Szopienice-Burowiec

Szopienice-Burowiec (German: Schoppinitz-Burowietz) is a district of Katowice, Poland, located in the north-eastern part of the city. It has an area of 8.47 km² and in 2007 had 17,139 inhabitants.

It lies along the Rawa river, approximately 8 km east of the city centre. The area of a district encompasses two historically important settlements: Burowiec and Szopienice, together with their associated colonies and settlements, including Bagno, Borki, Drugie Szopienice, Helgoland, Morawa, Roździeń, Paweł, Stawiska (northern part), Traugott, Uthyman, and Wilhelmina, as well as post-war residential estates such as Morawa and Przedwiośnie.

The earliest traces of settlement in the area date to the 13th century, when the villages of Roździeń and Szopienice were founded. Szopienice is first documented in records from 1360. At that time, both were agricultural communities. In Roździeń, a hammer mill was established, which from 1595 was owned by Walenty Roździeński. Burowiec emerged later, in the 18th century. From the first half of the 19th century, rapid industrial development transformed the area: coal mines, zinc and lead smelters were established, and the district was connected by both railway and tram lines. During the Third Silesian Uprising in 1921, Szopienice served as the headquarters of the Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia. On 1 December 1930, Szopienice and Roździeń were merged to form Gmina Szopienice. This entity was granted town privileges on 1 January 1947. In 1951, among other places, Burowiec was incorporated into Szopienice. On 31 December 1959, the entire town of Szopienice was annexed to Katowice.

Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, a unit of the German Einsatzgruppe I was stationed in Szopienice. It was responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in the nearby cities of Będzin, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec. During the subsequent German occupation, the occupiers also established and operated the E734 forced labour subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in Szopienice. The occupation ended in 1945.

Following the political changes after 1989, the Szopienice Non-Ferrous Metals Smelter was liquidated as part of industrial restructuring. Nevertheless, the district continues to function as an industrial centre. Two major transport routes run along its northern and southern boundaries: national road No. 79 and Expressway S86. The Warszawa Zachodnia-Katowice line also passes through the centre of Szopienice-Burowiec.