Promotion of the book by David Keller and Marcin Jarząbek “Silesian Railways on the Tracks of History”

Promotion of the publication “Silesian Railways on the Tracks of History” by Dr. David Keller and Dr. Marcin Jarząbek. Conducted by Prof. Ryszard Kaczmarek.

On May 22, 1842, after several years of efforts and several previous projects, the first official train of the Upper Silesian Railway crossed the section from Wrocław to Oława. A year later, the tracks reached Upper Silesia to Opole, and in 1845 the line was extended to the Upper Silesian mining towns: Gliwice, Zabrza and Świętochloowice.

Prepared by renowned researchers of the history of railways in Poland, Dr. Marcin Jarząbek and Dr. David Keller, the book “Silesian Railways on the Tracks of History” presents the history of railways in Upper Silesia and adjacent lands, which are part of the modern Silesian Voivodeship — from horse-drawn carriages at the beginning of the 19th century to modern trains of the Silesian Railways in the 21st century.

The authors used a number of archival sources, they also made abundant use of the latest findings of literature. The text is enriched with more than 300 illustrations and an extensive calendar. They do not only complement or enhance the content, but are an integral part of the story of the past. Hence, the calendar does not include only “big” events, “significant” points in history, but treats minor, local events with equal attention. All of them constitute a picture of the operation of railways and the relationship between them and customers — passengers and shippers and recipients of goods.

About the authors:

Marcin Jarząbek, PhD — historian, assistant professor at the Department of Historical Anthropology and Theory of History at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Author of the books “Legionnaires and others. Collective memory of veterans of the First World War in Poland and Czechoslovakia of the interwar period” (Kraków 2017), “Handbook for Oral History” (Warsaw 2024); one of the co-authors of “History of Railways in Poland” (Rybnik 2012). In addition to railway history, he deals with the social and cultural history of Central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, oral history and memory studies, and the history of concepts.

Dr. Dawid Keller — historian, archivist, museologist. He is currently the chief archiving specialist of Koleje Śląskie. Researcher of the history of Upper Silesia in the 19th and 20th centuries and railway transport in Poland. Organizer of research on the history of railways, which resulted in conferences held in Rybnik in the years 2006-2017 and the series “A Yet Railway” (since 2018). He published, among others, “The Regional Directorate of State Railways in Katowice in the years 1922—1939. Origins, legal bases, organization and functioning” (Rybnik 2013); “The Railway from Katowice to Raciborz” (co-author, Rybnik 2006 and 2013); “The History of Railways in Poland” (scientific editor and co-author, Rybnik 2012); “The First Soldier of the Civil Front. Railway and Railways in Silesia in 1945” (Katowice-Warsaw 2025).

The event is co-organized with the Silesian Railways.

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