Zabrze

Zabrze
Main Post Office
Flag Coat of arms
Zabrze
Coordinates: 50°18′N 18°47′E / 50.300°N 18.783°E / 50.300; 18.783
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	city county
Established	thirteenth century
Town rights	1922
Government
• Mayor	Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik
Area
• City	80.40 km2 (31.04 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• City	179,452
• Urban	2,746,000
• Metro	4,620,624
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	41-800 to 41-820
Area code(s)	+48 32
Car plates	SZ
Website	um.zabrze.pl

Zabrze [ˈzabʐɛ] (English: /ˈzɑːbʒeɪ/) (German: 1915–1945: Hindenburg O.S., full form: Hindenburg in Oberschlesien, 1905–1915: Zabrze, Silesian: Zobrze) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Silesian Metropolis, a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka River, a tributary of the Oder.

Zabrze is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship which was reformulated in 1999. Prior to 1999 it was situated in Katowice Voivodeship. It is one of the cities composing the 2.7 million inhabitant conurbation referred to as the Katowice urban area, itself a major centre in the greater Silesian metropolitan area which is populated by just over five million people. The population of Zabrze as of June 2009, is 188,122.

Biskupice (Biskupitz), which is now a subdivision of Zabrze, was first mentioned in 1243 as Biscupici dicitur cirka Bitom. Alt-Zabrze was mentioned in 1295-1305 as Sadbre sive Cunczindorf (sive = or). In the Late Middle Ages, the local Silesian Piast dukes invited German settlers into the territory resulting in increasing German settlement. Zabrze became part of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, and was later annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Silesian Wars. In 1774, the Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. When the first mine in Zabrze became operational in 1790, the town became an important mining center.