The plan worked out to some extent. The past faded and blurred, the incomplete and falsified identity of the city translated into non-obvious relations between its component parts. The place of German Protestants in Bielsko Zion was taken by Polish Protestants, mainly from Cieszyn Silesia. Where the synagogue demolished by the Germans during the war stood, today there are cultural facilities - the Banialuka Theater and the Office of Art Exhibitions. The monumental Viennese townhouses are being absorbed by the Polish state, condemning them - without landlords who care about the buildings - to a slow graying. Apparently, these are not reclaimed lands, but still they seem so unnative...
The architectural barrier in the form of 3 Maja and Zamkowa Streets works very effectively: it is not easy to get to the old town of the former Bielitz from the former Biala. And already in a wheelchair or with a baby carriage - almost impossible, especially when the only elevator connecting the two cities breaks down. The residents' favorite walking route remains 11 Listopada Street in the former Biala. Tourists who get off at the train station usually walk along one side of the multi-lane road and end up with only a fragment of Bielsko and the entire old part of Biala - most of Bielitz remains as if beyond the horizon, although it is within easy reach. It is seemingly known to exist, but it is somehow alien, sad, mysterious.
Podcienie Street and the hill near the Sułkowskis' Castle
photo: Dorota Koperska | Bielsko-Biała City Hall
Workers' Bielsko-Biala, known for decades as the "city of a hundred industries," produces more than just textiles. The machinery industry is thriving here, which strongly distinguishes the city from others. It's also the prime reason for the location of the Lightweight Car Factory in Bielsko-Biala. The iconic Maluch is born in the city. This is not the only icon of Bielsko-Biala, next to the car factory there is also a dream factory - the Cartoon Film Studio. "Reksio", "Bolek i Lolek", "Wawel Dragon" and their friends are the biggest Polish export hits of the time. The cartoons go around the world, to this day their characters are recognized by more than a billion people around the world.
In 1989, the system collapses, and with it the world changes - including the textile industry. The textile industry disappears, car production ceases. But the automotive industry remains in the city. The cultural genes of Bielsko-Biała from a hundred and two hundred years ago also live on - this city knows how to do business. It is thanks to this tradition that entrepreneurship still flourishes here. Even before 1989, there are the largest number of so-called Polish companies here, and since the 1990s the city has increasingly found its way in the free market reality. A large Sfera shopping center is being launched, and the formerly vibrant city salon - 11 Listopada Street - is falling into deep hibernation, a favorite place for strolls is dying out....
We finally reach the present day. Today Bielsko-Biala is a city of the future, with an awakening new identity. Its Beskid character attracts mountain lovers, while its metropolitan offerings encourage business and well-educated professionals to settle here. It's time to discover Bielsko-Biała all over again: the renovated historic center is one of the architectural gems of this part of Europe. A walk along the former Imperial Route is a unique journey between two worlds: the former Second Republic, the former Habsburg Empire, Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia. It is a journey through many cultures and religions, the only one of its kind on the territory of modern Poland. It is best to set out from the former Biała Krakowska, from the beginning of 11 Listopada Street. Malopolska's buildings evoke warm feelings, the successive passing squares and markets are viewed with growing pleasure.
It's worth lifting your eyes, looking at the tops of the tenements. The "Pod Żabami" tenement house on the corner of Wojska Polskiego Square and the magnificent town hall are almost mandatory during a walk through Biala. When crossing the bridge over the Biala River, it is worth stopping, looking carefully in both directions, feeling the transition from one world to another. On the imperial side, the tenements grow rapidly, some becoming downright monumental. Here you can really feel like you are in Vienna. It's worth turning to the right, to the railway station, perhaps the most beautiful in Poland today. Returning to Chrobry Square, you pass the President Hotel, the former Kaiserhof. This is one of the most representative buildings in Bielitz, designed, incidentally, by the city's most distinguished architect, a representative of the then very strong Jewish community here, Karol Korn. Across the street are the Banialuka Theater and the Bielitz BWA Gallery, which ALWAYS has good exhibitions.
At Chrobry Square, affectionately called "Pigal" by the locals, the Sulkowski Castle with its exhibition telling the city's complicated history should be treated as a separate entity. It's worth visiting the same square after dark to feast your eyes on a huge illuminated stained-glass window presenting a panorama of Bielsko-Biała from 1935.
A further imperial walk takes you along Wzgórze and Podcienie streets to the market square. It's beautiful everywhere here, the best way to wander around the entire hill, with a special taste for Stair Street, perhaps the most atmospheric street/non-street in our country. In 2022, it should already be renovated.
From Stodowa Street it is already close to the Old Factory Museum. Here you can get a sense of the city's industrial past and imagine it mighty during the Industrial Revolution. For fans of architecture, a good special addition will be a stroll through the former castle gardens, where along Bohaterów Warszawy Street stretches a model modernist district, built mainly by the Jewish community of the former Bielitz - here, for a change, you can feel like you're in Gdynia or Tel Aviv.
We return to the Old Town, spotting post office and theater buildings along the way. From here, explore the rest of Bielsko-Biala's architectural and historical attractions: the Bielsko Zion, an Evangelical quarter, with its distinct, peculiar atmosphere and Poland's only monument to Martin Luther. In the near future, the described walk will be crowned by new must sees: the museum at the Drawing Film Studio and the Gardens of Remembrance at the cemeteries, planned as an expression of respect for the city's Jewish and Evangelical past.
Bielsko-Biala would not be itself without Szyndzielnia and Goat Mountain. An imperial walk with architecture and culture in the background should be topped off the next day with a walking or biking exploration of the "city mountains" that determine the uniqueness and attractiveness of this city. Many on Goat Mountain will be surprised by the hipster pastries, Thai-style shrimp and kraft beers served with surprisingly modern music at Koliba. Russian dumplings from the Stefanka shelter are also a must here.
It's worth spending a weekend here. Wondering later whether to live here....
Bottom line: Bielsko-Biala is the most interesting city in Poland.
