Mark Bibby Jackson visits Katowice Poland, a city transformed from its industrial past, with a bright cultural future, where he meets bison and bebok.
Two trends have piqued my interest in the last few years following sustainable travel writing. The first is the emergence of second cities as alternatives to major tourist destinations and the second is the repurposing of industrial complexes into cultural spaces. Katowice does not feature high on most people’s list of places to visit in Poland. The capital Warsaw, neighbouring Krakow, Poznan and Gdansk are more likely travel destinations. But as a secondary city, post-industrial Katowice has a lot to offer travellers who wish to delve beneath the surface – especially if you want to go down a coal mine.
Until the 19th century Katowice was a small village of around 100 people. Then coal was discovered, and Katowice became an industrial powerhouse with steelworks, mills and foundries. In the 1920s, Katowice was declared the capital of Polish Silesia with seven coal mines within the city itself. Now there is only one in the metropolitan area.
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
It is on the site of one of the closed coal mines that I listen to the most wonderful concert by Pat Metheny, who happens to be playing during my visit. Amazing as the concert is, this pales in comparison with the magnificence of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall in which the American jazz guitarist performs.
Designed by Polish architect Tomasz Konior, the beautiful concert hall, which opened in 2014, reflects the coal mining history of the region. The red bricks on the outside echo the 19th century industrial buildings, while inside the design reflects coal seams. It represents the harmony between Katowice’s industrial past and cultural present. The shape of the concert hall is a Stradivarius violin, and the acoustics are pitch perfect. The stage is set in the centre of the hall, which lends itself to a more intimate relationship between performer and audience. It is the ideal venue for a quite extraordinary evening.
Katowice Culture Zone
The concert hall was built on the old lumber yard for the coal mine and forms part of the Katowice Culture Zone. In 2015, Katowice was declared a UNESCO City of Music when it joined the organisation’s Creative Cities Network.
This includes the International Congress Centre, which hosts many international conventions, and Spodek, an arena that was built in the shape of a UFO in 1971, and in addition to holding concerts has sports such as volleyball and ice hockey played there. According to my guide Piotr Fuglewicz, this was the best venue in Poland for listening to rock music, with Metallica, Deep Purple, The Cure, The Prodigy and Leonard Cohen amongst the many stars performing there. Spodek means saucer in Polish. The inside of the concert hall is that of a tea cup – presumably a deliberate reference.
Perhaps the most striking building in the zone is the KTW Building, which was completed in 2022, and resembles a giant game of Jenga. It is very light in form and is the highest building in the city.
Silesian Museum
The final building in the cultural zone is the Silesian Museum. I visit this the morning after the concert. Like the concert hall, the building does not try to shy away from the region’s industrial past, but reframes it. A quite wonderful building constructed on the old coal mine complex, it descends into the earth just like the coal mine, which closed in 2020.
The museum starts with The Gallery of Polish Modern Art, a collection of art from 1800-1945. Behind this is Beyond Eden, an interesting collection of Contemporary Art, the Supermum photograph is wonderful. Descending we enter The Light of History, Upper Silesia over the Ages, an interesting social history journey from mining through the war period and into Soviet times ending with Lech Walesa. There is also the Gallery of Silesian Religious Art, and a temporary exhibition on darkness and light, as well as another one in one of the outbuildings for porcelain as there used to be a porcelain factory here.
Throughout my journey around the museum, I feel as though I am in a confined space as if in a mine. Combining art with social history, it provides an insight into what life was like here as well as pointing towards the future. It is a wonderful example of what you can do with former industrial spaces and unlike the coal seams beneath there is so much potential left untapped – the space is enormous. The past is not hidden but it has been remoulded into a much less polluted future.
Katowice City Tour
The original Bauhaus-inspired Silesian Museum designed by Karol Shayer was finished in 1939 but never opened as it was one of the few buildings – the synagogue being another – that the Nazis destroyed. Perhaps it was too Polish for them? Katowice went largely untouched due to its traditional close links with Germany. In 1743 Silesia was part of Germany, and the economy of the region was dominated by a few German families. It still has a Germanic feel to it.
Piotr, who is 70 and has lived all his life in the city, says its transformation in the last couple of decades has been “a miracle”. The pollution of its industrial days has gone – it feels clean. And the economy of the new dynamic Katowice is mainly tech-based, driven by the large number of students attending the city’s numerous universities.
He shows me the Katowice Film School, which has a lovely courtyard, and the Music Academy, which was built in 1898 and used to be a school and then Seat of Silesian Parliament. Inside is a modern industrial glass extension, built a couple of decades ago which demonstrates how you can morph contemporary design onto old buildings.
As I follow Piotr through the city, I get the most definite feeling that Katowice is a city with a bright future, without forgetting its past. It has aspirations of becoming a European City of Culture.
Pszczyna Castle and Bisons
The following morning, we leave the city to explore the area surrounding Katowice. Many tourists go on a day trip to Auschwitz, which is less than 40 kilometres away. I visited back in the 90s and was deeply disturbed by the overwhelming horror of the place so had no intention of returning.
Instead, we go to the nearby town of Pszczyna, about 40 minutes from Katowice. Pszczyna has a Bison Centre. We time our visit just as the lunch gong is sounded and a group of European bison come in for their feed. The centre also has deer, donkeys and peacocks in a natural setting with lots of space. There is an eco-walk in the grounds.
A short cycle or drive from the centre is Pszczyna Castle, which was built in the first half of 15th century. The castle has a tapestry which was a gift from Catherine the Great as well as a 1708 Martin Luther bible. Perhaps the most impressive room is The State Drawing Room. After this we have lunch in the highly recommended Miedzywojenna restaurant in Pszczyna Market Square. The building dates back to 1748, when it was built following a fire in the Pszczyna square.
Nikiszowiec and Bebok
After lunch we return to Katowice to visit the Nikiszowiec area of the city. Just like the Cultural Zone the area used to be a coal mine. Nikiszowiec was built at the start of the last century to provide decent quality accommodation and some open spaces to the workers at the mine. In such it reflected similar projects such as the Garden Village Movement of Ebenezer Howard.
At its peak some 7,000 people lived here and worked in the mine. Now, the mine has been closed and is due to become a game design centre.
Piotr shows me around Nikiszowiec indicating how that despite all the building being of the same red brick, there are subtle differences within their designs which helps to break the sense of uniformity. The housing blocks are based around central courtyards which are used communally. They had a school, church and social club, while the properties had running water and toilets.
A decade ago, this was a place nobody would visit, according to Piotr. Now it is an unassuming tourist spot with one of the finest restaurants in Katowice, where Piotr introduces me to the Polish tradition of drinking a shot of vodka with every dish.
Located in one of the buildings is Kryska Design. Here Ewa and Maciek make handicrafts, puppets and bebok. The latter is a mythical creature that all Polish children know lurks beneath their beds, and would carry them away if they were naughty. Now the bebok has been transformed into a loveable creature you will find dotted around Katowice in a project started by the artist Grzegorz Chudy. There are around 70 bebok scattered around the city, each of which tells a story. There is even a Bebok Theatre spoken in original Silesian. The scarf the bebok wears is created by women recovering from cancer.
In many ways the bebok stands for Katowice. Just as the mythical creature hid beneath children’s beds, coal lay beneath the surface. Both were black and spirited people away, and both have recently been turned into a positive force.
At the peak of the coalmining, there were some 80 mine shafts in the area, Piotr informs me. Now Katowice is the third most green city in Poland.
Guido Mine
On my final morning, I once more leave the city to visit the Guido mine which closed in 1926. Guido was a coal mine without coal, we are informed by our guide, or at least not enough coal to make it economical. Instead, it was turned into an experimental mine in the 1960s where new techniques were trialled.
It also acts as a museum with regular tours 320 metres below the surface, and has lots of working machinery, including a train, conveyor and tunnelling machine. The train ride has more than a touch of the James Bond villain’s lair feel to it.
There are still some 18 still active mines within the area. None of these has any future, due to the transformation of the energy sector because of climate change. It amuses me to realise that the coal mine with no coal has a greater future than the nearby ones with seams once overflowing.
Katowice is a city transformed from its industrial past. It has embraced the future without fear, and has released the bebok from beneath the bed onto the street. Neighbouring Krakow might attract more tourists, but for me Katowice points the way towards a clean and green future for tourism far removed from its blackened industrial past.
Things to Do in Katowice Poland
For more inspiration on what to do in Katowice Poland, visit the official tourism website, or read our article 7 Things to Do in Katowice Poland.
Where to Stay in Katowice Poland
Mark stayed at the Mercure Katowice Centrum, which is conveniently located opposite the new railway station and had a great breakfast. Alternatively, you can stay at the Hotel Monopol, the only five-star hotel in the city and enjoy the wonderful spa.
Weather in Katowice Poland
The weather in Katowice Poland can get a bit nippy in the winter, so best keep up to date with it here.
Flights from London to Katowice Poland
Mark flew with Wizz from Luton airport. He used Holiday Extras, the market leader in UK airport parking, hotels, lounges, and transfers – and last year its customers saved an average of £191 per trip by booking their airport parking in advance. Booking an Airport Hotel and Airport Parking means you can enjoy more holiday with less hassle. Plus with Flextras, if you need to cancel or amend you can without charge. One night’s accommodation with parking at Courtyard by Marriott and three days parking at Vauxhall Way Meet & Greet at Luton is available for £176.40 based on arrival on Wednesday 4th December 2024. For more information and to book, HolidayExtras.com or call 0800 316 5678.
All images by Mark Bibby Jackson.