In the middle ages, three settlements merged into one town, with a Magdeburg rights location dating back to 1308.

The city's name derives from the Proto-Slavic word for "fish" (ryba) and meant "fishpond" in the Old Polish language.

The name highlights the importance of fish farming for the city's economy in the Middle Ages, which is reflected in its coat of arms until this day.

The city's origins can be traced back into the 9th and 10th century, when three Slavic settlements existed on Rybnik's present-day territory which eventually merged to form one town.

In the course of the medieval eastward migration of German settlers (Ostsiedlung), Rybnik, as many other Polish settlements, was incorporated (granted city status and right) according to the so-called Magdeburg Law at some point before 1308 (the exact date remains unknown).

In the 15th century, the Hussites devastated the city, before being eventually defeated in a decisive battle on a hill nearby in 1433, with Poles and Czechs fighting on both sides.

From 1521 Rybnik was again ruled by Polish Piast dukes, as it was integrated with the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, before in 1532 it eventually was incorporated into Bohemia, which itself came under the authority of the Habsburg crown.

Amidst an atmosphere of ethnic unrest, the Polish Silesian Uprisings broke out, the first of which (in 1919) was centered on Rybnik, and the Upper Silesia plebiscite was held in 1921 to determine the future state affiliation.

Within the Second Polish Republic of the interwar period, Rybnik was part of the Silesian Voivodeship and enjoyed far-reaching political and financial autonomy.

During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, in September 1939, Rybnik was captured by Germany, and the Einsatzgruppe I entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles.

The population was ethnically categorized and either "re-Germanized" or disfranchised and partially expelled into the General Government (German-occupied central Poland).

[10][11] In the camp, the Germans mainly held children whose parents were either arrested or deported to Germany, and also elderly people.

In the final stages of the war, in January 1945, the Germans murdered 385 prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the city during a death march.

While the discovery of large coal deposits around Rybnik in late 1800s and early 1900s caused capital inflow and population growth of neighboring villages and settlements, Rybnik continued to be primarily a market town rather than transform into a large industrial city like other towns in the region, particularly in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region.

In the 1970s, under administrative reform, Rybnik annexed a number of neighboring mining towns and villages, growing to 118,200 by the end of the decade.

[17] That migration was a source of ethnic conflict since the 1950s, given that in the eyes of Poles from other parts of the country, indigenous Silesians were Germans, and the anti-German sentiment was still strong in Poland at the time.

[19] Other religions with places of worship in Rybnik include: Buddhists, Seventh Day Adventists, Lutherans (with a parish since 1742, and a church from 1853), and Pentecostals.

Two districts (Boguszowice Osiedle and Maroko-Nowiny) are typical Polish housing estates, with large blocks of flats and supporting buildings (such as shops and schools) built in communist time.

To the north-east of the built-up area, there is a reservoir (Zalew Rybnicki) on the river Ruda, which serves as a cooling water source for the power station.

Surrounded by forests, it offers swimming, fishing, sailing and surfing opportunities, and due to the power station's waste heat it is warm enough all year to be a habitat for grass carps.

[23] Other current or former members of the Polish national glider aerobatics team from Aeroklub ROW [pl] are Małgorzata Margańska, Krzysztof Brzikalik, Lucjan Fizia, Stanisław Makula and Ireneusz Boczkowski.