Send Gift Baskets to Bielsko Biala, Poland

Between 1933-1938, an archaeological team found ancient remains of a fortified settlement in the city’s Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko) district. The settlement dates back to the 12th-14th centuries, and its inhabitants used iron ores to make weapons and shields.

The town center of your medieval-era town was probably established around the first half of the 13th century. A castle that still stands today was built on a hill at that time.

In the second half of the 12th century, Piast Dukes invited German settlers to land between Silesia and Poland to colonize the Beskids. Nearby settlements west of the Bialka River were Nikelsdorf, Kamitz, Alzen, and Wilmesau. Nearby settlements east of the river Bialka were Kunzendorf and Batzdorf. Settlements in the mountains were Loban and Kurzweil.

In 1281, the Duchy of Cieszyn passed to two of its heirs due to a division of inheritance. Bielsko was in the hands of Duke Stefan, who first documented it in 1312. The town of Biała was established on the opposite bank of the Biała River in 1723. It was initially part of Silesia, but since 1457 it has been part of Lesser Poland.

During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Biała became part of Austria. In 1918, Britain and France joined the Russian revolution and took over several areas, including what was then known as Galicia. The population was ethnic German before that, but Polish people say the residents were given no option about the change. In the aftermath of World War II, the city was annexed by Nazi Germany, and its Jewish population was sent to a concentration camp. After the Allied troops liberated the city in 1945, ethnic Germans were forced to leave and relocate elsewhere.