By this Author: Vic_IV

In the middle of March the fate compelled us to leave our home in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, where we had stayed for seven and a half years after we had left Luhansk due to the ongoing conflict. Thus, we became Ukrainian war refugees. Thanks to my VT friends: my Polish brother Maciej (Matt) and my Polish sister Urszula, we had a place to stay and started a new chapter of our lives here in Poland. We had been virtual friends since 2001, and met in person in Lviv in 2010 during the VT EuroMeet.
All in all, we spent 450 days in the city of Tychy in Upper Silesia in the apartment provided to us by our good friends Matt and Urszula.

A view from Hotel Tychy

Tychy is a nice city in the south of Upper Silesia. This area belonging to the Upper Silesian Industrial Region has been known for its coal deposits, forests and fishing ponds for centuries. This is an industrial city in the basin of the Vistula River located about 40 miles from the Czech border and 60 miles from the border with Slovakia.
As a part of the Province of Upper Silesia (in German: Provinz Oberschlesien), Tychy was invaded by Germany in 1939, and then "liberated" by the Soviet Union (in fact, annexed) on January 28, 1945. The last Russian troops left Poland on September 16, 1993. Many Poles believe that September 16, 1993, when the last Russian soldier left Poland, became the final date of Poland's regained Independence.

Since 1950, Tychy has grown rapidly as a result of post-war communist planning policies. Now the city has a population of roughly 129,000 inhabitants within an area of 82.63 sq.km. The fact that Tychy having today about one hundred thirty thousand inhabitants grew up from the village of nine thousands inhabitants is really striking.
Despite the fact that the city is surrounded on three sides by forests, there are strong gusts of wind, and the weather is extremely capricious and can be very changeable. It is said that the cause is the Moravian Gate, a characteristic depression between the Carpathians and the Sudetenland, through which bitter winds - sometimes even at gale force - can blow. You will find that the locals frequently sigh, complaining that they live in a constant draught. We should also keep in mind that, even though the bitter winds were blowing in this area, there was an active trade route from the south to the north of Europe, therefore crafts and trade have long flourished in the small agricultural settlement of Tychy.

Tychy is a relatively young city, which obtained its city charter in 1934. Nonetheless, it can delight and surprise you with its unusual structures, wide avenues, appealing cafes and restaurants, modern stores and also shopping malls. In addition, it boasts an excellent city transportation system, including miles of bicycle lanes.
Nearby forests provide conditions for active leisure. Lake Paprocany is one of the most popular leisure spots. It is an artificial water reservoir created over two hundred years ago to meet the needs of the local glass-works. Now that it is surrounded by forests, it provides the perfect venue for family outings. We walked around the lake along the foot-and-bike path surrounding it. The lake area located close to Pyramid Hotel became the Paprocany Resort, a place with a beach where large outdoor events, festivals, cycling enthusiasts’ gatherings, orienteering competitions, canoeing and sailing races are held. Anglers also take advantage of the proximity of Lake Paprocany.

The Pyramid Hotel in Sikorski Avenue, close to Lake Paprocany, is also considered symbolic of the city. According to its owners, due to its specific shape and its location on the ‘chakra’ (a place of strength) the building is known to emit positive energy.

This memorial chair belongs to the bioenergy therapist, the owner and creator of the Pyramid Hotel. Leo Beenhakker, the coach of the Polish football team and a friend of the hotel owner, used to sit on this chair. The chair gave him power, because he luckily led the Polish team in the match against Portugal, where the Polish team won 2:1. This piece of furniture gained chic after the ashion designers Justyna Dembowska and Ewelina Gleba had covered it with hundreds of buttons that shone like Swarovski crystals. In the middle of the seat, colored dots formed a soccer ball.

Inside the hotel, the information board tells us that Tadeusz Ceglińcki, the owner and a specialist in bioenergetics, ordered that it be constructed in scale 1:5 to Cheops Pyramid in Egypt. The project was undertaken by architects Krzysztof Barysz and Aleksander Nowack from Barysz and Parton in 2004. The Pyramid Hotel includes a hotel, a restaurant, a conference center and biological recuperation rooms.

At the hotel lobby

At the Pyramid Hotel in Tychy

The Pyramid Hotel, Tychy

Inside the lobby of the Pyramid Hotel, Tychy

The public spaces of Tychy boast a number of attractive places for people to enjoy. There are parks, public gardens and squares with fountains such as Old Town Square and New Town Square. In the Old Town’s Market Square there is a fountain in which can be seen some beautiful sculptures of three frolicking brass otters. Unsurprisingly, it is known as ‘the fountain of Otters’, The name symbolizes an old story- in the past, there was a pond here, the surface of which reflected the silhouette of the nearby church. Otters were supposed to inhabit the pond, thus indicating how clean the water was because of this reflection. The pond, however, has gone, having been drained in 1925.

Plac Bachyńskiego (Baczynsky Square), with its numerous cafés and restaurants, is the most popular Square in Tychy. The apartment house on the southern side of the square has four skylights which illuminate the staircases, giving it a most distinctive appearance.The skylights are painted black and, at first sight, may leave to wonder as to their purpose.
On the northern side there was once the entrance to the Andromeda cinema, which functioned during 1961-2008 and was one of the best-equipped and largest cinemas in Poland. Andromeda Culture Passage was opened in its place in 2014. There is OBOK Municipal Art Gallery there, where book promotions and exhibitions are held.

In the centre of the square there is a fountain where the water cascade forms the shape of a dandelion that has gone to seed. The fountain area features a sculptural composition called "Cubes of Poetry". It was installed in 2010 by Mariusz Chodorka and Łukasz Łyducha. The cubes contain a poem - also in Braille - by Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński. The poem is called "Elegy for a Polish Soldier" and bemoans the likely fate of an entire generation of that time. The poem is built evenly, being made up of three four-verse rhymes, and is signed, Krzystoff Kamil Baczyński, 20.03.1944. It is addressed to the fallen son, to whom a desperate mother now turns in anguish to lament his tragic death incurred whist fighting in World War 2. Thus it was titled Elegy - an ‘elegy’ being a solemn lament for the dead. The Polish soldier is not named, and his mother symbolizes the mothers of all the soldiers and fighters, who perished in that war, thus forcing their mothers to bury their fallen children and weep over their bodies. The short life of the hero of the poem ends with the sound of a gunshot, representative of the fate of a whole generation. The shared anguish of all the mothers is contained in the ending point of the song: “Czy to była kula, synku, czy to serce pękło?/ “Was that a gun firing my son, or was it the sound of my shattering heart ?”

The city’s industrial development happened mostly during the communist era. At its height, over 70,000 people worked within 153 varying enterprises, More than 15,000 tons of coal were mined every year from its huge coalmines: Ziemowit and Piast. The area became known for its automobile production and its factory - FSM - manufactured about 150,000 cars per annum.

Tychy lies on the border of the imaginary line between the "black" and the "green" parts of Upper Silesia. This border runs through four cities in all - namely Mikołow, Tychy, Bieruń and Wyry. The further south you travel, the more lakes and forests - both natural and man-made - you will encounter.

Pszczyna is a town situated to the south of Tychy and has been a tourist center for many years. Gochałkowice is another popular recreation center and is a developing eco-tourism resort. There are 215 farms in the area and also some attractive botanical gardens that are certainly worth a visit. In nearby Goczałkowice-Zdrój, there is a well-known health resort house where rheumatic, orthopedic and some other infirmities are treated - and guaranteed rehabilitation is also provided therein.

There are dozens of varied and colorful playgrounds for children all over the city.
Many teenagers, and not only they, gladly use the skate park - the zone of the youth - in Jaworek Park.

This place, full of obstacles to do stunts on a skateboard, roller skates or bicycle, was designed according to their suggestions.

The Winter Stadium is the seat of the Tychy hockey team, which is a multiple winner of the title of the Polish Champion, the Polish Cup and the Polish Super Cup. The most important national hockey matches take place at the stadium. It is also a place for training future staff. An indoor ice rink operates here daily. The building was designed by Marek Dziekoński and built in 1977.

Winter Stadium, Tychy

The City Stadium in Education Street, Tychy

The City Stadium is a modern and one of the largest facilities of this type in Silesia. It was built in 2013-2015. The stadium can accommodate over 15,000 fans. It meets all UEFA and FIFA standards; therefore it is an arena of international competitions. In addition to matches, concerts and festivals are also held here. The stadium has 312 parking spaces.

By train to and from Tychy (for free until June 1,2022)

By bus in Tychy (for free until June 1,2022)

The city has 17 traffic circles that are called rondo here.
1. Mąkołowice – Las
2. Czułów - Las
3. Czułów – Szyb
4. Czułów – Palmowa
5. Browar Kciążęcy
6. Bielska – Budowlanych
7. Park Niedżwiadków – Policia
8. Rondo Polonia
9. Rondo Skałka
10. Bielska – Stoczniowców
11. Bielska – Myśliwska
12. Rondo Cassion
13. Rondo Olimpijske
14. Poziomkowa – Paprocańska
15. KSSE (Katowice Special Economic Zone)– Towarowa
16. KSSE (Katowice Special Economic Zone) – Celmicka
17. KSSE (Katowice Special Economic Zone) – Serdeczna.

We liked Circle Polonia most of all.

Zwakow Circle, Tychy

During an evening walk about our neighborhood.

City Council building , Independence Avenue, Tychy

The City Hall HQ was built in 1967-1970. It was designed by Wacław Jaciow, Emilian Piasecki and Kazimierz Wejchert.
It is designed in the shape of the letter Y. It consists of three wings connected by a staircase.

We found this walking tour offer at a city website. We have not tried it yet. Perhaps we should one day, just to see how relevant it is. It might be a good thing for those who have a short stay in Tychy. This is the walking offer from the city residents in my translation.

The walking tour starts at St.Ann' Square and ends at Lake Paprocany recreation area. Here are the stations:
St.Anna Square > Coalminers’ Memorial > Silesian Uprising monument > Baczynsky Square > Old Town Square > City Stadium, Little Bears Park > City Planning Office > NOT Club > City Council building > the monument to Ryszard Riedl > The Winter Stadium > The Brine Tower > Lake Paprocany recreation area.

Icecream is widly popular in Tychy

Biking is very popular in the city as well. There are many bike lanes all over the city, where you can ride your own bike or hire a city bike.

During an evening walk along Bielska Avenue, Tychy

The Brewery Park at 2 Katowicka Street is well-known for its historic Baroque palace founded by the Promnitz Family, dukes of Pszczyna, in 1685. It was the first stone building in Tychy. Originally the palace served as a hunting residence and had representative functions. Then it became the property of the subsequent dukes of Pszczyna – the Hochbergs. It was rebuilt and renovated in 1769-1775 and served as the princely hunting palace until a new hunting palace was built in Promnice in 1867.

The palace housed the princely forest office, and the park around the castle gained a recreational function. A concert shell, a beer pump room pavilion, and a bowling alley were built over time.

The former Hunting Palace, the Brewery Park, Tychy

The former Hunting Palace in the Brewery Park, Tychy

The old castle and the adjacent Brewery Park has belonged to Synergia Company since 2009. The owners plan to make a hotel, a concert hall, a conference hall and a restaurant in the renovated palace building. The park will be open for residents then, but will be closed in the night-time. The park is called a magical place with its oaks and lindens. Walking alleys will be built and flowerbeds will be added, like in Dutch flower parks. Every year, the flowers from Polish and Dutch producers will be planted in different figurations. The visitors will have an opportunity to walk on the grass, to spread a blanket, or to make a picnic. There will also be a fenced area where dogs will be able to run without a leash – like in Italian parks. Fingers crossed.

St. Anna’s Square is another public space in Tychy. It dates back to the fifties of the 20th century, when it used to be the main representative spot in the city. St. Anna’s Square is the central square of Housing Estate A. This is the oldest part of the new city. St.Ann’s Square (former Joseph Stalin Square) used to be the main attraction of the city with its numerous decorations, architectonic details and a beautiful fountain. Socialism revealed itself here in the sculptures showing heroes of socialist labor (the steelworker, the coalminer, the bricklayer lady). At that time, the architecture was to be socialistic as to the content, and it was Neo-classical in form.
There are characteristic monuments of the fifties in this square: a statue of a female worker holding a trowel in one hand and a miniature of an apartment house in the other; statues of a coal miner and a steelmaker. You can be enchanted by the architectural details of this square (cornices and arcades), the wealth of sculptural decorations (reliefs, zoomorphic plaques, and sculptures).
The statue of the female worker that stands at the entrance to the square from General Andrews Street was made by Stanisław Marcinow. In her right hand, the woman is holding a brick trowel, and in her left hand, she is holding a model of a building.

The old fountain in the centre of the square was rebuilt, and today it serves as a meeting place for locals, especially those residing in Osiedle A (Housing Estate A) built in 1951-1956 as the first huge construction project for city workers and employees.
You can wander around the courtyards to spot some of the unique house marks above doors and arches - you can find a peacock, a squirrel, a turtle or even a lizard. It was good of the sculptor to use these images instead of the Communist propaganda stars, hammer and sickle and a wrench. It was also brave of him to refuse using those Communist propaganda symbols and to substantiate using those harmless nature symbols.
You can see sgraffito on the building pf the former leisure center. This sgraffito was designed and made by Zygmunt Acedański.

Fortunately, World War II did not cause much damage to the city, since most of the fighting occurred on the Mikolow-Wyry line outside of the city. However, while the city infrastructure survived the war unharmed, thousands of its residents fell at the fronts.

On 4 October 1950, the decision to create Nowe Tychy (New Tychy) - the city of one hundred thousand inhabitants - was taken, giving rise to a new era in the history of the city. Before long, Tychy was turned into an extensive construction site. We can sill see the Communist times coat-of-arms of the city dating back to 1951 and representing a brick wall.
Tychy is often referred to as one of the “new Polish cities” that rapidly developed after the World War II, when new coalmines – Ziemowit and Wesola – were built and put into operation in Tychy.
After World War II, the quiet old city was expanded, and new housing estates were built. The creation of the new city harmed the cultural heritage of the old settlement. The existing property of inhabitants of the settlement was not respected by the designers of the socialist city. Blocks of flats absorbed private fields and historical parts of the old Tychy.

The first housing estate with four-storey apartment houses was built in 1951-1956. This housing estate was called Osiedle A (Housing Estate A). It reflected the socialist realism doctrine of the time. It was designed by Tadeusz Teodorowicz-Todorowski, and the next one – Housing Estate B – was designed by the architects Kazimierz Wejchert and Hanna Adamczewska-Wejchert. These architects were urban designers and tutors at the Architecture Faculty of Warsaw University of Technology.

St. Mary Magdalene’s Church is the first church in Tychy, the mother of all other churches and cathedrals. The construction of the church was completed in 1782 by Father Stanisław Kroczka. It was different from what we can see today. In 1906, the temple was expanded, a transverse nave was added, and the whole architecture was in a neo-baroque style. In 1929, another renovation took place. This time the tower was rebuilt and raised. The entire reconstruction was carried out by Father Jan Kapica, who was buried at the church wall and is commemorated by a huge monument on the wall.

There is a column with a statue of Virgin Mary in front of the stairs leading to the temple. The column is antique, and the statue comes from modern times. There is also a statue of St. John of Nepomucene, sculpted in around 1745 by an unknown artist. You can see another plaque commemorating the arrival of Józef Piłsudski to Tychy. On August 28, 1922, he met with Father Jan Kapica, the church dean.

Teatr Mały (the Small Theater), a typical example of Tychy modernism, is close to the Tyskie Stream. The theater was designed by Wacław Jaciow, Kazimierz Wejchert and Bolesław Seredyński. The building is glazed at the front, and the entire central part is supported by pillars.

There is a mosaic designed by Janusz Włodarczyk and made in cooperation with Franciszek Wyleżuch. It is on the side of the façade. The theater building was dedicated in 1965. It was the cultural center of Ziemowit Coal Mine, and later belonged to the car factory - Fabryka Samochodow Małolitrażowych. In 1994, the building became the property of the city. The theater functions as an impresario. Although it does not have its own acting team, performances of various kinds are organized here: plays, operettas and dance shows, cabaret evenings and concerts. The theater hall seats approximately 420 spectators.

The housing estate B was built in 1957-1966. It reflected the liberation from the rigors of the socialist realism, which is expressed, among others, by smooth connection with rural-themed buildings and inclusion of St. Mary Magdalene Cathedral in the urban layout.

Bachynski Square, New Town, Tychy

Bachynski Square fountain, Tychy

Apartment house in Bachynsky Square, Tychy

Bachynski Square, Tychy

During an evening walk in the New Town

The subsequent residential areas are an example of the modernist architecture, but there are also buildings that represent postmodernism such as NOT Coalminers' Technical Club - Budynek Górniczego Klubu Technika NOT - located at 15 Edukacji Street (Education Street). The club was designed by Marek Dziekonski and for a long time it was considered the most beautiful building in Tychy. The building resembles two superimposed trapezoids, with the second floor larger than the first. There was an elite club since 1963 there, which could only be accessed by the members of the Association of Mining Engineers and Technicians.

The building is one of the most unusual in Tychy. Its author - Marek Dziekoński - designed it on the projection of two trapezoids. The first floor was suspended above the ground floor, which made the body lighter. There is a swimming pool in the patio, which on rainy days is filled with water flowing from the gargoyle on the roof. The structure uses reinforced concrete frames with a unique form. Later renovations changed the appearance of this building. As a result, the building has lost its original appearance, but it is still considered a gem of Tychy architecture.
The postmodern architecture is also embodied by the Holy Spirit Cathedral, built in 1978-1982 by Stanislaw Nemczyk (1943-2019), known as the Polish Gaudi. According to the author's plan, the temple is shaped like an ark.

The architect had to overcome the prohibitions of the authorities of the Polish People's Republic for two years before the beginning of the construction. Niemczyk was already known by that time as the "young and angry architect" in Poland.
The unconventional construction of the cathedral in the shape of a huge tent surprised many people. The construction of the temple has ambiguous symbolism. On the one hand, it refers to the Biblical Times, and on the other hand, it refers to the old Polish wooden churches. Therefore, huge areas of the roof dominate the body. There are four towers on the top of the temple, topped with crosses in a style characteristic of Niemczyk. In 2020, the church was entered into the register of monuments of the Silesian Voivodeship.

Holy Spirit Cathedral, Tychy

Walking along Mysliwska Street in the area of the Holy Spirit Church in Tychy

Thus, the architectural styles developed. The city looks became a kind of a great exhibition of open-air architectural styles. Since the fifties of the last century, each new housing estate was called with a Latin letter. Finally, all letters were taken, when Housing Estate Z was built. However, I saw on the city map that letters I and J were omitted in the naming new districts. Attempt was made to add a “humane” dimension to the new estates by calling the districts women names, according to the letters they were given at the beginning. For example the estate “K” was called Karolina, the estate “M” was called Magdalena, the estate “G” was called Genowefa, and estate “Z” was called Zuzanna. That characteristic way of calling residential districts was also helpful for inhabitants, who often came from rural or not highly educated families, to orientate themselves in the city.
We stayed at the old apartment of Matt and Ursula, our good VT friends, in Housing Estate N next to Tychy Hotel.

A walk in Housing Estate N, Tychy

At the Tychy Hotel in Tychy.

At the hotel lobby, Hotel Tychy

Pictures in the hotel lobby.

According to Ludwik Musiol, a researcher of the district history, the city name “Tychy” originates from the old Polish word “tych” (“tychy“ in plural) – the present Polish word with the same meaning is “cichy” (meaning “quiet”). A quiet and undemonstrative person would be given such a name – Tych - in the Middle Ages in Poland.
There is another legend about the origin of the city name. The inhabitants of the small village, where there was no church, had to walk to the neighboring town of Mikolow to attend a liturgy. They walked, but frequently had to run because the area was prowled by wolves. They entered the church “zdyszani” (“out of breath”), and then they were referred to as “Dychy”, which later turned into “Tychy”.

Tychy has turbulent history. The district developed as a property of dukes and princes until it became a duchy ruled by Austrian dukes, who made a great contribution to its development. Pszczyna Land is a small wooded and marshy plot of land. In ancient times, it was located at the junction of two neighboring tribes, the Wisłan tribe and the Opolany tribe. The Gostynia River served as the border between these two tribes. At the end of the 10th century, Pszczyna Land was within the Piast state. With the division of this country by King Boleslaw the Wrymouth in 1138, it became a part of the senior estate of Malopolska, being a part of the Oswiecim castellany.
Pszczyna Land found itself within the borders of Silesia in 1178 as a gift from Kazimierz the Righteous for his godson Mieszko Platonogi, the Duke of Opole and Racibórz. Leszek, the last independent prince of Racibórz, was the last ruler of the Piast dynasty. Due to the lack of a male descendant, he handed over his principality to his brother-in-law, Mikołaj II, the Duke of Opava from the Przemysl family, in 1336. In 1365, the land was taken over by the son of Nicholas Il - Jan I, and after him - by John II called Żelazny (the Iron One). John II married a Lithuanian princess Helena, the daughter of Dymitr (brother of Wladislaw Jagiello). In 1407, he separated the district of Pszczyna from the lands of his duchy as a life property for his wife. After the death of John II in 1424, Duchess Helena took the widow's division into an independent possession. Thus, the land of Pzsczyna, as a Duchy, began to write its own book of history.

In 1480, after a long and troubled period of the Hussite wars, and the invasions of the Hungarian king Maciej Corvinus, the principality was bought by Casimir II (Kazimierz), the Cieszyn prince. Casimir II cared for the economic development of his estates and built many mills and fishing ponds in the principality. In 1517, Casimir II sold the Pszezyn estate to a Hungarian magnate, Aleksy Thurzon. At the time of the sale, the principality included Pszczyna, Bieruń, Mikołow, Mysłowice, 50 princely villages and 27 knight's villages. Alexy Thurson behested the Free State to his brother John in 1521, and John ruled there until 1548. The Thurzons maintained lively contacts with the royal court in Wawel. On April 18, 1518, Queen Bona stayed at the castle in Pszczyna on her way from Italy to Poland.
From 1548, the Pszczyna Land was ruled by the descendants of the Old Silesian nobility – the family of Promnitz. They also maintained a close relationship with Krakow. Stanislaw Promnitz was a courtier of Zygmunt August. During his rule, the Pszczyna Land developed economically. Numerous craft workshops, manors, ironworkers, breweries and the first manufactories were established. The work of development was continued by the following princes: Charles (1568-1591), Seyfried (1591-1620), and Leopold (1620-1662). The Thirty Years' War, and later the three Silesian Wars, as a result of which the Prussian King Frederick I separated Silesia from Austria - interrupted the development process. The Prussians made a new administrative division of Silesia. The Pszczyna District was established and headed by the landrat.

In 1765, Jan Erdmann, the last prince of the Promnits family, who did not have a son, handed over the Land of Pszczyna to a nephew of Frederick I, the Duke of Anhalt - Coethen. After Jan Erdmann, the Dukes of Anhalt-Coethen reigned in turn: Ferdinand (1797-1816), Henry (1816-1819), Ludwik (1819-1841), Henry (1841-1846). Under the Anhalts, hitherto unknown farming methods were introduced here, new agricultural tools were introduced, and the breeds of horses, cattle and sheep were refined. The cultivation of potatoes, beetroot and hops was started. Local beekeeping achieved a high level. An exemplary forest management was introduced. Products of craftsmanship flourished. Numerous coal mines, coke-fired iron smelters, glass smelters, brick factories, lime kilns, breweries and distilleries were opened. The Anhalts patronized the construction of schools and churches.

Located in the very heart of the forest, the village of Tychy was on the route between the towns of Mikolow and Bierun. Those forests were traditionally the places of hunting expeditions organized by the lords of Pless/Pszczyna. In 1769, Tychy officially acquired its own coat-of-arm that had long been in use: a golden hunting horn on a royal blue shield (yellow/golden and royal blue have been the traditional and official colors of Silesia for centuries). Thus, the hunters were officially recognized as the community founders and sponsors.

According to our city museum guide, there was a grange with dozens of heads of cattle and sheep in the village of Tychy. The earliest mention of this grange dates back to 1467. That grange also possessed brewing rights, which was a privilege of the particularly deserving peasants at that time, and brewing was permitted once a week there. The huntsmen appreciated the local beer a lot, and the dukes of Pless sponsored the development of the local brewery throughout the time.
The Duke of Pless was the owner of four breweries in the district. Tychy Brewery produced “export” beer known as “better beer”. It was a dark, black beer (Schwarzbier) produced using mainly barley malt with the addition of rye malt and a little of oat malt. Apart from this beer, a light, or “white” beer (Weissbier), was also brewed. This beer contained mainly wheat malt sometimes mixed 1:1 with barley malt. There was also a popular, cheap and light “table” beer (Teszbeer), also known as “cienkusz” (“small beer”). The production of this beer was based on what remained after the proper beer was poured off and bottled.

This monument was created by the local sculptor Augustyn Dyrda (born in 1926 - God grant him good health!) i 1958. The monument stood on the pedestal in Liberty Square in 1958-2007. In 2007, this statue was replaces by a new bronze monument to the participants of Silesian Uprising.

Tychy City Museum

Silesian Uprising monument, Tychy

Tychy became the starting point of the first Silesian Uprising of 1919. The uprising began during the night of August 16/17, 1919. It ended with the insurgents taking control of the village. The majority of residents during the plebiscite voted for Tychy becoming a part of Poland. At that time Tychy became a part of the autonomous Silesian Province, and its population grew to 11,000 residents. On January 1, 1934, Tychy was granted a municipality charter.

The Polish Eagle straightening its wings

This is how I call this memorial plaque attached to the building of the old inn at 35 Damrot Street. The memorial plaque is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the day, when Upper Silesia finally joined Poland. The inscription on this plaque must be the longest one in the city. It reads,

The Past and the Present of Tychy

At Otters Fountain, Old Town, Tychy

At St.Mary Magdalene Cathedral built in 1782, Old Town, Tychy

The memorial plaque to the left of the church entrance with te names of all church deans (right).

This nice illumination reminds us of the industrial development of the city (Bielska Avenue).

A refurbished historical building in Main Street in Urbanowice District, Tychy

Old Silesian style houses, Tychy

"The country of Poland has, however, a drink brewed from wheat, hops and water, known in Polish as “piwo”, and since nought exceeds it in fortifying the body, it is not only the delight of the native inhabitants but also of excellent taste for foreigners."
Jan Długosz (1415-1480), a Polish historian, a chronicler, a clergyman, a geographer, a diplomat, the first Polish heraldry scientist, the author of the “Chronicles of the famous Kingdom of Poland”.

Tyskie Brewery__An old brewery postcard, Tychy

Tychy Brewery_2

Old villa of the brewery director (early 20th century)

Tyskie Brewery: Old brewhouse decor

Tyskie Brewery_ Old brewhouse decor

The brewery in Tychy was first officially mentioned in the documents of 1629. That year is considered the foundation year of Tyskie Brewery, a well-known Polish brand. Over the course of the centuries, Tyskie beer became known as special beer, as such gaining many followers, even though it was not the cheapest of beers. Today, Tychy Brewery is not only one of the oldest Polish breweries, but also the only Piolish brewery whose beer production has continues uninterrupted for about 400 years. Tyskie beer became a sought-after branded product, superior brand that attracted more and more beer lovers, who wished to treat themselves to something better.

Tyskie Brewery Museum: Siegfried II Promnitz, the Duke of Pless / Tyskie Brewery Museum: The old production shops, Tychy

Tyskie Brewery Museum, Tychy

Tyskie Brewery Museum square, Tychy

Today, the tents and signs of Tyskie Brewery can be seen wherever you go in Poland and even abroad. We noticed those promotion marks in practically all the towns and cities we visited in Poland, even though there are dozens of other Polish beer brands on sale at supermarkets. I got interested in the phenomenon of Tyskie beer. This beer became kind of symbols of Silesia, a region where a number of different national cultures met. Both Germans and Poles have developed the region and this brewery for a long time. The medieval beginnings of this beer and its development history also make it special. Thus a sense of identity and the awareness of origins and traditions provide this brewery some good force for development and marketing.

"I get angry with these caressed landlords, who advise them to seek rebuke to beer. Do not drink until you feel like you want to eat."
Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584), a Polish Renaissance poet is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz.

At the Irish pub in Tychy

At the Irish pub, Tychy

Tyskie beer is almost at every step you make, Tychy

Tyskie beer, Tychy

At Otters Fountain sponsored by Tyskie Brewery, Tychy

Dining at Zywiecki Restaurant, Tychy

Huhu Cafe, Orzeszkowa Street,Tychy

Here's to you, friends!

Tichauer Civic Brewery whose trademark is Tichauer occupies the area of 3.71 ha. Already in 1896, arrangements were made with the railway regarding the construction of a railway siding. The Society for the Construction of Breweries in Brzeg was the main shareholder. The location was chosen in the vicinity of the railway station, by a pond and a watercourse. The Browar Obywatelski (the Civic Brewery) was opened in 1897. In the following year, both city breweries in Tychy reached an agreement on uniform prices and the division of the market. Since then, the two plants have worked under the same management without competing with each other. In the interwar period, production was modernized and the plant was slightly expanded.

Tichauer Civic Brewery, Tychy

Tichauer Restaurant

Kloster Pub located at 15 Education Street has functioned in the famous NOT building since 1993. This legendary pub hosted most of Polish and many foreign bands.

The pub has two levels, a professional stage, and a summer terrace. It’s a legendary place in Tychy. The old regular customers often call it Jazzowa – the Jazz Place. The restaurant is one of the largest in the city. On weekends it is often difficult to find a seat, even on the stairs. Therefore, it is better to reserve your seats as early as possible.

The downstairs level is always more intimate and is mostly occupied by old regulars. On warm days, you can select your seats in one of the two gardens or at the terrace. We agreed with the FB page that this place was a great place to spend an evening with friends listening to some good music.

Tichauer Art Gallery located on the area of the Civic Brewery must be the most well-known art gallery in the city. The gallery is located in an extremely atmospheric building that used to e a was part of the production complex of the former brewery. The building dates back to 1897.

We were glad to visit a photo exhibition on te first floor. It ws a photo exhibition of Marcin Kydryński called “Lisbon: A city of music and love”. This is what the artist himself wrote about his photographs represented at the exhibition.
“At the beginning of February 2008, and therefore exactly fifteen years ago, I came to the White City for the first time and stayed there. It was the city of light, music and the beauty of people. Lisbon was then a half-forgotten corner on the edge of the continent. It lived at its own pace. It did not want to keep up, change, dress up for just a few newcomers. And the newcomers were looking for what is permanent, something that exists for eternity. Fifteen years. It turned out that it was a long time ago. The world has accelerated like never before in its history. Even Lisbon decided that it had to put on a festive outfit, start smiling but half-heartedly. Some houses were demolished. Hotels were built. The honey light of the lamps was changed to hospital white bulbs.
A quay was created, at which ships are great as cities. Thousands of tourists are squeezed from them into the narrow streets of Alfama, like barbaric hordes. I had to be a witness and chronicler of this change. Photographs that I represent today were created several years ago. They invite you for a nostalgic walk. The city of these frames no longer exists. Although it comforts a great stoic that there is no loss, there is only a change, it is still a pity. I miss the old Lisbon. I still remember the city as a place of love and music. Longing is a proper feeling. After all, this is the concept of "Saudade" of melancholy, without which a man cannot be happy. And Fado music, which, like no other, talks about what is inevitable. I invite you to meet the Lisbon of years ago.”

Tichauer Art Gallery, Tychy

Works of Marcin Kydryński, exhibition called “Lisbon: A city of music and love”.

We also saw another exhibition of modern paintings on the ground floor. The exhibition in what they call the Magical Space of the Tichauer Art Gallery represented the most prominent representatives of the surrealist trend: Olbinski, Sętowski, and Kukowski and was called Space Full of Imagination. The artists presented their works that make us reflect on the fascinating possibilities of the human mind and the unlimited imagination of artists. It turned out to be an inspiring journey into the world of fantastic visions and dreams, represented in the language of painting and sculpture.

Tichauer Art Gallery, Tychy

Tichauer Art Gallery, Tychy

Tichauer Art Gallery, Tychy

Visiting Obok Art Gallery, Tychy

The OBOK Municipal Art Gallery is another art gallery in Tychy. It began its activities within the framework of the activities of the Small Theatre on June 3, 1994, and later mover to Andromeda Culture Center in Bachynski Square. The gallery has focused on the presentation of outstanding contemporary artists implementing what they call the interdisciplinary projects with the participation of leading experts and lecturers.

The gallery aims at increasing competences in the reception of contemporary art, epecially imong children and young people.
We visited "Dynamics of Events" Exhibition at the OBOK Municipal Art Gallery. We saw an exhibition of photographs of Maciej Długaj and the works of ceramics created by Adam Sobota. Maciej Długaj is well-known for his unique ability to capture fleeting situations in black-and-white and color pictures of streets. We saw his exceptionally colorful shots of everyday life on the Cuban street.
Adam Sobota offers the viewers disturbing ceramic forms, the base of which is a vessel. The author obsessively looks for an element of chance in his works. In the initial phase of the creation of the work, he uses a potter's wheel, building the foundation of the vessel, after which he allows himself an expressive gesture of destroying the form, which thus becomes unique and unrepeatable. Choosing the right enamel and metal elements of the composition are the culmination of the expressive form.

According to Dr.Katarzyna Hilszczańska, the dynamics of each individual photographic and ceramic form, filled with the energy of the moment and the potential for accidental uniqueness, simply explodes during a joint confrontation. Sobota's ceramic plates become a response to dynamic black and white photographs, and Dlugaj's colorful Cuban vision perfectly tackles the colorful form of ceramic vessels. Professor Hilszczańska writes further that Dynamics of Events exhibition became an excellent opportunity to juxtapose two different techniques, and two artistic media. She believes that this exhibition proves that the randomness and transience of time combined with the unpredictability of chaotic expression can meet and present surprising effects. Through this artistic correspondence, we witness an extremely interesting discourse between photography and ceramics in the light of a very unique expression of form.
We liked the comment of the art expert and the epigraph that was used to illustrate the approach to photography.

As we went window-shopping at Gemini Park Shopping Mall, we discovered an interesting exhibition of amateur painters. The exhibition arranged by the City Cultural Club is called Window on Culture. The exhibition presents works resulting from classes held at the Urbanowice Culture Club.

The club helds art classes and DIY, where both children and adults have the opportunity to develop their passions in a very wide range of techniques related to art. They include artistic, drawing, technical, decoupage, robotics and handicraft activities. These activities enable the integration of emotions and the state of mind with the body, and relieve stress.

Tychy is a city where you can often find unique ceramic decorations on buildings erected in the sixties and seventies of the last century. We still call those ceramic decorations mosaics, even though the artists often used huge ceramic tiles in a very special way. The design of the tiles refers, on the one hand, to the socialist realism, and on the other hand, it brought the fashionable world trends of modern art to the then socialist city. The combination of these two elements is often called socialist modernism, or socmodernism for short. It gave a unique aesthetic effect to Tychy that can hardly be found in any other city. Fascinated with futuristic urbanism when looking at the mosaics, you feel the dynamism and the modern character of the city, the jazz sounds and even hippie colors. We have seen several nice mosaics on different buildings (and inside them) in Tychy. This one is on the library building at 5 Dabrowski Street:

This mosaics was created by Franciszk Wyleżuch in 1974:

Mosaics at the Technical School in Tychy

Mosaics at the service center in Dabrowski Street, Tychy

Mosaics on a pylon in Wyshinski Street

We noticed the above fine mosaics on the building of School 4 at 100 Bielska Avenue. Franciszek Wyleżuch is the author of this mosaics masterpiece. He created it in 1969. It used to adorn the ZEG building in District A, but was transferred to this new building later. It must be the city's only mosaics that had to be relocated.
There is another large mosaics of the same artist- Franciszek Wyleżuch - created in 1965 on the wall of the Maly Theater (District B):

This artist created several other mosaics, among them the well-maintained mosaic of Oskard Housing Cooperative in Henryk Dąbrowsky Street. It was designed by Ewa Surowiec-Butrym and made by Franciszek Wyleżuch. Franciszek Wyleżuch (born in 1931) is often called the artist who gave Tychy some color. He is is a versatile artist, and mosaics are one of his areas of activity. However, his art was so innovative that it was sometimes painted over, because the city residents did not agree to such a modern approach.

1969 graffiti by Franciszek Wyleżuch, Tychy