Goczałkowice-Zdrój

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Goczałkowice-Zdrój is a village in southern Poland. It is in the Silesian Voivodeship, Pszczyna County, and it is the seat of the local gmina called Gmina Goczałkowice-Zdrój. The village lies about 6 kilometers south of Pszczyna and 36 kilometers south of Katowice. The gmina covers about 49 square kilometers, and the village has around 6,200 residents.

Goczałkowice-Zdrój sits by the Goczałkowice Reservoir and is close to the Vistula River. It is a spa town that welcomes about 10,000 bathers each year.

History: The area was once inhabited by the Vistulans, a Polish tribe, and became part of Poland in the 10th century. Over the centuries it belonged to different states and rulers. The spa was opened in 1862, and in 1932 the name was changed to Goczałkowice-Zdrój to emphasize the spa. During World War II the spa was used as a military hospital by the occupiers, and in 1940 Polish police from the area were killed in the Katyn massacre. After the war the village returned to Poland. In 1975 it became part of Pszczyna town, but it separated again in 1991.

Transport and sports: National road 1 and the railway line 139 pass through the village, and there are two railway stations. The local football club is LKS Goczałkowice-Zdrój, which plays in the lower leagues. The village is also home to Borussia Dortmund’s only youth academy outside Germany, named after Łukasz Piszczek.