Blachownia

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title: "Blachownia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-silesian-voivodeship", "częstochowa-county"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blachownia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Blachownia
image_skyline	Blachownia skwer przy szkole podstawowej nr 1 2014-07-05 p.jpg
image_caption	Primary School No. 1 and World War II memorial
image_flag	POL Blachownia flag.svg
image_shield	POL Blachownia COA.svg
pushpin_map	Poland
pushpin_label_position	bottom
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	Voivodeship
subdivision_name1	Silesian
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Częstochowa
subdivision_type3	Gmina
subdivision_name3	Blachownia
established_title	Established
established_date	17th century
established_title2	Town rights
established_date2	1967
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Cezary Osiński
government_footnotes
area_total_km2	36.66
area_footnotes
population_as_of	31 December 2021
population_total	9383
population_density_km2	256
population_footnotes
timezone	CET
utc_offset	+1
timezone_DST	CEST
utc_offset_DST	+2
postal_code_type	Postal code
postal_code	42-290
area_code	+48 34
blank_name	Climate
blank_info	Cfb
blank_name_sec2	Car plates
blank_info_sec2	SCZ
blank1_name_sec2	National roads
blank1_info_sec2	[[File:DK46-PL.svg
blank2_name_sec2	Voivodeship roads
blank2_info_sec2	[[File:DW492-PL.svg
website	http://blachownia.pl/
::

::callout[type=note] the Polish town in Częstochowa County ::

History

The history of Blachownia dates back to 1356, when King Casimir III the Great gave permission to establish two villages in the area under the jurisdiction of a starosta from nearby Olsztyn. This resulted in an influx of settlers, and this area of western lesser Poland, located near the border with Czech-ruled Silesia, emerged as a center of industry, with several forges and bloomeries. In the 16th century, when the settlement of Łojki (future Blachownia) belonged to Kraków Voivodeship, it had as many as 36 forges, powered by water wheels. Furthermore, iron ore was excavated here, and in one of the still-existing documents from 1531, King Sigismund II Augustus allowed a man named Błażej Łojek to run a forge. In 1606, within the boundaries of today's Blachownia, was a settlement called Trzepizury, which consisted of three houses and an inn.

In 1610, Mikołaj Wolski, the starosta of Krzepice built two early blast furnaces, also purchasing a forge with two hammers, powered by water. By 1630, local metal plants manufactured app. 800 wagons of iron annually, together with farming tools, sheet metal, and cannonballs. In 1631, the metal plants were visited by King Władysław IV Vasa. In the second half of the 17th century, the Blachownia industrial center declined, together with whole Lesser Poland, following the Swedish invasion of Poland. For 150 years local plants were not mentioned in any sources. In 1782, two bloomeries near Krzepice are described.

After the Partitions of Poland, Blachownia since 1815 belonged to Russian-controlled Congress Poland, from 1867 on as part of Piotrków Governorate. Due to efforts of Stanisław Staszic, artisans from Gliwice and technology from Berlin were brought to Blachownia, to recreate metal industry. In 1834, Bank Polski leased area for the future steel mill, with two modern blast furnaces. Soon afterwards, the first iron ore mines were opened, and in 1837, the furnaces were in use. The mill was managed by a German engineer Heinrich Karl Kaden from Saxony, and the cost of the construction of the factory was 382,099 zlotys. To increase energy input, a steam machine was brought from England, making Blachownia one of the most modern mills in Congress Poland. In 1838, Huta Blachownia employed 74 people, soon afterwards, a foundry was added. By 1848, however, the cost of manufacturing turned out to be too high, and there was no demand for Blachownia's products. In 1872, the mill was taken over by the Russian Imperial family, which in 1897 leased it to a Berlin company Laura und Konigshutte. The mill employed app. 500 people, and its products were exported mostly to the vast Russian Empire, including its Far East. Workers from Blachownia actively participated in the Revolution of 1905.

Blachownia was one of the first settlements, which was captured by the German Imperial troops at the beginning of World War I. German occupation lasted from August 1914 to November 1918, and during that time, there was a sharp decline in the living standards, and employment was reduced from 1200 (as for 1913) to 400. In the Second Polish Republic, Blachownia belonged to Kielce Voivodeship. The steel mill was nationalized and later sold to B. Handtke Association from Warsaw. The settlement had its own sports association, fire brigade and schools.

As Blachownia was captured on the third day of the German invasion of Poland (Sept. 3, 1939, at 5 a.m.), which started World War II. Blachownia was directly annexed into the Third Reich, as part of Gau Upper Silesia (see Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany). The Germans changed its name into Blachstadt, and created a county (Kreis Blachstadt). Blachownia was the seat of the local Gestapo and Arbeitsamt office. The mill was renamed into Eisenwerke Handler, and Polish forced workers (OST-Arbeiter) were treated like slaves, working for 11 hours a day, with minimum salaries. The local police chief and one other Polish policeman from Blachownia were murdered by the Russians in the Katyn massacre in 1940.

After the war, Blachownia belonged to Kielce Voivodeship until 1950, and in that year it was moved to Katowice Voivodeship.

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Blachownia_railway_station.jpg" caption="Railway station"] ::

The town is located along the national road 46; voivodeship roads nr. 492 and 904 also pass through the town. The A1 motorway passes to the east of Blachownia. The town also has a railroad station. Since Blachownia lies close to Częstochowa, it is served by the city mass transit system.

References

"Burmistrz Blachowni". Gmina Blachownia.
"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland.
"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland.
"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland.
(2006). "Miednoje. Księga Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojennego". Rada Ochrony Pamięci Miejsc Walk i Męczeństwa.
(2019). "Убиты в Калинине, захоронены в Медном. Книга памяти польских военнопленных – узников Осташковского лагеря НКВД, расстрелянных по решению Политбюро ЦК ВКП(б) от 5 марта 1940 года". [[Memorial (society).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::