Tychy (<small>Polish pronunciation:</small> ; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bieruń to the east and Kobiór to the south. The Gostynia river, a tributary of the Vistula, flows through Tychy.

Since 1999, Tychy has been located within the Silesian Voivodeship. Tychy is also one of the founding cities of the Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia, a pan-Silesian economic and political union formed with the eventual aim of bringing the most populous Silesian areas under a single administrative body.

Tychy is well known for its brewing industry and the Tyskie brand of beer, which dates back to the 17th century. Since 1950, Tychy has grown rapidly, mainly as a result of post-war socialist planning policies enacted to disperse the population of industrial Upper Silesia. The city is also known as the home of the accomplished ice hockey club GKS Tychy.

Etymology

The moniker Tychy is derived from the Polish word cichy, meaning "quiet" or "still". Although appropriate for most of Tychy's history, the name is now somewhat ironic considering the growth of the city from 1950 onwards.

History

Origins and development

Originally established as a small agricultural settlement on the medieval trade route between Oświęcim and Mikołów, Tychy was first documented in 1467. In 1629 the first trace of serious economic activity was recorded in the shape of the Książęcy Brewery, which is now one of the largest breweries in Poland.

From 1526 onwards the area on which Tychy is built was part of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. In 1742 Prussia annexed the land after winning the First Silesian War against the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. In 1871 the territory became part of the German Empire until in 1918, for a short period between 1918 and 1921 Tychy was just inside the border of the newly formed Weimar Republic and still a part of the German Province of Silesia. On 16–17 August 1919 the (present-day district of Tychy) was fought as one of the first battles of the Silesian Uprisings (1919–1921). In the 1921 plebiscite, in Tychy 83.5% voted for reintergration with Poland, while in then surrounding settlements (present-day districts) of Cielmice, Jaroszowice, Paprocany, Urbanowice, Wilkowyje, the result ranged from 88.2% voting for Poland in Wilkowyje to 94.4% in Cielmice. After the uprisings Tychy was reintegrated with the re-established Polish state.

Shortly after its cession to Poland, Tychy began to develop into a small urban settlement, acquiring a hospital, a fire station, a post office, a school, a swimming pool, a bowling hall and a number of shops and restaurants. In 1922 it was visited by leader of interwar Poland, Józef Piłsudski. while many of its inhabitants who were not expelled or exterminated were forced to change their nationality to German in order to comply with the racist policies of Nazi Germany. Mass arrests and executions of Polish activists and former Polish insurgents of 1919–1921 were carried out in the first days of the occupation in September 1939. As early as September 3, 1939, the Germans murdered several Polish residents of the city, of whom 13 were later identified, the youngest was 16 years old. The Germans also carried out manhunts of Polish insurgents who were hiding in the forest between Tychy and Mikołów, and established and operated a Polenlager forced labor camp for Poles in the city, and the E701 labor subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the present-day Czułów district. The last public execution was carried out on September 22, 1944, when five members of the underground Polish resistance movement were killed. Tychy received minimal damage during the invasion because most of the nearby fighting took place in the Mikołów-Wyry area.

Tychy was liberated on January 28, 1945.

New Tychy

thumb|Osiedle A in Tychy, built in the 1950s

The "New City" was designated by the Polish government in 1950 and deliberately located near to Katowice with the intention that it would not be a self-sustaining city. It was granted town rights in 1951. Tychy is the largest of the so-called "new towns" in Poland and was built from 1950 to 1985, to allow for urban expansion in the southeast of the Upper Silesian industrial region. In the 1950s the neighbourhood Osiedle A was built, designed by Tadeusz Teodorowicz-Todorowski, and the design and planning of the next neighbourhoods was entrusted to and his wife . and Cielmice, Urbanowice, Jaroszowice (in 1973) as new districts.

Tychy is divided into 17 districts (dzielnicas):

  • Cielmice (south)
  • Czułów (north)
  • Glinka, Tychy (west)
  • Jaroszowice (north-east)
  • Mąkołowiec (north-west)
  • Paprocany (south)
  • Radziejówka (north-west)
  • Śródmieście (city centre)
  • Stare Tychy (centre, old town)
  • Suble
  • Urbanowice, Tychy (east)
  • Wartogłowiec (north)
  • Wilkowyje (north-west)
  • Wygorzele (north)
  • Zawiść (north-east)
  • Zwierzyniec (north)
  • Żwaków (west)

Industry

thumb|Brewery in Tychy on the right, [[Tyskie Brewing Museum on the left]]

The global car manufacturer Stellantis has a major presence in the city. The first car factory was opened by FSM in 1975, and was fully acquired by the Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1992. In 2008, the factory (FCA Poland) had a production of nearly half a million cars. It produces the new Fiat 500 and the Lancia Ypsilon. It was the exclusive manufacturing site for the second generation Fiat Panda until 2012, when it ended production, and of the 2nd generation Ford Ka (under an OEM agreement between the two manufacturers) until May 2016.

Also located in Tychy is a powertrain factory producing automobile engines for Opel cars. This plant was opened by Isuzu as Isuzu Motors Polska (ISPOL) in 1996; in 2002 General Motors took a 60% interest in that company, and in 2013 the remaining 40%.

Transport

thumb|right|Two trolleybuses at [[Tychy railway station]]

One of three remaining trolleybus systems in Poland operates in Tychy. The other cities where you can find them are Lublin and Gdynia.

Roads

  • Expressway S1
  • National road 1
  • National road 44
  • National road 86

Sports

thumb|right|Tychy Winter Stadium, home to [[GKS Tychy (ice hockey)|GKS Tychy ice hockey club]]

Tychy is home to two major sporting teams, both named GKS Tychy. GKS stands for Górniczy Klub Sportowy, (), which is a common prefix for Polish sports teams situated near mines or in mining regions.

Ice hockey

thumb|GKS Tychy celebrating the Polish championship in 2018

The GKS Tychy ice hockey club is among the most successful in Poland and plays in its premier league, the Ekstraliga. Established in 1971, the team won the Polish Championships in 2005, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and has won the Polish Cup eight times. The club is housed in the newly refurbished Tychy Winter Stadium (), which seats 2,700 people.

Several players from the club have gone on to play in the American and Canadian NHL. These include Mariusz Czerkawski and Krzysztof Oliwa.

Football

thumb|left|[[Tychy City Stadium, home to the GKS Tychy football club]]

The GKS Tychy football club football club was also established in 1971 and currently plays in the Polish Second League. Throughout a varied career the club reached its peak classification between 1974 and 1977, when it made it into the , Poland's top league, where it finished second in 1976.

  • Mariusz Czerkawski (born 1972), ice-hockey player
  • Krzysztof Oliwa (born 1973), ice-hockey player
  • Piotr Tomasz Nowakowski (born 1974), Polish researcher, university faculty and writer
  • Bartosz Karwan (born 1976), footballer
  • Piotr Kupicha (born 1979), musician, lead singer of pop-rock band Feel
  • Adam Bielecki (born 1983), Polish alpine and high-altitude climber
  • Łukasz Sinkiewicz (born 1985), Polish-German footballer
  • Michał Brzozowski (born 1988), footballer
  • Dawid Tomala (born 1989), race walker, Olympic Champion
  • Jakub Świerczok (born 1992), footballer
  • Arkadiusz Milik (born 1994), footballer
  • Szymon Żurkowski (born 1997), footballer
  • Jakub Kiwior (born 2000), footballer
  • Krzysztof Zamasz (born 1974), economist and professor

Twin towns – sister cities

Tychy is twinned with:

  • Cassino, Italy
  • Marzahn-Hellersdorf (Berlin), Germany
  • Oberhausen, Germany

<!--Huddinge - twinning ended-->

center|1000px|

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Browarium Tyskie 47.JPG|Old railway building at the old brewery

File:Tychy. Budynek ul. Damrota 41.JPG|Cooperative bank in the city centre

File:Tychy, Pomnik Generała Stefana Grota Roweckiego. (www.NOLTYCHY.pl) - panoramio.jpg|Stefan Rowecki monument

File:Hotel Piramida.jpg|Hotel Piramida

File:Tychy. Park Centralny (tzw łabędzi)2.JPG|Park Łabędzi

File:Tychy Jezioro Paprocańskie 1.jpg|Paprocany Lake

File:Paprocany Tyskie..JPG|Paprocany Lake

</gallery>

See also

  • TTC Tychy

References

  • Makropix.com , 360° interactive view of a square in Old Tychy