Editing Bielsko-Biała (section)

== Toponymy ==
[[File:021895 7 Bielitz-Biala'er Wochenblatt, 1895 - cropped.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|a German newspaper from the late 19th century whose title translates to "Bielsko-Biała Weekly"]]
[[File:Czasopismo_Wieniec_Pszczółka_1909.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A Polish newspaper issued in 1909 "in Bielsko-Biała"]]
Both Bielsko and Biała derive their names from the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] stem ''*bělъ'' meaning "white" (in modern [[Polish language|Polish]] ''biały'', in modern [[Czech language|Czech]] ''bílý''). The [[Biała (Vistula)|river Biała]] was the first to be named in this way. The reason was probably the general impression of the color of the water: "white", that is, bright and clear.<ref name="etymologia2">{{cite book |date=2003 |first=Maria |isbn=83-01-13857-2 |last=Malec |location=Warsaw |publisher=[[Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN]] |title=Słownik etymologiczny nazw geograficznych Polski (Etymological Dictionary of Polish Geographic Names)}}<!-- auto-translated from Polish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> Some researchers also linked the city's name to the [[bleach]]ing of fiber, which is questionable, however, due to the fact that in the 13th century the cloth industry in Bielsko was not yet developed.<ref name="ref2">{{cite web |access-date=2008-08-23 |author=Urząd Miejski w Bielsku-Białej |title=Historia Bielska i Białej oraz Bielska-Białej |url=http://web2.um.bielsko.pl/bb/dzialy/kultura/zakladka/Historia_miasta_1.pdf}}<!-- auto-translated from Polish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

The [[German language|German]] name was derived from the Slavic one. In medieval and early modern documents, the name of the town appears both in a form close to modern Polish and Czech (''Bilsko'', ''Belsko'') and German (''Bilitz'', ''Belicz'', ''Bylitz''). Over time, the official name ''Bielitz'' in German and ''Bílsko'' in Czech became established, while in Polish there were still various fluctuations in the 20th century, such as between ''Bielsko'' in the [[neuter gender]] and ''Bielsk'' in the [[masculine gender]]. In the case of Biała, the Polish wording of the name was the only official one, even when the town belonged to the [[Habsburg monarchy]]. The Germanized form ''Beil'' was used only in the local dialect. The [[Wymysorys language]] uses the form ''Byłc-Bejł'' which is close to how the two towns were called by the autochthonous German population.

The combined name ''Bielsko-Biała'' in Polish or ''Bielitz-Biala'' in German was used as early as the 19th century in the names of various societies, clubs, branches of institutions and businesses (e.g. ''Bielitz-Bialaer Leseverein'', ''Bielitz-Bialaer Actienbrauerei'' or ''Bielsko-Bialski Związek Adwokatów''), in the titles of local newspapers (e.g. ''Bielitz-Bialaer Anzeiger'' or ''Bielitz-Bialaer Wochenblatt''), as the name of a railroad station, on maps printed jointly for both cities, and in many other publications.