The town of Wisła - official website

Wisła had the status of a village until 1962 when it was granted city rights.

The plan concerning the development of the town as a tourist resort was developed in 1955 and in 1956 the work started with the park area from the bridge in Piła to Oaza. In the 60s a chain of boarding houses was built on the slopes of Mount Jarzębata, Mount Partecznik and Mount Bukowa.

The next step of modernization was transport: in 1965 a new road from Szczyrk to Salmopol was built, in 1974 the railway line in Wisła was electrified and a new network of roads in the town was built.

In 1945 the hotel school was re-opened and a new secondary comprehensive school was opened apart from five primary schools and two branch primary schools on Mount Równe and Mount Stożek. A small town with such a number of schools is exceptional and it is something the inhabitants are really proud of. The Music Society has been very active since 1966 and in 1993 a new Music School of I degree was opened.

In 1961 an amphitheatre was built and three years later (in 1964) the holiday of the Highlander Feast was re-activated with significant contribution from Jerzy Drozd – the organizer of the local folk band which was later conducted by Adam Niedoba. Thanks to Andrzej Podżorski the Beskid Museum was opened in 1964 and then enlarged in 1992 by the Wooden Buildings Enclave.

At the end of the 60s the next, very important for the town decisions, were taken: they concerned water supply, gas pipelines and sewerage. The dam in Czarne, a reservoir of drinking water and a retention tank was built 1974, later in the 90s the sewerage installations were modernized and, since the problem is very important in a tourist resort, the modernization has been conducted ever since. In 1975 a new sport and recreation center was built in Jonidło, that was also the year when names of roads and streets were introduced in Wisła.

The achievements of the inhabitants of the town were often appreciated, for example at National Competition – ‘Master of Economics‘ in 1978/1979 Wisła won the first prize, in 1988/1989 the town was second in Bielsko District and in 2001 the town was awarded with ‘Golden Town‘ prize by Radio Katowice.

In 1997 the Town Council decided to return the complex of Zameczek to its original owner – the president of the country. The work on it started in 2003 and on 3 March, 2005 the president of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski officially opened the newly restored residence. In the years to follow it was visitued by the president of the Czech Republic – Vaclav Klaus, the president of Slovakia – Ivan Gaszparowicz and the president of Hungary – Laszlo Solyom. It was also the meeting place of Wyszehrad Group on 30 September, 2005.

On 28 October, 2003 the president of Poland – Mr. Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Adam Małysz signed the decision of building a new ski jumping hill in the place of the old one in Malinka. The work on it started in 2004.