Monuments and Memorials in Tychy

There is a wonderful St.Hubertus monument in front of Promnice Hunting Lodge on the shore of Lake Paprocany. The name Promnice originates from the name of the Promnitz family, the founders of the castle. The original hunting residence of the dukes of Pszczyna/Pless that was located in this place dated back to 1766, but was destroyed in 1830. The present palace superseded the former hunting mansion. The palace was constructed at the request of Duke Jan Henryk XI Hochberg and was completed in 1868 gaining its present enchanting appearance.

In 1868, a sculpture of St Hubertus with a stag, created by Balthasar Janda, was placed in front of the palace. St.Hubertus face was made after the image of Duke Hochberg in recognition of his merits. Today, the former hunting residence includes a high-end pricy restaurant - Restauracja Książęca (“Prince's Restaurant”) - and Hotel Noma Residence Promnice (13 rooms). We had lunch at the restaurant and visited the castle exhibition rooms on the ground floor, but were not allowed to the first floor since there was no access to it. I imagine it was because the first floor is administered by the hotel.

Struggle and Labor monument

Struggle and Labor monument, nicknamed as Giraffe, Tychy

In 1975, on the 30th anniversary of the victory over fascism, the Monument to Struggle and Labor was dedicated in the Municipal Park. It was designed by Augustyn Dyrda, a famous local sculptor (born in 1926). A sculpture of an eagle was placed on a very high and wide base (in the form of an open gate) and a long, narrow pedestal. The sculptor wanted the monument to symbolize the process of integrating indigenous and immigrant populations, typical for the city of Tychy. The ideological sense of the monument, along with its official name (Struggle and Labor monument), fell into oblivion over time. A colloquial name referring to its shape, the Giraffe, stuck to the monument somewhere in the nineties of the twentieth century. It is enough to look at the silhouette of the monument to understand the reason. Thus, the residents of Tychy softened the ideological symbolism of the memorial, and it slowly turned into a meeting place and events location.

Currently, the square in front of the monument is called Pod Żyrafą Square (Under the Giraffe Square). This monument is often mentioned as one of the city icons.
There is Independence monument at the entrance to the city park.

The inscription at the foot of the monument reads,
On November 11, 1918, the World War I ended. Poland won independence thanks to the persistence and sacrifice of the Polish nation.
The process of unification of the Polish lands and reconstruction of the Stat of Poland began.
In memory of the Poles, who fought for freedom.
On the 100th anniversary of the Polish independence
The community of the city of Tychy.
Tychy, 2018.

There are two memorial oaks with stones in front of them. Each stone contains a memorial plaque with an inscription explaining the reason of planting the oak and the date. If you walk along Independence Avenue toward the City Council building, you will see the Independence Oak first. According to information on the memorial plaque, the Independence Oak, blessed by Pope Francis, was planted in the city park next to the City Council building on November 11, 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the Polish independence.

We saw the Liberty Oak next to the Independence Oak. The memorial plaque attached to a nice polished granite stone explains that the Liberty Oak had been dedicated to the 25th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Poland (1989-2014). The Oak was planted on November 6, 2014, on the initiative of the Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.

Boys with a goose statue by Augustyn Dyrda, Tychy

Boys with a geese monument in Budowliany Street is one of the numerous sculptures of Augustyn Dyrda (1926-2023), a well-known local sculptor. This is one of the objects on the trail "From Socialist Realism to Postmodernism. The sculpture depicting boys with a goose reminds us that before the beginning of the industrial revolution and changes in the twentieth century, the entire district was a typically agricultural area.

Sculptures of Augustyn Dyrda seem to be scattered all around the city

Spaceship II sculpture by Augustyn Dyrda.

The statue of a metallurgist (left) and the statue of a coalminer, St.Ann's Square

Female construction worker, St.Anna Square, Tychy

The monument to the famous fellow-countryman Ryszard Henryk Riedel (1956-1994) is in front of the city library in Independence Avenue. People called him Rysiek Riedel. He was a well-known Polish singer and a songwriter, a longtime frontman of the Dżem band. He also played the harmonica. He was a very prolific bard. He liked telling his audience, "Always, for you I will always sing until the end! "
The singer's two-meter sculpture made of bronze shows the vocalist of the Dżem band - Ryszard Riedl. It was made by Tomasz Wenklar and placed in Independence Avenue in 2011, next to the branch of the Municipal Public Library. It was no coincidence that the sculpture was placed in this place. Nearby, there is a stop from which Riedel traveled to the band's rehearsals and to Różana Street, to Katowice. The famous musician was very connected with Tychy. He started his career at St.Anna Leisure Center. He loved watching westerns. For this reason, the carved Riedel is wearing a cowboy hat and boots.

The coalminers memorial, Tychy

Coalminers memorial, Tychy

The memorial to Silesian coalminers is in the form of a ten times magnified mining lamp

The coalminers memorial, Tychy

The lamp was reconstructed by the company Stal-Brat Piotr Marciniak. Its height is 4.80 meters and the weight is 720 kilograms. It was made of stainless steel and glass. It is lit daily along with the main lighting. There is an inscription on it that reads,:

Katyn Memorial, Tychy

The Katyn Memorial is very impressive indeed...It is in Southern Park near Blessed Karolina Cathedral.
The inscription on the memorial reads,
In memory of the officers of the Polish Army and the Border Protection Corps,
the policemen and the civil servants of the Republic of Poland
murdered by the Soviet NKVD forces
in Khatyn, Kharkiv, Tver-Kalinin and many other places of the massacre in 1940.

A war memorial in Tadeusz Kosciuszko Street, Tychy

The monument to the Silesian Uprising, Tychy, 2007

The monument to the Silesian Insurgents was dedicated on August 15, 1930 in Plac Wolności (Liberty Square). It was built on donations of the residents of Tychy in honor of the Silesian insurgents was erected at. The monument was made by Wincenty Chorębalski. We can see a bronze statue of a young man holding a saber in his right hand and pointing to the west. In 1939 the monument was destroyed by German invaders. It was not until 1958 that a new monument was erected. It was not made of bronze, but of artificial stone. The appearance of the insurgent also changed - he was not holding a saber, but a banner. The author of the new monument is Augustyn Dyrda.
The monument was restored in 2006, when Augustyn Dyrda made an exact replica of the original. In front of the monument there is a small square with benches. The monument stands in front of the City Museum.
There is another monument to the Silesian Uprisings. It is located in Katowice Street in Czułów District.

Silesian Insurgents memorial, Katowice Street, Tychy

Silesian Insurgents memorial, Tychy

The original monument commemorating the Silesian Uprising was built in 1937. During the German occupation, it was demolished by the invaders. The monument was high, and the present monument is a replica of the high original one.

The inscrpition on the bronze plaque reads,
To the heroes of Silesian uprisings: Lidwik Lach, Franciszk Mroz, Augustyn Rozkoszny. The monument was built in 1937, was demolished during the WWII and was restored in 2009 by the efforts of the residents of Chułów.
Another memorial plaque attached to this monument reads,

In memory of Jósef Deda, an unsurgence fighter, who initiated the construction of this monument in 1937. He was killed at the Mauthausen concentration camp in 1940. The residents of Tychy, May 2, 2010

Smolensk tragedy memorial at St.Christopher's Cathedral

The monument to Pope Jahn Paul II in the courtyard of St.Christopher's Cathedral, Tychy

As we walked to the Old Town, each time we passed the monument to General Stefan Rowecki (1895-1944), whose call sign was "Grot". He was the chief organizer of the Polish Underground State. He was described by the Germans as “Third Reich’s public enemy number one”. He organized the ranks of the Home Army and was its first Commander-in-Chief. According to the Nazi intelligence, the Home Army had up to 200,000 men.

The monument to General Stefan "Grot" Rowecki, Tychy

Independence fighters memorial plaque, Bachynski Square, Tychy

Polish Unity memorial plaque, Damrot Street, Tychy

Silesian Uprising memorial plaque, Paprocany Street, Tychy

The inscription on the memorial plaque reads, "On the night of August 16/17, 1919, in Urbanowice and Paprocany, the Silesian Uprising began. In commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the uprising of the heroic Silesian people, this plaque was installed by the families living in Paprocany in 2014 on the place of the previous memorial plaques installed in 1959 and 1989."

As we were buying our tickets at the railway station in December, we noticed that a memorial plaque had been attached to the wall. It turned out to be one of the WWII memorial plaques. The inscription on it reads, In tribute to the captain of the Polish Army Jan Rybczyński, the commander of the "Rampant" armored train. He fell on September 2, 1939, defending Polish soil against the German invaders.
Honor his memory!

Wujek Coalmine in Katowice (Wujek means “uncle” in Polish – this coalmine was so named out of fondness for the mining industry’s role in the city. Katowice’s coalmine “Uncle Wujek” was a place of tragedy and is remembered today. Here on December 16th, 1981, seven miners were shot dead on the spot, with another two later dying of their wounds. That murder was a standard Soviet show of force, or ‘’pacification” as the Communist politicians called it. That murder took place during the martial law in Poland.
You can see the names of the fallen coalminers on the memorial plaque attached to the Coalminers Monument. Today the ‘Wujek Pacification’ is remembered in the Polish people as a brave act of defiance against the oppression of the communist regime.

The city remembers its first postwar architects who made a great contribution to the development of the New Town. The monument to them is in a nice park in Charles Darwin Street, District D, in Tychy. The inscription at the foot of the monument reads,

The monument to the city architects, Darwin Street,Tychy

We pass this roadside cross each time we walk to the Old Town. Locals call such crossed chapels. You can see a bronze plaque installed at the pedestal of the roadside cross in 1995. It was installed to replace the original plaque that had been destroyed during the World War II. The inscription of the original plaque was in German. It read, Gekreuzigter Heiland, erbarme Dich unser! 1859 (translated as “Crucified Savior, have mercy on us!”). The new plaque at the cross pedestal provides the names of the founders of this roadside cross and the date of its dedication: Jan and Maria Olszowski, spouses from Zator, 15.7.1858. It explains further that the plaque was installed by the parish of St.Mary Magdalene Cathedral in 1994.
We saw a couple of other roadside crosses and wondered how they had survived the ruthless Communist times. Perhaps they were dismantled by residents and hidden somewhere, and then reinstalled as soon as the religious freedom was established once and for all.

We often pass this roadside cross in Pope John Paul II Avenue. It was dedicated in 1815, which we found out looking at its rear side. It looks more humble than the above mentioned one, but is still nice to look at and to stand and ponder.

We passed this roadside cross in Main Street in Urbanowice District on the way to Mediatrix of All Graces Cathedral.

The cross dates back to 1917. The inscription on the marble below the cross is in German. It is the only remaining inscription on a roadside cross in German in this city. It reads, Gekreuzigter Heiland, erbarme Dich unser! (translated as “Crucified Savior, have mercy on us!”). The inscription has the names of the sponsors of the cross: Johann and Henwig Goj.

Korfanty Square, District K, Tychy

Korfanty Square, District K, Tychy

We discovered another nice park in Wojciech Korfanty Square in District K. This park with a nice fountain is the closest one of such type located as to were we are staying. Wojciech Korfanty (1873-1939) was one of the Polish national leaders of Upper Silesia, one of the most important figures in Silesia and its struggle to join Poland. He is revered throughout Poland and is considered to be one of the fathers of independent Poland. There are many small stores and services around the square. The square was designed by Maria Czyzevska, Andrzej Ostrovsky, and Kaziemierz Wejchert in 1976 and built in 1977-1978 at the same time with the district itself.

We enjoyed the atmosphere in this square, and the fountain caught our eyes. The dynamic statue of Blessed Karolina Kozkowna (1902-1918) is incorporated into the fountain.

The statue of Blessed Karolina is a new version of the monument created by the local artist Tomasz Weklar in 2014. The previous one, created by the local sculptore Augustyn Dyrda in 1978, was moved to the courtyard of the neighboring School 37 during the reconstruction of the square.

The monument to Siberians

The monument was erected in 2007 on the initiative of the Siberians Association of Tychy. It was built on donations of the city residents. Sculptor Tomasz Wenklar is the author of the monument. The monument is cared for by the city School No.7 named after Silesian Rebels.

The monument to Siberians: the map of Soviet prisons, where the Polish "Siberians" were held

The monument to Siberians: the symbolism of the memorial

The inscription at the memorial explains its symbolism. Granite blocks symbolize the exiled people. The number of blocks refers to three waves of mass deportations (in 1939-1941, 1944 and in 1945). The road is a symbol of the passing time and history. The shadows of the cross are the heirloom imprinted on the history of the Polish nation.

We passed this war memorial in Main Street in Urbanowice District on the way to Mediatrix of All Graces Cathedral for a Sunday liturgy. The World War II memorial in Main Street, Urbanowice District, has a memorial plaque that reads, “To the insurgents and to the people killed by German invaders, Urbanowice Community.”

Jesus Christ statue donated by Karl Goi in 1932, Paprocany Street,Tychy

The monument to St.John Nepomucene in the courtyard of St.Mary Magdalene Cathedral, Tychy.

Virgin Mary and Jesus at St.Mary Magdalene's Cathedral

Virgin Mary's statue in the courtyard of Holy Spirit Church, Tychy

The monument at the wall of St.Mary Magdalene's Cathedral

The sculpture by Augustyn Dyrda was unveiled on May 11, 2007. It is located in the yard of the College of Management and Social Sciences in Czysta Street. Old Aloiz is a symbol of a Silesian who, through his participation in the wars (starting from the Prussian-French one in 1871), saw and knew more than other inhabitants of his small homeland. He survived as a man of good street philosophy.

We see a slim, distinguished, slightly stooped old man, with a cane and a doggie. The dog accompanying Aloiz is called Molik. Approximately 300 kilograms of bronze were used to create this statue. Augustyn Dyrda, a sculptor from Tychy, created this statue using the last prototype of such men that could be seen in Silesian cities until the end of the 1980s.
The memorial plaque dedicated to Blessed Fr.Emil Szramek (29.09.1887-13.01.1942) is at 32 Independence Avenue at the entrance to SportArt Kindergarten, opposite Old Aloiz Park. Blessed Fr.Emil Szramek was a promoter of Polish culture in Silesia. Dr.Emil Szramek is the author of about two hundred publications on the history of Silesia, history of culture and arts, ethnography, sociology, literary studies and linguistics. He is known as the Son of the Silesian Land, a man of great heart and mind as well as positive action.

On June 13, 1999, Pope John Paul II announced him blessed among the 108 Martyrs of World War II.

Mother and Child monument at the maternity house, Tychy

At the only historical English phone booth, the Civic Brewery, Tychy