roman Catholic Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec and the Evangelical Church Diocese of Cieszyn. Situated north of the Beskid Mountains, Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former towns which merged in 1951—Bielsko in the west and Biała in the east—on opposite banks of the Biała River that once divided Silesia and Lesser Poland. The history of Bielsko dates back to the 13th century, while Biała was founded in the 16th century and obtained city rights in 1723. Despite the administrative separation, both towns effectively functioned as one urban area already in the 19th century. Industrialization, especially the textile and automotive industries, was of great importance for its development in the past. Between 1975 and 1998, the city was the seat of Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship and currently lies within the Silesian Voivodeship. Bielsko-Biała is the administrative, economic, academic and cultural centre for the Silesian-Lesser Polish border region, sometimes colloquially referred to as Podbeskidzie. It is also an important commercial and industrial hub, as well as a road and railway junction. It is a significant tourist destination due to its numerous architectural monuments (a popular slogan Little Vienna refers to many Revivalist and Art Nouveau buildings shaping the cityscape of the central districts) and its direct proximity to the mountains (fourteen mountain peaks lie within the city limits).

The Bielsko-Biała Museum, also known as the Castle of the Sułkowski Princes (Polish: Zamek książąt Sułkowskich) is a museum for the city of Bielsko-Biała, Poland located in the historical Bielsko Castle. Three local branches of the museum have been established since the 1970s: the Julian Fałat Museum, the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry, and the Weaver's House Museum.

Bielsko Synagogue was a synagogue in Bielsko, Poland. It was built in 1879–1881, designed by Karol Korn. The synagogue was completely destroyed by Nazis on 13 September 1939. Media related to Synagogue in Bielsko-Biała (3 Maja Street) at Wikimedia Commons

Galeria Bielska BWA is a municipal art gallery of Bielsko-Biała, Poland, dedicated to the contemporary art. It carries out exhibition, publishing, documentary and educational activities. It is the organiser of the Painting Biennale Bielsko Autumn (Bielska Jesień) and the Bielsko-Biała Visual Arts Festival (Bielski Festiwal Sztuk Wizualnych).The main seat of the gallery is the building at 11, 3 Maja Street. It was built in 1960 as the Pavilion of the Visual Artists (Pawilon Plastyków) in the place of the Bielsko Synagogue destroyed by Nazis. The Pavillion hosted exhibitions of the local branch of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers. Between 1970 and 1975, it housed a branch of the Katowice Art Exhibition Office (Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych, abbreviated as BWA), which was transformed into an independent institution after the establishment of the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. In 1989, the building was expanded to its present form, with a second floor with a new exhibition hall (currently there are two with a total area of 400 m²), a café with a glass corner elevation (currently the Aquarium clubhouse), new offices and warehouses. In 1994, the facility was taken over by the local government of Bielsko-Biała and was given its current name. Since 2020, the gallery has also used rooms in the historic villa of Theodor Sixt (at 24 Mickiewicza Street), where e.g. an exhibition of selected works from the permanent collection is presented, which totals (as of January 2022) 1,073 works.

The Duchy of Bielsko (German: freie Standesherrschaft Bielitz, Fürstentum Bielitz, Herzogtum Bielitz, Latin: status minores Bilicensis, status maiores Bilicensis, ducatus Bilicensis, Polish: księstwo bielskie,Czech: Bílské knížectví ) was one of the duchies of Silesia. It was created in 1572 out of the Duchy of Cieszyn as vassal of Bohemia and sold by Wenceslaus III Adam, Duke of Cieszyn to Charles Promnitz. Lately, in 1582 was sold to Adam Schaffgotsch, but ten years later was sold again to Sunnegh family. They in 1724 sold state country to Henry of Salm. In 1743 was county owned by Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz and in 1751 its status was changed to status maiores, so it can send deputies to Silesian Assembly. In 1752, the State Country (Status Maiores) of Bielsko was purchased by Aleksander Józef Sulkowski. In that same year, the State Country was changed to the status of a lower principality (Fürstentum). On November 2, 1754, Queen Maria Theresa of Austria created the Principality of Bielsko (Herzogtum Bielitz). The next owners of the Principality of Bielsko had the right to the title of Herzog (Duke), during which time the remaining members of the family counted themselves amongst the lesser noble status of Fürst (Prince). The Principality was till 1849 as autonomous principality in Austrian Silesia. After the 1920 division of Cieszyn Silesia between Poland and Czechoslovakia it became a part of Poland. Its capital was in Bielsko, dukes were vassals of the King of Bohemia.

The Museum of Technology and Textile Industry - a branch of the Museum in Bielsko-Biała, Poland - was founded on January 1, 1979 with the aim of evidencing the traditions of the local wool industry centre by means of collecting machines, devices and documents related to this field of production. Apart from this the Museum also exhibits items connected with firefighting, printing and metal machine industry. The Museum occupies some parts of the Büttners' former cloth factory, which used to be one of the biggest textile factories in Bielsko.

The Saint Nicholas' Cathedral (Kościół katedralny św. Mikołaja) is the main Roman Catholic Church of the city of Bielsko-Biała, in the Silesian Voivodship, Poland. It overlooks the market square (Rynek). Founded between 1443 and 1447, it was almost completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century according to a design by Viennese architect Leopold Bauer. Another artist from Vienna, Rudolf Harflinger, designed the stained-glass windows. The city was in that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the crownland Silesia. In 1992, the church became the cathedral of the newly created dioceses of Bielsko and Żywiec. The tower rises 61 meters above the city and is a landmark for the surrounding area. The organ (III/51) is a work from Rieger-Kloss, built in 1915.

Sfera is the largest mall in Bielsko-Biała, Poland housing about 120 shops, music club, cinema (Helios) and supermarket. Area: 38000 square meters. The first phase of Sfera was opened on 6 December 2001 at the site of several former textile factories, and in 2009 Sfera was connected with Sfera 2 and the area was enlarged to over 130000 square meters. In 2011, a monument to Bolek and Lolek was erected outside the mall.

Frog House (Polish: kamienica Pod Żabami) is an example of Art Nouveau architecture in the city of Bielsko-Biała, in southern Poland's Silesia Province. It features two frogs seated over the entrance, one smoking a pipe and the other playing a mandolin, while beetles roam freely over the walls. The Frog House stands on Bielsko-Biała's Polish Army Square (plac Wojska Polskiego).

Bielsko-Biała Główna railway station is a railway station in Bielsko-Biała (Silesian Voivodeship), Poland. As of 2022, it is served by Polregio (local and InterRegio services), Koleje Śląskie (local services) and PKP Intercity (EIP, InterCity, and TLK services). The station serves as a southern terminus of Express Intercity Premuim (EIP) services, the highest speed rail services in Poland, connecting to Warsaw, as well as to Gdansk-Gdynia.

The Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec (Latin: Dioecesis Bielscensis-Zyviecensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the cities of Bielsko and Żywiec in the ecclesiastical province of Kraków in Poland. It was established as the Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec from the Diocese of Katowice and Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kraków on 25 March 1992. In 2013 about a half of the then Catholic Church members attended church services at least once per week.

The Weaver's House is a unique example of the 18th-century craftsman architecture. Located in Bielsko-Biała, it is situated in the Old Uptown in a log cabin with its characteristic hay store. The building is a museum branch belonging to the Museum in Bielsko-Biała. The building functioned as a house and a workshop until the beginnings of the 20th century. The information about its tenants is incomplete. In the second half of the 18th century it certainly was the Bartke family's and in the 19th century the Bathelts’. From 1873 the owner of the building was Carl Nowak and after his death - Marie, the widow. At the beginning of the 20th century it belonged to the local shoemaker, Antoni Polończyk After the World War II the building became a tenement house until Antoni's son, Wiktor Polończyk, donated it to the Polish State in 1974 in order to establish a museum there. When in 1992 the long-lasting renovation works finished, the District Museum in Bielsko-Biała opened the exhibition to the public.