Upper Silesian workers’ culture

In the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century, the settlements and worker colonies near mines and steelworks were populated by Upper Silesians who came from nearby villages or more distant places. They brought along their cultural patterns, habits, dialect and outfits, creating plebeian culture in towns and cities. Spatially and socially, industrial Silesia merged with agricultural Silesia.

At the time, industrial districts were established in towns and cities, settlements of familoks (multi-family brick houses) near mines and steelworks were built, and workers’ villages expanded. The customs and habits that people brought to the new places were modified and adapted to the rhythm of industrial jobs, which required strong discipline and differently organised family life. Even during the interwar period, people in working class neighbourhoods were homogeneous in terms of origin, traditions, occupations, place of work, lifestyle and religiosity. The wives of miners and steelworkers wore peasant clothes for a long time, and the backyard gardens and pigsties in the backyards of the multi-family homes served as a substitute for the old life they had longed for. The traditional culture of Upper Silesian mining communities which emerged on this basis is a unique phenomenon in Poland and Europe.

Religiosity was an important part of the working-class culture in Silesia, with an important role of veneration of St. Barbara, protector of the most endangered miners, and St. Florian, patron saint of steelworkers.

The miners of Upper Silesia treated the mine as a sacred place, building their identity around it. They highly valued the work ethos, i.e. the miners’ customary code of morals and conduct. The miners’ ethos was guarded by the unusual bonds among the residents of workers’ housing estates.

The lifestyle of Upper Silesian workers involved active participation in cultural life and universal literacy. The Silesian dialect, carefully preserved through centuries of subordination to foreign authorities, was used on a daily basis. The dialect is closest to the Old Polish language, although with Czech and German lexical borrowings.

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+ Our Lady of Piekary Śląskie, oleography print, early 20th century    (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ St. Anne’s Mount and Piekary Śląskie are the most important pilgrimage destinations for Upper Silesians. Statue of Virgin and Child with St. Anne, bisque, interwar period (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Newly-weds with family members, bride and groom dressed as bourgeois, mother dressed as peasant, father wearing miner’s ceremonial uniform (white plume was worn by technicians, engineers, mining directors), Siemianowice Śląskie, 1936, unknown photographer  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Newly-weds with family members, bride and groom dressed as bourgeois, mother dressed as peasant, father wearing miner’s ceremonial uniform (white plume was worn by technicians, engineers, mining directors), Siemianowice Śląskie, 1936, unknown photographer  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Decorative framing of the wedding garland and the groom’s posy was a popular custom in Upper Silesia in the interwar period. Wedding garland decoratively framed behind glass (in the photo: bride wearing peasant costume from Bytom), Dąbrówka Wielka (now: a district of Piekary Śląskie), 1939  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Commemorative painting “Szczęść Boże Górnictwu” (God Bless Miners), colour print, a souvenir for Karol Sojka, a miner of the “Barbara” mine in Chorzów, on the occasion of St. Barbara’s Day, 1938   (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ St. Barbara – patron saint of miners, sheet metal, plaster, image from the mine’s guildhall, where miners prayed for good fortune and safe work, Upper Silesia, interwar period  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Pigeon breeding was enjoyed by miners as a pastime and a hobby, to relax after the difficult and dangerous work. A drinking vessel used to water pigeons bred by miners, and a clock for measuring flight time     (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Family in front of a “familok” – a multi-family red brick house built for workers near mines and steelworks, Kostuchna (now: a district of Katowice), 1920s, unknown photographer  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Residents in front of a multi-family house, Szopienice (now: a district of Katowice), Wilhelm Strasse, early 20th century, unknown photographer  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ Porcelain table sets, plates, platters, openwork baskets from Polish or German factories, and glass wine sets with occasional inscriptions or decoration are typical gifts given in Upper Silesia on the occasion of silver or gold wedding anniversaries. A coffee set for two – a gift for a golden wedding anniversary, glazed porcelain decorated with decals, signed, “Giesche” Porcelain Factory, Bogucice (now: a district of Katowice), 1930s      (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+ A Corpus Christi procession, Bieruń Stary, 1931, unknown  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)

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+  The wives of miners or steelworkers often wore peasant clothes. Men abandoned it early because of their work needs. Family in a studio, woman wearing peasant costume from Bytom, Upper Silesia, early 20th century, unknown photographer  (OWNED BY MUZEUM ŚLĄSKIE W KATOWICACH)