American Colony

The American Colony is a group of six English-style villas at ulica Górniczego Stanu 2-12 in Giszowiec, a district of Katowice. They were built in 1927-1928 for the families of American managerial staff of the SACO company.

Where the colony came from

After the partition of Upper Silesia in 1922, the mining estate of Georg von Giesches Erben was divided between Poland and Germany. In 1926 the Giesche company signed an agreement with the American firms Anaconda Copper Mining Co. and Averell Harriman, which gave rise to the SACO company, in which Americans held 51 per cent of the shares. The villas were home to the new director George Sage Brooks and his deputy Frederic Paul Gaehke, with their families. From the start they had electricity, water and sewerage.

What it looked like and what it was for

The houses differ in architectural details and are surrounded by a park and a fence. Originally they had large halls, drawing rooms with fireplaces and several bedrooms each. In 1935 a single-storey playroom for children was added next to villa no. 6. Nearby there was a nine-hole golf course with a clubhouse, and the Kazimierz Pułaski Golf Club was founded on 1 April 1931; after the Second World War the course was closed down.

After the war and today

The Americans lived here until the outbreak of the war. After 1945 the buildings were nationalised and settled by miners from the Staszic and Wieczorek mines. The complex was entered in the heritage register in 1987 and again in 2019. Today these are residential buildings, some of them private, so we view them from the street. The whole group lies on the edge of the Giszowiec estate, next to the water tower, about 3 km from the Katowice Forest Park.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Górniczego Stanu 2-12, Katowice-Giszowiec.
• The houses are inhabited and there is no access to the interiors; it is a walk along the street.