Olkusz

Olkusz
Rynek (Market Square) with the Saint Andrew Basilica and town hall
Rynek (Market Square) with the Saint Andrew Basilica and town hall
Flag of Olkusz
Flag
Coat of arms of Olkusz
Coat of arms
Olkusz is located in Poland
Olkusz
Olkusz
Location within Poland
Coordinates: 50°17′N 19°34′E / 50.283°N 19.567°E / 50.283; 19.567
Country Poland
Voivodeship Lesser Poland
CountyOlkusz
GminaOlkusz
Town rightsbefore 1299
Government
 • MayorRoman Piaśnik
Area
 • Total
25.65 km2 (9.90 sq mi)
Population
 (30.06.2025)
 • Total
31,668
 • Density1,235/km2 (3,198/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
32-300 - 32-305
Car platesKOL
Websitehttp://www.olkusz.eu

Olkusz [ˈɔlkuʂ] (Yiddish: עלקיש Elkish) is a town in southern Poland with 36,607 inhabitants (2014). It is the capital of Olkusz County in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

Founded in the Middle Ages, Olkusz is a former royal town of Poland, and features a medieval urban layout with defensive walls, a preserved market square, and a Gothic basilica. It is known for its abundance of silver, which is mined and extracted in the vicinity, and once housed a Polish royal mint. Olkusz is home to the Museum of African Studies.

Surroundings

The city is on the Baba River, a tributary of the Sztoła, with a major road reaching it from Warsaw and Kraków, making it the central city of the vicinity. Tourists who wish to visit nature and historical sites, start from here. Also, Olkusz is located on the main railroad line, which connects Upper Silesia and Zaglebie with Kielce. The Starczynów Desert is located nearby, and wind-blown sands from the desert troubled the town until the desert was planted with trees in 1949 resulting in the desert becoming overgrown.

History

16th-century Polish coins from the local mint

On the city's website, a myth is cited that the city was founded by ancient Phoenicians (Canaanites) who traveled here and found lead ore. The origin of the name Olkusz is cited as the ancient Phoenician (Canaanite Hebrew) "Elkhuds" meaning "to chisel". However, the Hebrew word for "to chisel" was "lakhrot" and the likelihood of the ancient Phoenicians having reached Poland is very low.

A first written historical document from the year 1299 refers to the city of Olkusz, although it was granted town rights earlier. It was located within the Seniorate Province of the fragmented Kingdom of Poland, and then it was a royal town of Poland, administratively located in the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. The inhabitants were mostly wealthy, due to the lead mines. Silver was discovered too. In 1579, King Stephen Báthory founded a Royal mint in Olkusz. Various wars crossed the path of this town, which was at its lowest at the end of the 17th century (see: The Deluge).

In the Third Partition of Poland (1795) the town was annexed by Austria. Following the Austro-Polish War of 1809 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and after the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the town fell to the Russian Partition of Poland. Fights of the Polish January Uprising took place in the area in 1863. Francesco Nullo, hero of the fights for Italian and Polish independence died in the Battle of Krzykawka nearby, and then was buried at the cemetery in Olkusz.

Early 20th-century view of the Rynek (Market Square)

Poland eventually regained independence and control of the town after World War I in 1918.

World War II

During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was invaded by Germany. Already during the invasion, the Germans committed the first executions of local Poles (see also Nazi crimes against the Polish nation). Under German occupation, the town was annexed directly into Germany.

The Bloody Wednesday Olkusz 1940. German soldier guarding prone men of Olkusz on 31 July. The picture has been described as "known to everyone in Olkusz".: 212 

At least 15 Poles who were either born or lived and worked in Olkusz, including the local police chief, and several policemen and school teachers, were murdered by the Russians in the Katyn massacre in 1940. Poles from Olkusz were also among the victims of a massacre committed by the Germans in Celiny in June 1940. On 16 July 1940, in retaliation for the killing of a German policeman, the Germans carried out a massacre of 20 Polish hostages. On 31 July 1940, the Germans gathered all Polish and Jewish men aged 15 to 55 and subjected them to torture and murder. The German terror campaign against the local population was aimed at the planned Germanisation of the town and the region.

The Polish resistance was active in the town and its environs, including the Olkusz district of the Home Army, under the cryptonym "Oset". The district commander was captured by the occupiers in June 1942.

The occupation ended in January 1945, and the town was restored to Poland.

Recent history

In 1971, the Museum of African Studies was founded. In 1973, town limits were expanded by including the neighbouring settlements of Dodatki Pomorskie, Kamyk, Kocotówka, Piaski, Skalskie, Stary Olkusz and Stoczki, and parts of the neighbouring villages of Olewin and Sieniczno. From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in the Katowice Voivodeship.

Sports

The town's most notable sports club is KS Olkusz with football and athletics sections.

Defensive walls
Memorial to Italian volunteers who fought for Polish independence in the January Uprising of 1863

Religions

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Ludność. Stan i struktura ludności oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2025 r. Stan w dniu 30 czerwca" (in Polish). Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office]. Statistics Poland (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
  3. 1 2 "Muzeum Afrykanistyczne". Miejski Ośrodek Kultury w Olkuszu (in Polish). Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Pustynie w Polsce - ile ich jest i gdzie się znajdują?". National Geographic Polska. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. p. 136.
  6. ↑ Ireneusz Cieślik; Olgerd Dziechciarz; Krzysztof Kocjan (2007). Olkusz - zagłada i pamięć: dyskusja o ofiarach wojny i świadectwa ocalałych Żydów. Olkuskie Stowarzyszenie Kulturalne "Brama". ISBN 978-83-60592-19-9.
  7. ↑ Tucholski, Jędrzej, ed. (2003). Charków. Księga Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojennego (PDF) (in Polish). Warszawa: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Miejsc Walk i Męczeństwa. pp. 48, 179, 381. ISBN 83-916663-5-2.
  8. ↑ Tarczyński, Marek, ed. (2000). Katyń. Księga Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojennego (PDF) (in Polish). Warszawa: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Miejsc Walk i Męczeństwa. pp. 8, 88, 164, 327. ISBN 83-905590-7-2.
  9. ↑ Jakubowski, Grzegorz, ed. (2006). Miednoje. Księga Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojennego (PDF) (in Polish). Vol. 1. Warszawa: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Miejsc Walk i Męczeństwa. pp. 33, 238, 490. ISBN 83-89474-06-9.
  10. ↑ Jakubowski, Grzegorz, ed. (2006). Miednoje. Księga Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojennego (PDF) (in Polish). Vol. 2. Warszawa: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Miejsc Walk i Męczeństwa. pp. 542, 544, 691, 711, 955. ISBN 83-89474-06-9.
  11. ↑ Wardzyńska, pp. 142-143
  12. ↑ Wardzyńska, pg. 143
  13. 1 2 Nieczuja-Ostrowski, Bolesław Michał (1991). Rzeczpospolita Partyzancka: Inspektorat "Maria" w walce (in Polish). Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy PAX. p. 17.
  14. ↑ Rozporządzenie Prezesa Rady Ministrów z dnia 30 listopada 1972 r. w sprawie utworzenia, zniesienia i zmiany granic niektórych miast., Dz. U., 1972, vol. 50, No. 327
  15. ↑ "Strona internetowa KS Olkusz w Olkuszu" (in Polish). Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "History | Virtual Shtetl".
  17. ↑ "Gemellaggi e relazioni internazionali" (official website) (in Italian). Comune di Bergamo. 7 April 2006. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2015.

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