A little bit of America in the heart of Upper Silesia

Today I will tell you about a place that surprises even the inhabitants of Katowice, because (I don't really understand why) it is not so popular, but incredibly unique and charming! It’s a place where you can feel this legendary "American dream" for a while and travel back in time.

I’m talking about a small colony of nearly 100-year-old American-style houses, located in a picturesque park, on the edge of a forest, in the Giszowiec district. It’s a complex of six different villas built in the 1920s, when Americans started to invest in Silesian mines. Investors from overseas built these buildings for themselves to feel “like at home” here, and today they just delight walkers and are the subject of hundreds of photos.

 

 

The facility was self-sufficient - for those times the houses were very modern, there was also a common room and a playground for children, everything placed on a large plot where they could relax outdoors from the big city in silence. If that was not enough, a huge golf course was built right next to the estate, which over time, after the Americans moved out during the war, began to overgrow with a dense forest, but to this day observant people can find the remains of this object.

In the immediate vicinity, there is also another eye-catching building - a 30-meter water tower made of classical red brick (so typical here, right?). Built at the beginning of the last century, it provided running water to the entire district of Giszowiec (which I will also describe one day). Unfortunately, despite the fact that it is a monument, it is decaying due to the lack of investment and I hope that funds for its restoration will be found in the near future.