Łaziska Górne

Łaziska Górne
Town hall Town hall
Coat of arms of Łaziska Górne Coat of arms
Łaziska Górne
Coordinates:
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Mikołów
Gmina	Łaziska Górne (urban gmina)
Government
• Mayor	Aleksander Wyra
Area
• City	20.7 km2 (8.0 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• City	21,942
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
• Urban	2,746,000
• Metro	5,294,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	43-170 do 43-173
Car plates	SMI
Website	www.laziska.pl

Łaziska Górne [waˈʑiska ˈɡurnɛ] (German: Ober Lazisk, Silesian: Gůrne Łaziska ) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands.

It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship, and before then, of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. Łaziska is one of the towns of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town is 21,942 (2008).

History

Łaziska is historically subdivided into three parts: Łaziska Dolne (Lower Łaziska), Łaziska Średnie (middle Łaziska) and Łaziska Górne (upper Łaziska). All of them are now part of the town, which was named only after the last one. The oldest settlement was located in what is now Łaziska Średnie. The village Łaziska was first mentioned in 1287 as villa Lasiszka, although the document could have been a falsificate. The second in seniority was Łaziska Dolne, and the youngest Łaziska Górne.

During the political upheaval caused by Matthias Corvinus the land around Pszczyna was overtaken by Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn, who sold it in 1517 to the Hungarian magnates of the Thurzó family, forming the Pless state country. In the accompanying sales document issued on 21 February 1517 the village was mentioned as Wyry. Łaziska Średnie was, in contrary to Łaziska Dolne and Łaziska Górne, a private village until 1814.

The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1526 became part of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the War of the Austrian Succession most of Silesia was conquered by the Kingdom of Prussia, including the three sister settlements.

Industry

• Łaziska Power Station
• Bolesław Śmiały Coal Mine
• Łaziska Steel Mill
• Wilk Elektronik S.A. (computer memory)

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns – Sister cities

Łaziska Górne is twinned with:

• Vrútky in Slovakia