Bieruń (, ) is a town in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland, seat of the Bieruń-Lędziny County in the Silesian Voivodeship. It is located about south of Katowice.

Geography

It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Gostynia river, a tributary of the Vistula. It is located in the southern part of the Metropolis GZM - metropolis with a population of about 2 million.

Bieruń is one of the towns of the 2.7 million conurbation – the Katowice urban area, and within the greater Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town itself is 19,334 (December 2021). In the 14th century, it passed under Bohemian rule. The settlement of Berouna was first mentioned in a 1376 deed. The name is most probably related to the, similarly spelled, Slavic deity Perun, remains of its cultic place still present at nearby Lędziny. John II, the Přemyslid duke of Racibórz granted it town privileges in 1387. Later on, it returned to the Polish dukes of the Piast dynasty as part of the united Duchy of Opole and Racibórz. After the extinction of the Opole line of the Piasts, in 1532, Bieruń was incorporated by the Habsburg monarchy.

With most of Silesia, it was conquered by Prussia in the First Silesian War of 1740–42 and afterwards incorporated into the Silesia Province. In the mid-19th century, the town's population was predominantly Catholic by confession. Located near the border with Lesser Poland and Austrian Silesia, Berun until 1919 was the most southeasterly town of Germany.

After the restoration of independent Poland in 1918, the Third Silesian Uprising of 1921 and the subsequent Upper Silesia plebiscite (in which 82.1% of residents of Bieruń Stary, 58.2% in Bieruń Nowy, 95.5% in Czarnuchowice, 89.1% in Ściernie, and 84.6% in Bijasowice voted for Poland), Bieruń was reintegrated with Poland, within which it formed part of the Silesian Voivodeship.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany until 1945. After the war it was administratively part of the Katowice Voivodeship until 1998. From 1975 until 1991 it was a district of the neighbouring Tychy municipality.

Sports

The local football clubs are Unia Bieruń and Piast Bieruń. Both compete in the lower leagues.

Twin towns and sister cities

Bieruń is twinned with:

  • Gundelfingen, Germany, since 1997
  • Meung-sur-Loire, France since 2008
  • Moravský Beroun, Czech Republic, since 1992
  • Ostroh, Ukraine, since 2005

<gallery widths=140>

Kościół p.w. Św Bartłomieja w Bieruniu.jpg|Church of Saint Bartholomew

Wnętrze Sanktuarium.jpg|Interior of the Sanctuary of Saint Valentine

Jarmark w Bieruniu.jpg|Christmas market

Jezioro Łysina.jpg|Łysina Lake

</gallery>

References

  • Official website
  • Jewish Community of Bieruń on Virtual Shtetl