Bielawa

Bielawa [bʲɛˈlava] ^ⓘ (German: Langenbielau) is a town in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland.^[5] As of January 1, 2023, it has a population of 28 344.^[6]

Country

Poland

First mentioned1284

Highestelevation

964 m (3,163 ft)

Lowestelevation

280 m (920 ft)

Quick facts Country, Voivodeship ...

Bielawa
Corpus Christi church in Bielawa
Flag Coat of arms
Bielawa
Coordinates: 50°42′N 16°37′E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lower Silesian
County	Dzierżoniów
Gmina	Bielawa (urban gmina)
First mentioned	1284
Town rights^[1]	1924
Government
• Mayor	Andrzej Hordyj
Area ^[2]
• Total	36.21 km² (13.98 sq mi)
Highest elevation	964 m (3,163 ft)
Lowest elevation	280 m (920 ft)
Population (31 December 2021)^[3]^[4]
• Total	29,232
• Density	807/km² (2,090/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	58-260 to 58-263
Area code	+48 74
Car plates	DDZ
Voivodeship roads
Website	http://um.bielawa.pl

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Geography

Bielawa lies in the central part of Lower Silesia, along the Bielawica stream in the Owl Mountains region. The town covers an area in excess of 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi).

Bielawa lies at an altitude range of 280 and 964 m above sea level, in the Owl Mountains. The town is a year-round tourist destination; its outdoor attractions include four major hiking trails of varying difficulty in an 80 km² (31 mi²) park, as well as cycling trails and ski lifts.

Etymology

The name is of Polish origin and is derived from the word biela, bila, current Polish biała ("white").^[1]

History

The oldest known mention of Bielawa dates back to 1284 in a letter sent by Bishop Tomasz II of Wrocław to a group of church leaders from the order of St. Augustine, where he complained that the duke Henry IV Probus has claimed possession of a list of villages that used to belong to the bishopric of Wrocław, including Bela, the Latin form of Bielawa.^[7] Also in 1288, Bialawa is mentioned when it was part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland.^[1]

In 1720 the first brick house was built in the village and in 1741 it was captured and afterwards annexed by Prussia. In 1805 Christian Dierig founded a weaving company (Christian Dierig AG). During the Napoleonic Wars, the village was occupied by France. In 1844 it was the site of the Weavers' Uprising, brutally crushed by the Prussians.^[1] From 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. In 1891 the Dzierżoniów–Bielawa railway line opened. In 1924 Bielawa obtained town rights.^[1]^[8] During World War II the Germans established the FAL Langenbielau II subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the town.^[9] In 1945 it was captured by the Soviets and eventually reintegrated with Poland. Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Bielawa in the 1950s.^[10]

From 1975 to 1998, it was part of the Wałbrzych Voivodeship.

Demographics

Main sights

There are numerous historical buildings in Bielawa. At its center is the 19th-century Neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower, the third tallest in Poland. Other buildings include a late-Renaissance palace originally built as a fortified manor house; the Church of the Corpus Christi, erected in 1743; and numerous 18th-century Baroque houses that were restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also a home to a number of medieval penitential crosses.