“Every day I enter my city with great duties,” wrote the Polish poet and child of the town of Tarnowskie Gòry, Boleslaw Lubosz, “I know that only here I can find Heaven and Earth.”
I came to Tarnowskie Góry, in Upper Silesia, back in 2013, knowing almost nothing of Poland and absolutely nothing of the town. What would it be like? How could I live there? Would there be reliable Wi-Fi? “There is our new bus station!” my new boss cheerfully announced as we drove through the centre. This came as a relief. How bad can a place be if it has a new bus station?
I soon realised that Tarnowskie Góry was not bad at all. In fact, over the last six years of living here I have come to love it. This is partly with the slow-cooked subjectivity with which most of us love our homes. Could I convince somebody of the charms of the old communist-era estate I used to live on? Probably not, but I liked it because I was there.
What I also love about my town, though, is its character: the way the Polish reserve melts into Polish warmth once an acquaitance has been made, the shady parks, the murky pubs, the cluttered old antique shops. It has taught me, a native of Bath, about localism in a large-scale world.
The post-communist and increasingly post-industrial world forced Polish towns and cities to sink or swim. In some places, layers of dirt have accumulated on grand old buildings; employment has dried up and streets have emptied. People are leaving their hometowns in search of distant wealth.
Tarnowskie Góry might have lost the income that mining equipment, lead and zinc brought in but its economy has diversified. Many people commute to larger cities in the Katowice Urban Area; new businesses have emerged and thrived. In 2017, a nearby silver mine gained UNESCO heritage status and tourism became a larger industry. The town has swelled, as the fields I walked through in my first years have become dense with housing. (This seems rather sad as I veer around new fencing but one day, no doubt, I shall want a house as well.)
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SubscribeYou’ve become one of two contributors to this site I will read irrespective of the subject matter. I went to a wedding in Poznan in 2019 and your description of TG brings back recent, slightly alcohol-blurred memories. I live in a remote mountain village some 150 km west of Tokyo but will certainly look you up next time I’m in Poland.