Bielsko 703866 186116820 2008-01-22T14:40:21Z Darwinek 107928 format :''See also, [[Bielsko County]].'' [[Image:Zamek41.JPG|thumb|250px|Sułkowski family castle in Bielsko]] '''Bielsko''' ({{lang-de|Bielitz}}, {{lang-cs|Bílsko}}) was until [[1950]] an independent town situated in [[Cieszyn Silesia]], [[Poland]]. In [[1951]] it was joined with [[Biała Krakowska]] to form the new town of [[Bielsko-Biała]]. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town. Bielsko was founded by the [[Duchy of Cieszyn|Cieszyn Piast dukes]] in the 13th-14th century, on the [[Biała River (Vistula basin)|Biała River]]. It was first mentioned in a written document in [[1312]]. From the beginning settled by the German settlers it became the largest German-language center (''Deutsche Sprachinsel Bielitz'') in the whole [[Duchy of Teschen]]. It remained so until the end of [[World War II]]. Since the 18th century a rapid [[drapery]] development occurred. After the [[1920]] division of [[Cieszyn Silesia]] between [[Poland]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] it became, despite protest of local Germans, a part of Poland. According to the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] census of 1910 the town had 18,568 inhabitants. Census asked people for their native language, 15,144 (84.3%) were German-speaking, 2,568 (14.3%) were Polish-speaking and 136 (0.7%) were Czech-speaking. [[Jews]] were not allowed to declare [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], most of them thus declared the German language as their native. Most populous religious groups were [[Roman Catholics]] with 10,378 (55.9%), followed by [[Protestants]] with 4,955 (26.7%) and the [[Jews]] with 3,024 (16.3%).<ref>Ludwig Patryn (ed): ''[http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/biblioteka/strony/ramka.php?autor=Patryn&licz=1 Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien]'', Troppau 1912.</ref> Vast majority of the Jews was exterminated by Nazis during World War II. German population was expelled after the war. == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * {{pl icon}} [http://www.ksiestwocieszynskie.republika.pl/bielsko.html History of Bielsko] [[Category:Bielsko-Biała]] [[Category:Cieszyn Silesia]] [[cs:Bílsko (Polsko)]] [[pl:Bielsko]] [[sk:Bielsko]] {{Silesian-geo-stub}}