Why Katowice needed a parliament of its own
After Upper Silesia was divided in 1922, the part awarded to Poland received an autonomy no other region had: its own Silesian Parliament, its own Silesian Treasury and wide powers of self-government. The new authorities needed premises to match, and for their first years they worked out of a former school building.
The architectural competition was announced on 9 May 1923. Sixty-seven entries arrived from sixty-five practices, a measure of how prestigious the commission was. A Kraków design won; its original author, Kazimierz Wyczyński, died on the day the results were announced, and the project was carried through by Piotr Jurkiewicz and Stefan Żeleński, with Ludwik Wojtyczko responsible for the interiors.
Construction ran from 1924 to 1929, with fitting-out continuing until 1932. The building was consecrated on 5 May 1929; the cost with furnishings came to twelve and a half million złoty. Governor Michał Grażyński called it a material sign of Polish culture and strength — a loaded statement in a region whose allegiance had been fought over only a few years earlier.
A scale nothing else matched
The building occupies the whole block between Jagiellońska, Reymonta, Ligonia and Lompy streets. It measures 92 metres across and 106.5 metres deep, standing 31 metres high and over 33 with the attic storey. The built footprint is 6,681 square metres and the volume exceeds 160,000 cubic metres.
Inside there are 634 rooms, around 1,300 windows and close to six kilometres of corridors, spread over five upper floors, two basement levels and a storey in the crowning section. Until the Palace of Culture and Science went up in Warsaw in the mid-1950s, this was the largest public building in Poland.
The architecture is a restrained neoclassicism with art deco surfacing in the detail: on the elevations, in the floors and in the domed vestibule, where the coats of arms of the towns represented in the parliament are displayed. The plan is four-winged, with the main entrance on the west side.
The chamber under the glass dome
The heart of the building is the two-storey debating chamber, semicircular in plan and covered by an ellipsoidal glass dome that brings in daylight. It was the first parliamentary chamber built on Polish soil and became the model for the Sejm chamber in Warsaw.
The seating still explains its present use: 140 places for members of the regional assembly, 30 for representatives of the voivodeship administration, 30 for the press and 198 in the public gallery. The chamber and its lobbies were restored in 2014 and 2015.
The ceremonial route also takes in the Marble, Blue and Gold halls and the governor's office. In the basement the strongroom built for the Silesian Treasury survives. One technical curiosity is the doorless paternoster lift, which returned to service after restoration on 2 April 2025.
Gauhaus, and the long road back
The building was seized on 4 September 1939, days after the war began. From October it housed the German Kattowitz administrative district, and from 1941 the provincial presidency of Upper Silesia and the Nazi party leadership. The occupiers called it the Gauhaus and rebuilt the Marble Hall in the taste of the day. They abandoned it between 25 and 27 January 1945.
After the war it was nationalised, but real decision-making moved to the party committee building and the fabric deteriorated. The effort to recover the historic interiors was begun in 1990 by governor Wojciech Czech and continued in stages over the following decades.
Its importance has been formally confirmed twice. The building entered the heritage register in 1978, and on 22 October 2012 the President of Poland declared „Katowice — the Silesian Voivodeship and Parliament building” a historic monument. In 2017 the designation was widened to include the cathedral complex around the Christ the King archcathedral, a few hundred metres away.
Getting there
- On foot from the station — just under a kilometre south-west of Katowice station and the market square, about a quarter of an hour through the centre.
- By public transport — trams and buses stop near the market square and Mickiewicza Street, a few minutes' walk away.
- By car — the building stands in the very centre on Jagiellońska Street, inside the paid parking zone; an underground car park in the centre is the easiest option.
- Nearby — the Christ the King archcathedral and the modernist tenements of Jagiellońska are all within walking distance and make a good interwar Katowice circuit.
Worth knowing
This is not a museum: government offices still work here, so the interiors open for occasions — museum night, open days, national holidays — and for guided tours announced in advance. The regional government publishes the dates, so an inside visit needs planning ahead.
The exterior can be seen at any time, and two viewpoints are worth having: from Jagiellońska for the full ceremonial facade, and from Ligonia, where the sheer size of the block reads better. Half an hour is enough to walk around it; a tour of the interiors with the chamber takes about an hour.
How to get there and practical info
- Location
- ul. Jagiellońska 25, Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship — the block between Jagiellońska, Reymonta, Ligonia and Lompy streets
- Built
- 1924–1929, fitting-out until 1932; consecrated on 5 May 1929
- Design
- competition announced 9 May 1923; Kazimierz Wyczyński, and after his death Piotr Jurkiewicz and Stefan Żeleński, with interiors by Ludwik Wojtyczko
- Scale
- 6,681 square metres of footprint, 634 rooms, about 1,300 windows, close to 6 kilometres of corridors
- Style
- neoclassicism with art deco detail on the elevations, in the vestibule and in the chamber
- Protection
- heritage register from 1978; historic monument from 22 October 2012, extended in 2017 to include the cathedral complex
- In use today
- the Marshal's Office of the Silesian Voivodeship, the regional assembly and the voivodeship administration
- Time needed
- half an hour to walk around the outside, about an hour for the interiors with the chamber
- Current hours and tickets
- the Silesian Voivodeship Marshal's Office website announces open days and tours of the building
When to go
The pale stone of the facade works well in spring light, and May brings the anniversary of the consecration, around which the interiors are often opened.
Long days leave time to walk the whole block and link the building into an interwar Katowice circuit. Museum night is often the easiest chance to get inside.
A good season for the interiors: shorter days, a quieter city centre, and October carries the anniversary of the historic monument designation.
The monumental mass under snow and the floodlit elevations at dusk are the strongest sight of the year. Visits inside are then limited to announced dates.
Other sights in Silesian Voivodeship
Straight-line distances from „The Silesian Parliament building" — calculated from real coordinates. By road it is often further.
Where to stay nearby
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