Modernity rooted in history
The history of the district – where Nowy Wełnowiec is located – dates back to 1689, when the first mention of Błażej Wełna, the owner of a water mill located near today's district of Katowice, appeared. It was here, on lands belonging to the church in Bogucice, that the first settlement began. In the 18th century, on the edge of the Bytkowski Forest, Ignacy von Kloch founded the colony of Ignacowiec, which quickly transformed from an agricultural settlement into an industrial enclave. In 1788, a small mine, ``Caroline``, was established here, and in 1801, the ``Hohenlohe`` mine.
The real development of Wełnowiec took place at the end of the 18th century, when the area was taken over by Prince Frederick Ludwig zu Hohenlohe, collaborating with the Scottish engineer John Baildon. In 1805, they began building one of the first ironworks on the European continent, later known as Hohenlohehütte. Among other things, two large coke furnaces with blowers powered by a steam engine were installed there. The plant, initially dealing with iron smelting, soon transformed into a major industrial center.
In parallel with the expansion of industrial infrastructure, the housing facilities for employees were also developed, which stretched along both sides of today’s Korfanty’s Avenue, giving Wełnowiec a characteristic industrial landscape with numerous tenement houses and industrial plants. The thriving steelworks and related plants were key employers, and the district became the heart of industrial Silesia.
The Key role of the steelworks in the history of industrial development
In 1811, after the Napoleonic campaign, Prince Frederick Ludwig zu Hohenlohe transferred his Silesian estate to his son Hugo. A dozen or so years after this event, the process of consolidating the small nearby mines into one - "Hohenlohe" - began. In the second half of the 19th century (1870), the "Hohenlohe" ironworks changed its profile, becoming one of the leading zinc producers, and in 1873 it was already one of the largest plants of this type in the world. In 1889, the zinc rolling mill also began operating.
After Prince Hugo's death in 1897, his son, Christian Kraft, took over the Silesian estate. In 1905, the steelworks continued to operate, but became part of the newly established joint-stock company Hohenlohe Plants in Wełnowiec, and their management was placed in an impressive neoclassical building, which today houses the Court of Appeal in Katowice. Until 1936, the steelworks was one of the most important factories of its kind in the world.
From industrial power
to history
In 1939, after the German occupation of Silesia, the Hohenlohe Plants were placed under the supervision of a commissioner. After World War II, the plants were subject to various reorganizations. In 1951, the Wełnowiec district was incorporated into Katowice, and after ten years, the Silesia Zinc Plants in Świętochłowice Lipiny and the Wełnowiec Zinc Plants in Katowice merged under the name Silesia Zinc Plants in Katowice. In 1984, they changed their name to Silesia Metallurgical Plants. In 1989, the process of phasing out production at the zinc smelter began, and the last abandoned metallurgical plants were demolished in 2005.