Editing Katowice (section)

=== Interwar architecture ===
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Kattowitz - Panorama 4.jpg
| image2 = Katowice - Gmach Sejmu Śląskiego 01.jpg
| caption1 = Interwar panorama of Katowice with ''Drapacz Chmur'' visible in centre
| caption2 = [[Silesian Parliament]]
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In 1922, Katowice and the eastern portion of Upper Silesia were reintegrated with reborn Poland, and an [[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)|autonomous Silesian Voivodeship]] was established, with Katowice as its capital. This event has marked the beginning of a period of unprecedented architectural development in the city. Since most traditional styles, especially [[Gothic architecture|gothic]] and gothic revival, were perceived as connected to imperial Germany by the new Polish authorities, all new development was to be built in, at first in the [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]], and later in [[Functionalism (architecture)|functionalist]]/[[Bauhaus]] style.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Syska|first1=Anna|title=Styl gotycki wyklucza się. Międzywojenna architektura w województwie śląskim|last2=Kiełkowski|first2=Tomasz|publisher=Śląskie Centrum Dziedzictwa Kulturowego w Katowicach|year=2015|isbn=9788385871699|location=Katowice|pages=}}</ref> The city, which needed to build administrative buildings for the new authorities and housing for people working in regional administration, began expansion southward creating one of the largest complexes of modern architecture in Poland, comparable to Warsaw and [[Gdynia]] (newly built port on the [[Baltic Sea]]) only.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Bożek|first=Gabriela |display-authors=etal |title=Wojewódzki program opieki nad zabytkami w województwie śląskim na lata 2010–2013|publisher=Śląskie Centrum Dziedzictwa Kulturowego w Katowicach|year=2010|isbn=|location=Katowice|pages=79}}</ref>

The modernist district is centered around the monumental [[Silesian Parliament]] building (1923–1929), which architecture is mostly neoclassical, albeit with early modernist influences. During World War II, the building became headquarters of the [[Province of Upper Silesia|Reichsgau Oberschlesien]] and part of the interior was redesigned by [[Albert Speer]], [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s favorite architect, to resemble the interior of the [[Reich Chancellery]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sejm Śląski, czyli budynek Śląskiego Urzędu Wojewódzkiego w Katowicach – monumentalne arcydzieło modernizmu – Bryła|url=https://www.bryla.pl/bryla/1,85301,6677160,BRYLAnty_polskiej_moderny___parlament_w____Katowicach.html|access-date=2021-02-12|website=www.bryla.pl|language=pl}}</ref> The nearby [[Cathedral of Christ the King, Katowice|Cathedral of Christ the King]] (1927–1955, with dome lowered by 34 meters compared to original design) is also neoclassical but with an ascetic, modernist-inspired interior (including a [[tabernacle]] and a golden mosaic funded by future pope, [[Pope Benedict XVI|Joseph Ratzinger]]).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wieliński|first=Bartosz T.|date=2019-02-11|title=Zmienił projekt katedry na życzenie komunistów, ale świątynia i tak na tym zyskała|url=https://katowice.wyborcza.pl/katowice/7,165672,24447287,zmienil-projekt-katedry-na-zyczenie-komunistow-ale-swiatynia.html?disableRedirects=true|access-date=2021-02-12|website=katowice.wyborcza.pl}}</ref> Other buildings, designed in mid-to-late 1920s and 1930s, are mostly modernist or functionalist. A symbol of the city in the interwar period, [[Drapacz Chmur]] (literally: ''The Skyscraper''), was the first skyscraper built in Poland after World War I, and the first building in the country to be based on a steel frame.<ref name=":1" />