Hi there, long time no see! Let me spam the InterWeb again with some random facts and photos from the Promised Land. "Eh? Promised Land?" - well, yes, that's what this city used to be called back in the late nineteenth century, when the future
Nobel prize winner for literature, Władysław Reymont, wrote a
novel of this title. The city's population grew from less than 1000 in 1815 to 600 000 in 1915 - a growth of 60000% in 100 years, which is absolutely unique in Europe.
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So, why people came here? To seek work, of course. The city was a big textile hub and offered a lot of jobs and opportunities. Of course the term "Promised Land" might sound sarcastic for thousands of cheap workers trying to make ends meet doing several shifts a day and living in apalling conditions. However many industrialists tried their luck here and became insanely rich - so rich, that they owned much of the land in the city and could afford lavish palaces, which they built next to their impressive textile mills.
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One of the richest industrialists, Karl Scheibler, who came here from Germany, was the "lord" of Księży Młyn - a huge industrial complex, a unique city within a city, with its own residential quarter for mill workers, a school, a hospital, a fire station, railway system, a park and beautiful palaces. Now, after 100 years, the mills no longer serve their purpose, but the area is being turned into a modern office, industrial and residential complex, with old factories made of red brick brought back to life, old palaces housing art & cinematography museums, and green parks.
You can still see the might of Scheibler's fortune in the giant mills now being turned into luxurious lofts or class A office space. Don't forget to check out the site of his
tomb - a monument one the kind, a beautiful gothic revival chapel.