Province of Upper Silesia
Oppeln was the administrative seat of the Province of Upper Silesia from 1919–1939. In the years 1928–1931, by the decision of the German regional administration, the Piast Castle was demolished. Thanks to the strong opposition of the local Polish community and protests of the Union of Poles in Germany, at least the castle tower was saved from demolition. Nowadays called the "Piast Tower" it is one of the city's landmarks. In 1929, a Polish theatre from Katowice came to Opole for a performance of the opera "Halka" by Stanisław Moniuszko. After the performance, the actors were brutally beaten by a German militia with the silent consent of the German police.