Old Nikiszowiec - the district in which the Euro Hotel is located

The workers' housing estate Nikiszowiec, located in the eastern part of Katowice, is one of the city's most recognisable historical and architectural symbols.

It is here, at 10 Nalkowska Street, just a few steps from the main square, that the hotel euroHOTEL** Katowice. Thanks to this location, you will live in the centre of one of the most interesting districts of Katowice, and the whole of Silesia.

The district was built between 1908 and 1918 for the employees of the Silesian mine "Giesche", according to a design by Georg and Emil Zillmann. It was entered in the register of historical monuments in 1978, in 2011 it was declared a Monument of History and is one of the stops on the Technological Monuments Route and listed as a Monument of History.

This unique workers' housing estate was built for the miners of the "Giesche" mine to make up for the housing shortage in the neighbouring district of Giszowiec. The workers' colony was built in close proximity to the "Nickisch" shaft, one of the fourteen shafts of the "Giesche" mine. It is a veritable textbook example of the 19th century idea of industrial construction combining modern patronage estates, linking the worker to the workplace and guaranteeing the conditions necessary for a decent life. Within the residential range, the architects also provided for a number of social and service facilities.

Situated close to the village and on the edge of the forest, Nkiszowiec was characterised by typically urban buildings, distinguished by its scale, compactness and closed character of the establishment emphasising its links with the mine, nevertheless the architects designed it according to the concept of a garden estate. Apart from typically urban building elements, Nikiszowiec also included typically rural elements - e.g. pigsties (where not only pigs, but also chickens, pigeons, rabbits and goats were kept).

The facades of all the buildings were lined with facing bricks, which gave the impression of being the same, but the Zillmann architects tried to give Nikiszowiec an individual character. The buildings are therefore distinguished by many details - different arches over the windows or doors, bay windows of different heights and depths and variable shapes.

Nikiszowiec in numbers

The Nikiszowiec estate covers an area of about 15 ha. It consists of three functionally differentiated areas, forming a compact whole, linked by the main traffic route - Janowska Street, converging with other streets at Wyzwolenia Square. The estate is clearly separated from the rest of the city by a large street, on the opposite side enclosed by railway tracks.

Designers on the estate have planned:

• nine three-storey brick blocks enclosed in rings (only Block II - the largest of all - is not fully enclosed forming quadrangles with) internal courtyards.
• 165 flats (approximately 1,000 in total) are planned for each building.
• Almost 8,000 people were accommodated on just eight hectares of land.

• A standard flat on the Nikiszowiec estate had 63 sq m. (two rooms with a kitchen) or 53 sq. m.
• There was one toilet per two flats with an entrance in the stairwell.
• residents had attics and cellars at their disposal and could bathe or do laundry in the communal buildings designated for this purpose.
• officials working at the mine could count on better, larger flats (around 90 sq m) with a bathroom.
• inside each block there is a courtyard with outbuildings,
• The neighbouring buildings were connected to each other by a so-called 'overhang' (covered bridge) over the street.
• Nikiszowiec was also home to service premises, a bathhouse for the entire Giesche mine crew, a dormitory for lonely miners, educational facilities and a laundry and drying room.

The centre of the development is Liberation Square, which features the former inn with its distinctive rose mosaic and the neo-Baroque St Anne's Church.