Wróblewskiego Street Cemetery in Katowice

The cemetery on ul. Wróblewskiego in Katowice's Bogucice district is regarded as the oldest necropolis in Katowice. The first mention of it dates from 1598, from the visitation record of the Bogucice parish. The dead were then buried on the hill around a small wooden church. Today it is a working parish cemetery, entered in the heritage register, which dates it to the end of the 18th century. When you enter, remember that this is a resting place, not a park.

The parish cemetery

Gravestones from the 19th century have survived to this day, the oldest being the grave of Bartłomiej Kulerski, who died on 12 January 1825. The churchyard was closed in 1894 in connection with the building of a new church, and since then the necropolis has functioned as a regular cemetery. A cemetery chapel was built here in 1910. In the middle of the main avenue stands a cross on a Neo-Gothic plinth with a figure of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Insurgent graves

In the cemetery there are graves connected with the Silesian Uprisings: the collective grave of Alojzy and Walenty Stawowy, killed in the First Silesian Uprising, the grave of Franciszek Domogała, and the collective grave of Franciszek Kuś and Rudolf Lanuszny, killed in the Third Uprising.

The Brothers Hospitaller cemetery and remnants by the basilica

Directly next to the parish cemetery, the Brothers Hospitaller cemetery was founded in 1874, initially intended only for the friars. In the 20th century residents of the district and its surroundings also began to be buried there. There is a collective grave of six unknown soldiers of the Polish Army, killed in September 1939. The third part of the complex is a small cemetery by the Basilica of St Stephen, a remnant of the cemetery of the former wooden church, with a few graves from the mid-19th century.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Walerego Wróblewskiego, Katowice-Bogucice, with an entrance also from ul. Podhalańska.
• It is a working cemetery: silence and respect for those visiting graves are required, and take photographs in moderation.
• In the area is the Silesian Museum in Katowice, less than a kilometre away in a straight line.