# Familok

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{{Short description|Multi-family building commonly found in Silesia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
[[File:Ruda Slaska - Wirek - Targowa 7.jpg|thumb|A familok house in [Ruda Śląska](/source/Ruda_%C5%9Al%C4%85ska)]]
thumb|Red windowframes typical to familoks
A '''familok''' is a type of multi-family house, originally designed for workers of [industries](/source/heavy_industry) and their families, mainly [coal miner](/source/coal_miner)s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stepien |first=Anna |title=Familok: A derelict relic of its former splendor {{!}} The Krakow Post |url=http://www.krakowpost.com/228/2007/07 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240620031035/http://www.krakowpost.com/228/2007/07 |archive-date=2024-06-20 |access-date=2026-02-28 |website=www.krakowpost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Familoks were built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, in the cities and towns of [Upper Silesia](/source/Upper_Silesia).<ref name=":0" /> They are present in almost every sizeable Silesian city.<ref name=":0" />

Today, they are often run-down and in crime-ridden neighborhoods.<ref name=":0" /> They were often built in complexes, resulting in "familok districts" in cities today.<ref name=":0" /> Some districts even had their own church and communal yards, acting as "cities within cities".<ref name=":0" />

== Etymology ==
"Familok" is a [Silesian](/source/Silesian_language) way of pronouncing the original German name, ''Familien-Block'' (lit. family apartment house).{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

== History and culture ==
They were built during a time when mining and heavy industry were booming in Upper Silesia and homes were needed for workers arriving there from across Poland.<ref name=":0" />

Historically, many residents of familoks, arriving to take city industry and mining jobs, came from rural villages.<ref name=":0" /> As a result, many familoks grew vegetables and had sheds for keeping animals in their attached yards.<ref name=":0" /> Historical familok life has been described as "a cross between country and town".<ref name=":0" />

When many mines and foundries became unable to compete after the removal of communism, according to the ''Krakow Post'', mass layoffs occurred.<ref name=":0" /> Most of the workers left the familoks.<ref name=":0" /> They are now occupied by poor youth and pensioners, and are poor districts of cities.<ref name=":0" /> Some cities have begun to renovate them.<ref name=":0" />

The [Silesian dialect of Polish](/source/Silesian_language) is still commonly spoken in familok districts.<ref name=":0" />

== Architecture ==
Familoks usually have two or three stories, and are made of red brick with red or green window frames.<ref name=":0" /> The red window frames and window ledges are that color because extraction companies, which often built familoks for their workers, tended to use red paint in their mines.<ref name=":0" /> Every familok district is different, depending on the depending on exactly why and by which company it was built.<ref name=":0" />

== Protection ==
Many have been designated as historical monuments.<ref name=":0" />

In several towns, they are protected by conservationists and renovated due to their historical significance. Protected familoks include those in [Nikiszowiec](/source/Nikiszowiec) of [Katowice](/source/Katowice), Kolonia Zgorzelec in [Bytom](/source/Bytom), Kolonia Emma in [Radlin](/source/Radlin%2C_Silesian_Voivodeship), [Ruda Śląska](/source/Ruda_%C5%9Al%C4%85ska), cities situated in Silesia, and those situated in [Karviná District](/source/Karvin%C3%A1_District) in the [Moravian-Silesian Region](/source/Moravian-Silesian_Region) of the [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic) in the historical region of [Czech Silesia](/source/Czech_Silesia).{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*[http://portal.katowice.pl/index3.php?id=fotografie/nikiszowiec Old familoks in Katowice-Nikiszowiec in black and white]

{{Silesia topics}}

Category:House types
Category:History of Upper Silesia
Category:Architecture in Poland
Category:Architecture in Germany
Category:House styles
Category:Culture of Silesian Voivodeship

{{house-type-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Familok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familok) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familok?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.