Bielawa

• Name — Bielawa • Image Flag — POL Bielawa flag.svg • Image Shield — POL Bielawa COA.svg • Pushpin Map — Poland • Pushpin Label Position — bottom • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Voivodeship • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Type3 — Gmina • Subdivision Name1 — Lower Silesian • Subdivision Name2 — Dzierżoniów • Subdivision Name3 — Bielawa (urban gmina) • Established Title — First mentioned • Established Date — 1284 • Established Title2 — Town rights • Established Date2 — 1924 • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Andrzej Hordyj • Area Total Km2 — 36.21 • Elevation Max M — 964 • Elevation Min M — 280 • Population As Of — 31 December 2021 • Population Total — 29232 • Population Density Km2 — 807 • Time Zone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Time Zone Dst — CEST • Utc Offset Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 58-260 to 58-263 • Area Code — +48 74 • Custom Label Sec1 — Car plates • Custom Data Sec1 — DDZ • Custom Label Sec2 — Voivodeship roads • Website — http: um.bielawa.pl Bielawa pl-Bielawa.ogg (Langenbielau) is a town in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. As of January 1, 2023, it has a population of 28 344.

Bielawa lies in the central part of Lower Silesia, along the Bielawica stream in the Owl Mountains region. The town covers an area in excess of 36 km2. Bielawa lies at an altitude range of 280 and 964 m above sea level, in the Owl Mountains. The town is a year-round tourist destination; its outdoor attractions include four major hiking trails of varying difficulty in an 80 km2 park, as well as cycling trails and ski lifts.

The name is of Polish origin and is derived from the word biela, bila, current Polish biała ("white").

• Illustration — 19th-century drawing of the castle The oldest known mention of Bielawa dates back to 1284 in a letter sent by Bishop Tomasz II of Wrocław to a group of church leaders from the order of St. Augustine, where he complained that the duke Henry IV Probus has claimed possession of a list of villages that used to belong to the bishopric of Wrocław, including Bela, the Latin form of Bielawa. Also in 1288, Bialawa is mentioned when it was part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. In 1720 the first brick house was built in the village and in 1741 it was captured and afterwards annexed by Prussia. In 1805 Christian Dierig founded a weaving company (Christian Dierig AG). During the Napoleonic Wars, the village was occupied by France. In 1844 it was the site of the Weavers' Uprising, brutally crushed by the Prussians. From 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. In 1891 the Dzierżoniów–Bielawa railway line opened. In 1924 Bielawa obtained town rights. During World War II the Germans established the FAL Langenbielau II subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the town. In 1945 it was captured by the Soviets and eventually reintegrated with Poland. Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Bielawa in the 1950s. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of the Wałbrzych Voivodeship.

There are numerous historical buildings in Bielawa. At its center is the 19th-century Neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower, the third tallest in Poland. Other buildings include a late-Renaissance palace originally built as a fortified manor house; the Church of the Corpus Christi, erected in 1743; and numerous 18th-century Baroque houses that were restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also a home to a number of medieval penitential crosses.

Bielawa has four railway stations: Bielawa Centralna, Bielawa Zachodnia, Bielawa Jezioro, and Bielawa Góry Sowie; all of which are served by regional Lower Silesian Railways services.. Bielawa Jezioro and Bielawa Góry Sowie opened in June 2026.

Bielawa is twinned with: • Chatham-Kent, Canada • Ciechanów, Poland • Hronov, Czech Republic • Kostelec nad Orlicí, Czech Republic • Lingen, Germany

• Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle • Medieval town of Niemcza • Cistercian monastery at Henryków

• Illustration — Mural of singer Eleni • Jeremiah Dencke (1725−1795), composer • Ferdinand Gottlieb Flechtner (1811–1867), German industrialist • Adolph Franz (1842–1916), German politician • Friedrich Dierig (1845–1931), German industrialist • Arthur Philipp Flechtner (1858–1936), Prussian General • Karl Franz (1881–1967), German politician • Georg Muschner (1885–1971), German cinematographer • Walter Möse (1920–1944), Wehrmacht Oberfeldwebel • Waltraut Engelberg (born 1929), author and wife of Ernst Engelberg • Johann Alexander Wisniewsky (1929–2012), German industrialist • Horst Weigang (born 1940), German athlete • Eleni Tzoka (born 1956), Polish singer • Aleksandra Kwasniewska (born 1978), Polish singer • Robert Skibniewski (born 1983), Polish basketball player • Jarosław Kuźniar (born 1979), Polish journalist and TV presenter • Janusz Góra (born 1963), Polish footballer • Art Binkowski (born 1975), Polish-Canadian boxer • Jarosław Jach (born 1994), Polish footballer

• Illustration — Parkowa Hill and Bielawa Lake in Bielawa • Illustration — Church of the Assumption of Mary • Illustration — Pension Leśny Dworek • Illustration — Palace • Illustration — Town hall • Illustration — Municipal Park • Illustration — swimming pool "Aquarius" • Illustration — Monument of Pope John Paul II • Illustration — Lake in Bielawa