Stara Wieś, Silesian Voivodeship

For other places with the same name, see Stara Wieś (disambiguation).

Stara Wieś
Village
An 18th-century parish school house in Stara Wieś
Coat of arms
Stara Wieś
Coordinates: 49°54′N 19°5′E / 49.900°N 19.083°E / 49.900; 19.083
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Bielsko
Gmina	Wilamowice
Population	1,978
Website	starawies.ovh.org

Stara Wieś (Polish pronunciation: [ˈstara vʲɛɕ], lit. 'Old Village', Silesian: Staro Wieś) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wilamowice, within Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland.^[1] It lies approximately 6 km (4 mi) west of Wilamowice, 8 km (5 mi) north of Bielsko-Biała, and 40 km (25 mi) south of the regional capital Katowice.

History

According to the tradition Stara Wieś (lit. Old Village) was established after First Mongol invasion of Poland by settlers from Flanders, Friesland, Holland and Scotland. Soon after they moved on to found another sister settlement, contemporary Wilamowice, which was first mentioned in 1326 in the register of Peter's Pence payment among Catholic parishes of Oświęcim deanery of the Diocese of Kraków as Novovillamowicz, whereas Stara Wieś was mentioned as Antiquo Willamowicz.^[2] In 1444 it came to be known under current name Stara Wieś (German: Altdorf, Wymysorys: Vilmesdur).^[3]

Politically both villages belonged to the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz and the Castellany of Oświęcim, which was in 1315 formed in the process of feudal fragmentation of Poland into the Duchy of Oświęcim, ruled by a local branch of Silesian Piast dynasty. In 1327 the duchy became a fee of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1457 Jan IV of Oświęcim agreed to sell the duchy to the Polish Crown, and in the accompanying document issued on 21 February the village was mentioned as Stara Wyesz.^[4]

The territory of the Duchy of Oświęcim was eventually incorporated into Poland in 1564 and formed Silesian County of Kraków Voivodeship. Upon the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it became part of the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia. After World War I and fall of Austria-Hungary it became part of Poland. It was annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II, and afterwards it was restored to Poland.

2025 shooting

Stara Wieś shooting: On 27 June 2025, a shooting occurred in the village of Stara Wieś, Limanowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.^[5] The suspect, a 57-year-old man, shot three family members, killing his daughter (26) and son-in-law (31), and seriously wounding his mother-in-law (72). A one-year-old child was unharmed.^[6]

Following the initial manhunt, on 1 July 2025, the suspect, Tadeusz Duda, was reportedly spotted near the crime scene in Stara Wieś. Upon being approached by police, he allegedly opened fire and fled into the surrounding forested area. Despite extensive search efforts, he evaded capture.

On 8 July 2025, Duda's body was discovered in a wooded area near his home. An autopsy confirmed that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, indicating suicide. Investigations are ongoing to determine whether he had assistance during his evasion.

Landmarks

There is a wooden Exaltation of the Holy Cross church from the early 16th century, registered as a cultural heritage monument. Another heritage monument lies nearby, a former parish school which now serves as Regional Room.

• 
  Exaltation of the Holy Cross church
• 
  Regional Room

People

• Kazimierz Nycz (b. 1950), Roman Catholic bishop

References

1. "Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office] (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
2. Jan, Ptaśnik (1913). Monumenta Poloniae Vaticana T.1 Acta Camerae Apostolicae. Vol. 1, 1207-1344 (in Latin). Cracoviae: Sumpt. Academiae Litterarum Cracoviensis. pp. 147–150.
3. Zinkow, Julian (1994). Oświęcim i okolice. Przewodnik monograficzny (in Polish). Oświęcim: Wydawnictwo „PLATAN“. p. 189. ISBN 83-7094-002-1.
4. Prokop, Krzysztof Rafał (2002). Księstwa oświęcimskie i zatorskie wobec Korony Polskiej w latach 1438-1513. Dzieje polityczne (in Polish). Kraków: PAU. p. 151. ISBN 83-88857-31-2.
5. Cite error: The named reference Xinhua1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. Cite error: The named reference PolishNews2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).