Wałbrzych County

Walbrzych Voivodeship (Polish: województwo wałbrzyskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

Wałbrzych (Polish: [ˈvawbʐɨx] ; German: Waldenburg; Silesian: Wałbrzich; Lower Silesian: Walmbrig or Walmbrich; Czech: Valbřich or Valdenburk) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wałbrzych Voivodeship; it is now the seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Czech border. Wałbrzych has the status of municipality. Its administrative borders encompass an area of 85 km2 (33 sq mi) with 110,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the voivodeship and the 33rd largest in the country. Wałbrzych was once a major coal mining and industrial center alongside most of Silesia. The city was left undamaged after World War II and possesses rich historical architecture; among the most recognizable landmarks is the Książ Castle, the largest castle of Lower Silesia and the third-largest in Poland. In 2015 Wałbrzych became widely known due to the search for an allegedly buried Nazi gold train, which however was not found.

Mausoleum in Wałbrzych, Schlesier-Ehrenmal (Silesian Monument of Glory) is a cenotaph commemorating 170 thousand Silesians who died during World War I, victims of accidents in mines and 25 local fighters of the National Socialist movement. It represents the style of monuments commemorating the victims of the war, while being at the same time an example of a propaganda monument to glory, typical of the monumental architecture of the Third Reich.

The Old Mine Science and Art Centre in Wałbrzych is a museum located in the historic Julia Coal Mine. It was opened on 9 November 2014 after a major expansion of the Museum of Industry and Technology located there since 1999. The Old Mine Science and Art Centre was included in 2015 on the list of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH).

Biały Kamień (German: Weisstein, Latin: Albus Lapis), formerly an independent city, is a residential district and administrative unit located in the western part of Wałbrzych. It is best known for having the oldest record of coal mining in the Wałbrzych region, dated 1561, and for being the home of the football club Zagłębie Wałbrzych.

Szczawno-Zdrój [ˈʂt͡ʂavnɔ ˈzdrui̯] (German: Bad Salzbrunn, until 1935 Ober Salzbrunn) is a spa town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland.

The Nazi gold train or Wałbrzych gold train is an urban legend about a train laden with gold and treasure that was hidden by the Nazis in southwest Poland during the last days of World War II. The apocryphal tale claims the train full of valuables, including artwork, was concealed in a sealed-up rail tunnel or mine in the Central Sudetes by retreating Nazis. Despite numerous searches since 1945, including by the Polish Army during the Cold War, no evidence of the train, its tracks or treasure have ever been found. Historians believe the train never existed. Between 2015 and 2018, the train received renewed global media interest when two Polish men claimed to have discovered it using ground-penetrating radar. The search culminated in a dig involving the Polish military, state officials, and privately-funded individuals. However, excavations were halted when the detected anomaly was found to be natural geology. Interest in the train led a group of enthusiasts to construct a full-size replica of a Nazi armored train with the hope of it becoming a tourist attraction.

Sobięcin ([sɔˈbjɛnt͡ɕin]; German: Hermsdorf, pronounced [ˈhɛʁmsˌdɔʁf] ; until 1929 "Niederhermsdorf", also "Nieder Hermsdorf") is part of Wałbrzych (German: "Waldenburg") in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. Before 1950 Sobięcin was an independent rural community.

The statue of Ayrton Senna is a life-size bronze statue of Ayrton Senna in Wałbrzych, recalling him from the Hungaroring circuit. Senna is shown sitting, depicted on the tyre of a Formula 1 racing car.

Rusinowa (former, German name: Reußendorf) is a town of Poland and now part of the town Wałbrzych. It was first mentioned in a Latin document Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis from around 1305 as villa ottonis; since the end of the 14th century, it is called "Reußendorf"; in 1945 it was renamed "Rusinowa". The "castle" of Carl Robert Tielsch is located in Rusinowa; after the polish transition in 1945, it served as an orphanage and a school. The organist Gerhard Schwarz was born in the city in 1902.

Książ Castle (Polish: Zamek Książ, pronounced [kɕɔ̃ʂ]; German: Schloss Fürstenstein) is a castle in northern Wałbrzych in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. The largest castle in the region of Silesia, it is the third-largest in Poland behind Malbork Castle and Wawel Castle. It lies within Książ Landscape Park, a protected area located in the Sudetes and Sudeten Foreland. The castle overlooks the gorge of the Pełcznica river and is one of Wałbrzych's main tourist attractions.

Struga [ˈstruɡa] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Stare Bogaczowice, within Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. It is approximately 6 kilometres (4 mi) southeast of Stare Bogaczowice, 6 kilometres (4 mi) northwest of Wałbrzych, and 66 kilometres (41 mi) southwest of the regional capital Wrocław. The village borders with the spa town of Szczawno-Zdrój in the east. It is located within the historic region of Lower Silesia. Among the historic architecture of Struga are the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, dating back to the 14th century, and an 18th-century palace. The village is known as the site of the Battle of Struga, fought on May 15, 1807, in which the Poles defeated a much larger Prussian army.