Mountains, a popular recreational area, also for skiing, are within a 1–2 hour drive. Sights worth visiting: the neo-gothic basilica of St. Anthony (Bazylika św. Antoniego) the building of the former district authority (1887) the neo-classical new town hall (1928) the neo-classical old town hall with clock-tower, today housing the registry office and the museum of local history the Church of St. Catherine (Kościół św. Katarzyny) (1534) the Church of St. Lawrence (Kościół św. Wawrzyńca) (1717) a late Baroque estate house (1736) a Piast castle from the early 13th century, completely redesigned in the 18th century Sports In 2006, the 8th European Glider Aerobatic Championships took place in Rybnik. The aeroclub of Rybnik is very successful in national and international glider aerobatic competitions: Jerzy Makula won the European Glider Aerobatic Championships two times and the World Glider Aerobatic Championships six times. Other current or former members of the Polish national glider aerobatics team from are Małgorzata Margańska, Krzysztof Brzikalik, Lucjan Fizia, Stanisław Makula and Ireneusz Boczkowski. Teams from Rybnik ROW Rybnik – multi-sports club Thunders Rybnik – american football Climate Rybnik has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). Notable people Otto Landsberg (1869–1957), German politician Hermann Boehm (1884–1972) Kriegsmarine Admiral Lidia Grychtołówna (born 1928), pianist Henryk Górecki (1933–2010), composer of classical music Adam Makowicz (born 1940), jazz pianist Piotr Paleczny (born 1946), pianist Olek Krupa (born 1947), actor Tomasz Zdebel (born 1973), Polish-German footballer Jerzy Dudek (born 1973), footballer Thomas Godoj (born 1978), Polish-German singer, winner of 2008 Deutschland sucht den Superstar Krzysztof Bodziony (born 1985), footballer Ewa Sonnet (born 1985), model and singer Twin towns – sister cities Rybnik is twinned with: Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (2003) Bar, Ukraine (2007) Dorsten, Germany (1994) Eurasburg, Germany (2001) Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2001) Karviná, Czech Republic (2004) Labin, Croatia (2019) Larissa, Greece (2003) Liévin, France (2000) Mazamet, France (1993) Saint-Vallier, France (1961) Topoľčany, Slovakia (2008) Vilnius District Municipality, Lithuania (2000) References External links Rybnik's official website (Polish, some content in English) Rybnik City Guide (in English) Commercial information portal (Polish only) Photo-website (Polish and Silesian) Rybnik, Silesia (Polish, some content in English) German minority in Rybnik (German) Company Information portal (Polish only) Smolna information portal (Polish only) Rybnik during World War II (Polish only) Jewish Community in Rybnik on Virtual Shtetl rybnickie pismo akademickie KAMPUS Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Cities in Silesia City counties of Poland Silesian Voivodeship