Gdansk
Encyclopedia
Gdańsk is a Polish
city on the Baltic
coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area
.
The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay
(of the Baltic Sea
), in a conurbation
with the city of Gdynia
, spa town
of Sopot
, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over 800,000. Gdańsk itself has a population of 455,830 (June 2010), making it the largest city in the Pomerania
region of Northern Poland.
Gdańsk is Poland's principal seaport
as well as the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship
. It is also historically the largest city of the Kashubian region
. The city is close to the former late medieval/modern boundary between West Slavic
and Germanic
lands and it has a complex political history
with periods of Polish rule, periods of German
rule, and extensive self-rule, with two spells as a free city
. It has been part of modern Poland since 1945.
Gdańsk is situated at the mouth of the Motława River, connected to the Leniwka
, a branch in the delta of the nearby Vistula River
, whose waterway system supplies 60% of the area of Poland and connects Gdańsk to the national capital
in Warsaw
. This gives the city a unique advantage as the centre of Poland's sea trade. Together with the nearby port of Gdynia
, Gdańsk is also an important industrial centre. Historically an important seaport and shipbuilding centre, Gdańsk was a member of the Hanseatic League
.
The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of political activist
Lech Wałęsa
, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist
rule across Central Europe
.
), however this has also been questioned. Like many other Central European cities, Gdańsk has had many different names throughout its history.
The name of a settlement was recorded after St. Adalbert's
death in 997 AD as urbs Gyddanyzc and later was written as Kdanzk (1148), Gdanzc (1188), Danceke (1228), Gdansk (1236, 1454, 1468, 1484, 1590), Danzc (1263), Danczk (1311, 1399, 1410, 1414–1438), Danczik (1399, 1410, 1414), Danczig (1414), Gdąnsk (1636). See also Names of European cities in different languages.
In Polish the modern name of the city is pronounced AUD. In English (where the diacritic
over the "n" is frequently omitted) the usual pronunciation is ɡəˈdænsk or ɡəˈdɑːnsk. The German name, "Danzig", is pronounced as ˈdantsɪç.
Since the 16th century, the majority of the city's inhabitants were German-speakers
. Other former spellings of the name include Dantzig, Dantsic and Dantzic.
In the Kashubian language
the city is called Gduńsk. The city's Latin
name may be given as either Gedania, Gedanum or Dantiscum; the variety of Latin names reflects the mixed influence of the city's Polish, German and Kashubian heritage.
Ceremonial names on special occasions the city is also referred to as "The Royal Polish City of Gdańsk" (Polish Królewskie Polskie Miasto Gdańsk, Latin Regia Civitas Polonica Gedanensis, Kashubian Królewsczi Polsczi Gard Gduńsk).
Kashubians also use the name "Our Capital City Gdańsk" (Nasz Stoleczny Gard Gduńsk) or "The Kashubian Capital City Gdańsk" (Stoleczny Kaszëbsczi Gard Gduńsk).
Early settlements in the area are associated with the Wielbark culture; and after the Great Migrations
, they were replaced by a Pomeranian settlement that probably dates back to the 7th century. In the 980s, a stronghold was built most probably by Mieszko I of Poland
who thereby connected the Polish state ruled by the Piast dynasty
with the trade routes of the Baltic Sea
. The first written record of this stronghold is the vita of Saint Adalbert, written in 999 and describing events of 997. This date is generally regarded as the founding of Gdańsk in Poland; in 1997 the city celebrated the millennial anniversary of the year 997 when Saint Adalbert of Prague
baptized the inhabitants of the settlement on behalf of Boleslaw the Brave of Poland. In the 12th century, the settlement became part of the Samborides
' duchy
and consisted of a settlement at the modern Long Market, craftmens' settlements along the Altstädter Graben ditch, German merchant settlements around the St Nicolas church and the old Piast stronghold. In 1186, a Cistercian monastery was set up in nearby Oliwa
, which is now within the city limits. In 1215, the ducal stronghold became the centre of a Pomerelian splinter duchy. In 1224/25, Germans in the course of the Ostsiedlung
established a settlement in the area of the earlier fortress.
About 1235, the town was granted city rights under Lübeck law
by Pomerelia
n duke Swantopolk II, an autonomy charter
similar to that of Lübeck
which was also the primary origin of many settlers. In 1300, the town had an estimated population of 2,000. While overall the town was not that an important trade centre at that time, it had some relevance in the trade with Eastern Europe
. In 1308, the town was besieged by Brandenburg
and the Teutonic Knights
were hired by the Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high to restore order. Subsequently, they took over control of the town and killed many of its inhabitants
. Primary sources record a massacre of 10,000 people, but the exact number killed is subject of dispute in modern literature: Some authors accept the number given in the original sources, while others consider 10,000 to have been a medieval exaggeration. The massacre was used as evidence by the Polish crown in a subsequent papal lawsuit.
The knights colonized the area, replacing local Kashubians
with German settlers. In 1308, they founded Osiek Hakelwerk near the town, initially as a Slavic fishing settlement. In 1340, the Teutonic Knights built a large fortress, which became the seat of the knights' Komtur
. In 1343, they founded Rechtstadt, which in contrast to the pre-existing town (thence Altstadt, "Old Town" or Stare Miasto) was chartered with Kulm Law. In 1358, Danzig joined the Hanseatic League
, and became an active member in 1361. It maintained relations with the trade centres Bruges
, Novgorod
, Lisboa
and Sevilla
. In 1377, the Old Town's city limits were expanded. In 1380, Neustadt ("New Town" or "Nowe Miasto") was founded as the fourth, independent settlement.
After a series of Polish-Teutonic War
s, in the Treaty of Kalisz (1343) the Order had to acknowledge that it would hold Pomerelia as an alm
from the Polish Crown. Although it left the legal basis of the Order's possession of the province in some doubt, the city thrived as a result of increased exports of grain (especially wheat), timber, potas, tar, and other goods of forestry from Prussia and Poland via the Vistula River
trading routes
, despite the fact that after its capture, the Teutonic Knights tried to actively reduce the economic significance of the town. While under the control of the Teutonic Order
German migration increased. A new war broke out in 1409, ending with the Battle of Grunwald
(1410), and the city came under the control of the Kingdom of Poland
. A year later, with the first First Peace of Thorn, it returned to the Teutonic Order. In 1440, the city participated in the foundation of the Prussian Confederation
which was an organization opposed to the rule of the Teutonic Knights. This led to the Thirteen Years' War of independence from the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia (1454–1466). On May 25, 1457, when the city – jointly with Royal Prussia
– became part of the Crown of Poland
while maintaining its rights and independence as an autonomous city.
granted Gdańsk the Great Privilege, after he had been invited by the town's council and had already stayed in town for five weeks. With the Great Privilege, the town was granted autonomy within the Kingdom of Poland. The privilege confirmed to the town independent jurisdiction, legislation and administration of her territory, and the rights of the Polish crown were limited to the following: The Polish king was allowed to stay in town for three days a year, he was further allowed to choose a permanent envoy from eight councilmen proposed to him by the town, and received an annual payment. Furthermore, the privilege united Old Town, Hakelwerk and Rechtstadt, and legalized the demolition of New Town, which had sided with the Teutonic Knights
. Already in 1457, New Town was demolished completely, no buildings remained.
Gaining free and privileged access for the first time to Polish markets, the seaport prospered while simultaneously trading with the other Hanseatic cities. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) with the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia the warfare between the latter and the Polish crown ended permanently. After the incorporation of Royal Prussia
by the Kingdom of Poland
in 1569, the city continued to enjoy a large degree of internal autonomy (cf. Danzig Law).
King Stephen Báthory's attempt to subject the city, which had supported Maximilian II
in the prior election of the king, failed. The city, encouraged by its immense wealth and almost impregnable fortifications, as well as by the secret support of Denmark
and Emperor Maximilian
, shut its gates against Stephen. After the Siege of Danzig (1577)
, lasting six months, the city's army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on December 16, 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: Stephen Báthory confirmed the city's special status and her Danzig Law privileges granted by earlier Polish kings. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 gulden
s in gold as payoff ("apology").
Beside the German-speaking majority, whose elites sometimes distinguished their German dialect as Pomerelia
n, the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Jew
ish Poles, and Dutch
. In addition, a number of Scotsmen
took refuge or immigrated to and received citizenship in the city. During the Protestant Reformation
, most German-speaking inhabitants adopted Lutheranism
. Due to the special status of the city and significance within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the city inhabitants largely became bi-cultural sharing both Polish and German culture and attached to the traditions of the Commonwealth state
The city suffered a slow economic decline due to the wars of the 18th century, when it was taken by the Russians after the Siege of Danzig in 1734. Danzig was annexed
by the Kingdom of Prussia
in 1793. During the era of Napoleon Bonaparte the city became a free city
in the period extending from 1807 to 1814. After France
's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars
it again became part of Prussia and became the capital of Regierungsbezirk Danzig
within the province of West Prussia
from 1815. The city's longest serving Regierungspräsident was Robert von Blumenthal, who held office from 1841, through the revolutions of 1848
, until 1863. The city became part of the German Empire
in 1871.
Throughout its long history, Gdańsk has faced various periods of rule by different states:
with access to the sea as promised by the Allies
on the basis of Woodrow Wilson
's "Fourteen Points
" (point 13 called for "an independent Polish state", "which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea"), the Poles hoped the city's harbour would also become part of Poland. However, since Germans formed a majority in the city, with Poles being a minority (in the 1923 census 7,896 people out of 335,921 gave Polish, Kashubian or Masurian as their native language, but Polish estimates of the Polish minority during the interwar era range from 37,000 to 100,000 (9%–34%)), the city was not placed under Polish sovereignty. Instead, in accordance with the terms of the Versailles Treaty
, it became the Free City of Danzig
, an independent quasi-state under the auspices of the League of Nations
with its external affairs largely under Polish control. Poland's rights also included free usage of the harbour, a Polish post office, a garrison in Westerplatte district, customs union with Poland etc. This led to a considerable tension between the city and the surrounding Republic of Poland
. The Free City had its own constitution, national anthem
, parliament (Volkstag
), and government (Senat). It issued its own stamps as well as currency.
The German population of the Free City of Danzig
favored reincorporation into Germany. In the early 1930s the local Nazi Party capitalized on these pro-German sentiments and in 1933 garnered 50% of vote in the parliament. Thereafter, the Nazis under Gauleiter
Albert Forster
achieved dominance in the city government, which was still nominally overseen by the League of Nations' High Commissioner
. The German government officially demanded the return of Danzig to Germany along with an extraterritorial (meaning under German jurisdiction
) highway through the area of the Polish Corridor
for land-based access between those parts of Germany. Hitler used the issue of the status city as pretext for attacking Poland and on May 1939, during a high level meeting of German military officials explained to them: It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us it is a matter of expanding our Lebensraum
in the east, adding that there will be no repeat of Czech situation, and Germany will attack Poland at first opportunity, after isolating the country from its Western Allies. As Nazi demands increased, German-Polish relations rapidly deteriorated. Germany invaded Poland on September 1 after having signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in late August.
The German attack began in Danzig, with a bombardment of Polish positions at Westerplatte
by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, and the landing of German infantry on the peninsula. Outnumbered Polish defenders at Westerplatte resisted
for seven days before running out of ammunition. Meanwhile, after a fierce day-long fight
(1 September 1939), defenders of the Polish Post office were murdered and buried on the spot in the Danzig quarter of Zaspa
in October 1939. To celebrate the surrender of Westerplatte, the NSDAP organized a night parade on September 7 along the Adolf-Hitlerstrasse that was inadvertently attacked by a Polish hydroplane taking off from Hel Peninsula
. The city was officially annexed by Nazi Germany
and incorporated into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
.
About 50 percent of members of the Jewish Community of Danzig
had left the city within a year after a Pogrom
in October 1937, after the Kristallnacht
riots in November 1938 the community decided to organize its emigration and in March 1939 a first transport to Palestine
started. By September 1939 barely 1,700 mostly elderly Jews remained. In early 1941 just 600 Jews were still living in Danzig who were later murdered in the Holocaust.
Out of the 2,938 Jewish community
in the city 1,227 were able to escape from the Nazis before the outbreak of war.Nazi secret police
had been observing Polish minority communities in the city since 1936, compiling information, which in 1939 served to prepare lists of Poles to be captured in Operation Tannenberg
. On the first day of the war, approximately 1,500 ethnic Poles
were arrested, some because of their participation in social and economic life, others because they were activists and members of various Polish organizations. On September 2, 1939, 150 of them were deported to the Stutthof concentration camp
some 30 miles from Danzig, and murdered. Many Poles living in Danzig were deported to Stutthof or executed in the Piaśnica
forest.
In 1941, the German government ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union
, eventually causing the fortunes of war to turn against it. As the Soviet Army
advanced in 1944, German populations in Central and Eastern Europe took flight, resulting in the beginning of a great population shift. After the final Soviet offensive began in January, 1945, hundreds of thousands of German refugees, many of whom had fled to Danzig on foot from East Prussia
(see evacuation of East Prussia
), tried to escape through the city's port in a large-scale evacuation involving hundreds of German cargo and passenger ships. Some of the ships were sunk by the Soviets, including the Wilhelm Gustloff after an evacuation was attempted at neighboring Gdynia. In the process, tens of thousands of refugees were killed.
The city also endured heavy Allied and Soviet air raids. Those who survived and could not escape had to face the Soviet Army, which captured the city on March 30, 1945. The city was heavily damaged. In line with the decisions made by the Allies at the Yalta
and Potsdam
conferences, the city became part of Poland. The remaining German residents of the city who had survived the war fled or were forcibly expelled
to postwar Germany, and the city was repopulated by ethnic Poles, up to 18 percent (1948) of them had been deported by the Soviets in two major waves
from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, i.e. from the eastern portion
of pre-war Poland
.
Parts of the historic old city of Gdańsk, which had suffered large-scale destruction at the hands of the Soviet Army, was rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s. The reconstruction is not tied to the city’s pre-war appearance, instead its politically motivated purpose was to rebuild an idealized pre-1793 state. Any traces of German tradition were ignored or regarded as "Prussian barbarism" worthy of demolition while Flemish-Dutch, Italian and French influences were emphasized.
Boosted by heavy investment in the development of its port and three major shipyards for Soviet ambitions in the Baltic region
, Gdańsk became the major shipping and industrial centre of the Communist
People's Republic of Poland
.
In December 1970, Gdańsk was the scene of anti-regime demonstrations
, which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Władysław Gomułka. During the demonstrations in Gdańsk and Gdynia, military as well as the police opened fire on the demonstrators causing several dozen deaths. Ten years later, on August 31, 1980, Gdańsk Shipyard
was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union
movement, whose opposition to the Communist regime led to the end of Communist Party rule in 1989, and sparked a series of protests that successfully overturned the Communist regimes of the former Soviet bloc
. Solidarity's leader, Lech Wałęsa
became President of Poland in 1990. Gdańsk native Donald Tusk
became Prime Minister of Poland in 2007.
Today Gdańsk is a major shipping port and tourist destination
.
and therefore damp, variable and mild.
The seasons are clearly differentiated. Spring starts in March and is initially cold and windy, later becoming pleasantly warm and often very sunny. Summer, which begins in June, is predominantly warm but hot at times (with temperature reaching as high as 30-35C at least once per year) with plenty of sunshine interspersed with heavy rain. The average annual hours of sunshine for Gdańsk are 1600, similar to other Northern cities. July and August are the hottest months. Autumn comes in September and is at first warm and usually sunny, turning cold, damp and foggy in November. Winter lasts from December to March and includes periods of snow. January and February are the coldest months with the temperature sometimes dropping as low as -15 °C.
processing is also an important part of the local economy, as the majority of the world's amber deposits lie along the Baltic
coast. The Pomeranian Voivodeship
, including Gdańsk, is also a major tourist destination in the summer months, as millions of Poles and European Union
citizens flock to the beaches of the Baltic coastline.
Major companies in Gdańsk:
The city has many fine buildings from the time of the Hanseatic League
. Most tourist attraction
s are located along or near Ulica Długa (Long Street) and Długi Targ (Long Market), a pedestrian thoroughfare surrounded by buildings reconstructed in historical (primarily 17th century) style and flanked at both ends by elaborate city gate
s. This part of the city is sometimes referred to as the Royal Road as the former path of processions for visiting kings.
Walking from end to end, sites encountered on or near the Royal Way include:
Gdańsk has a number of historical churches:
The National Museum
contains a number of important artworks, including Hans Memling
's Last Judgement
The museum ship
SS Soldek is anchored on the Motława River and was the first ship built in post-war Poland.
In the 16th century, Gdańsk hosted Shakespearean theatre on foreign tours, and the Danzig Research Society
founded in 1743 was one of the first of its kind. Currently, there is a Fundation Theatrum Gedanensis aimed at rebuilding the Shakespeare theatre
at its historical site. It is expected that Gdańsk will have a permanent English-language theatre, as at present it is only an annual event
.
Train transportation provides connections with all major Polish cities, and with the neighbouring Kashubian Lakes region. The A1 motorway connects the port and city of Gdańsk with the southern border of the country.
Gdańsk is the starting point of the EuroVelo
9 cycling route which continues southward through Poland, then into the Czech Republic
, Austria
and Slovenia
before ending at the Adriatic Sea
in Pula, Croatia
.
teams in the Gdańsk and Tricity area. Amateur sports
are played by thousands of Gdańsk citizens and also in schools of all levels (elementary, secondary, university). On the right side the picture is showing the Construction that is in process for the Euro 2012 the stadium will hold a capacity of 44,000 seats.
The city's professional football club is Lechia Gdansk
. Founded in 1945, they play in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. Their home stadium, PGE Arena, is one of the four Polish stadiums to host the UEFA Euro 2012 competition.
and is one of the major centres of economic and administrative life in Poland. Many important agencies of the state and local government
levels have their main offices here: the Provincial Administration Office, the Provincial Government, the Ministerial Agency of the State Treasury, the Agency for Consumer and Competition Protection, the National Insurance regional office, the Court of Appeals, and the High Administrative Court.
was extended in 1999 to include most of former Słupsk Voivodeship, the western part of Elbląg Voivodeship
and Chojnice County
from Bydgoszcz Voivodeship
to form the new Pomeranian Voivodeship
.
The area of the region was thus extended from 7,394 km² to 18,293 km² and the population rose from 1,333,800 (1980) to 2,198,000 (2000). By 1998, Tricity constituted an absolute majority of the population; almost half of the inhabitants of the new region live in the centre.
order]
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
city on the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
.
The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay
Gdansk Bay
Gdańsk Bay or the Bay of Gdańsk or Danzig Bay is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland and is sometimes referred to as a gulf.-Geography:...
(of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
), in a conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
with the city of Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
, spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
of Sopot
Sopot
Sopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000....
, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over 800,000. Gdańsk itself has a population of 455,830 (June 2010), making it the largest city in the Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
region of Northern Poland.
Gdańsk is Poland's principal seaport
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
as well as the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
. It is also historically the largest city of the Kashubian region
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
. The city is close to the former late medieval/modern boundary between West Slavic
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
and Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
lands and it has a complex political history
Political history
Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. It is distinct from, but related to, other fields of history such as Diplomatic history, social history, economic history, and military history, as well as constitutional history and public...
with periods of Polish rule, periods of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
rule, and extensive self-rule, with two spells as a free city
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. It has been part of modern Poland since 1945.
Gdańsk is situated at the mouth of the Motława River, connected to the Leniwka
Leniwka
The Leniwka is a river in northern Poland, one of the branches of the Vistula. It is long, and flows into Gdańsk Bay, forming the southern border of Ostrów Island and Sobieszewo Island.Towns and villages on the Leniwka:* Piekło* Biała Góra* Tczew...
, a branch in the delta of the nearby Vistula River
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, whose waterway system supplies 60% of the area of Poland and connects Gdańsk to the national capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. This gives the city a unique advantage as the centre of Poland's sea trade. Together with the nearby port of Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
, Gdańsk is also an important industrial centre. Historically an important seaport and shipbuilding centre, Gdańsk was a member of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
.
The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of political activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
rule across Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
.
Names
The city's name is thought to originate from the Gdania River, the original name of the Motława branch on which the city is situated. Gdańsk and Gdania are considered to be derivations from the Gothic name of the area (GutiskandjaGothiscandza
According to a tale related by Jordanes, Gothiscandza was the first settlement of the Goths after their migration from Scandinavia during the first half of the 1st century CE....
), however this has also been questioned. Like many other Central European cities, Gdańsk has had many different names throughout its history.
The name of a settlement was recorded after St. Adalbert's
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
death in 997 AD as urbs Gyddanyzc and later was written as Kdanzk (1148), Gdanzc (1188), Danceke (1228), Gdansk (1236, 1454, 1468, 1484, 1590), Danzc (1263), Danczk (1311, 1399, 1410, 1414–1438), Danczik (1399, 1410, 1414), Danczig (1414), Gdąnsk (1636). See also Names of European cities in different languages.
Polish alphabet
The Polish alphabet is the script of the Polish language, the basis for the Polish system of orthography . It is based on the Latin alphabet, but includes certain letters with diacritics: the line or kreska, which is graphically similar to an acute accent ; the overdot or kropka ; the tail or...
over the "n" is frequently omitted) the usual pronunciation is ɡəˈdænsk or ɡəˈdɑːnsk. The German name, "Danzig", is pronounced as ˈdantsɪç.
Since the 16th century, the majority of the city's inhabitants were German-speakers
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Other former spellings of the name include Dantzig, Dantsic and Dantzic.
In the Kashubian language
Kashubian language
Kashubian or Cassubian is one of the Lechitic languages, a subgroup of the Slavic languages....
the city is called Gduńsk. The city's Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name may be given as either Gedania, Gedanum or Dantiscum; the variety of Latin names reflects the mixed influence of the city's Polish, German and Kashubian heritage.
Ceremonial names on special occasions the city is also referred to as "The Royal Polish City of Gdańsk" (Polish Królewskie Polskie Miasto Gdańsk, Latin Regia Civitas Polonica Gedanensis, Kashubian Królewsczi Polsczi Gard Gduńsk).
Kashubians also use the name "Our Capital City Gdańsk" (Nasz Stoleczny Gard Gduńsk) or "The Kashubian Capital City Gdańsk" (Stoleczny Kaszëbsczi Gard Gduńsk).
Foundation and the Middle Ages
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
, they were replaced by a Pomeranian settlement that probably dates back to the 7th century. In the 980s, a stronghold was built most probably by Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
who thereby connected the Polish state ruled by the Piast dynasty
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
with the trade routes of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. The first written record of this stronghold is the vita of Saint Adalbert, written in 999 and describing events of 997. This date is generally regarded as the founding of Gdańsk in Poland; in 1997 the city celebrated the millennial anniversary of the year 997 when Saint Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
baptized the inhabitants of the settlement on behalf of Boleslaw the Brave of Poland. In the 12th century, the settlement became part of the Samborides
Samborides
The Samborides or House of Sobiesław were a ruling dynasty in the historic region of Pomerania. They were first documented about 1155 as governors in the eastern Pomerelian lands serving the royal Piast dynasty of Poland, and from 1227 ruled as autonomous princes until 1294, at which time the...
' duchy
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
and consisted of a settlement at the modern Long Market, craftmens' settlements along the Altstädter Graben ditch, German merchant settlements around the St Nicolas church and the old Piast stronghold. In 1186, a Cistercian monastery was set up in nearby Oliwa
Oliwa
Oliwa, also Oliva is one of the quarters of Gdańsk. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Matarnia and Osowa...
, which is now within the city limits. In 1215, the ducal stronghold became the centre of a Pomerelian splinter duchy. In 1224/25, Germans in the course of the Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
established a settlement in the area of the earlier fortress.
About 1235, the town was granted city rights under Lübeck law
Lübeck law
The Lübeck law was the constitution of a municipal form of government developed at Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein after it was made a free city in 1226. The law provides for self-government. It replaced the personal rule of tribal monarchs descending from ancient times or the rule of the regional...
by Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
n duke Swantopolk II, an autonomy charter
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
similar to that of Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
which was also the primary origin of many settlers. In 1300, the town had an estimated population of 2,000. While overall the town was not that an important trade centre at that time, it had some relevance in the trade with Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. In 1308, the town was besieged by Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
and the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
were hired by the Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high to restore order. Subsequently, they took over control of the town and killed many of its inhabitants
Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdansk)
The city of Danzig was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a massacre of its inhabitants and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland against the...
. Primary sources record a massacre of 10,000 people, but the exact number killed is subject of dispute in modern literature: Some authors accept the number given in the original sources, while others consider 10,000 to have been a medieval exaggeration. The massacre was used as evidence by the Polish crown in a subsequent papal lawsuit.
The knights colonized the area, replacing local Kashubians
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
with German settlers. In 1308, they founded Osiek Hakelwerk near the town, initially as a Slavic fishing settlement. In 1340, the Teutonic Knights built a large fortress, which became the seat of the knights' Komtur
Komtur
Komtur was a rank within military orders, especially the Teutonic Knights. In the State of the Teutonic Order, the Komtur was the commander of a basic administrative division called Kommende . A Komtur was responsible for the alimentation of the Knights by the yield from the local estates, he...
. In 1343, they founded Rechtstadt, which in contrast to the pre-existing town (thence Altstadt, "Old Town" or Stare Miasto) was chartered with Kulm Law. In 1358, Danzig joined the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
, and became an active member in 1361. It maintained relations with the trade centres Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod is one of Russia's most historic cities and the administrative center of Novgorod Oblast. It is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city lies along the Volkhov River just below its outflow from Lake Ilmen...
, Lisboa
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and Sevilla
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. In 1377, the Old Town's city limits were expanded. In 1380, Neustadt ("New Town" or "Nowe Miasto") was founded as the fourth, independent settlement.
Polish–Teutonic War
Polish–Teutonic War can refer to:*Polish–Teutonic War describes the Teutonic takeover of Danzig*Polish–Teutonic War concluded by the Treaty of Kalisz...
s, in the Treaty of Kalisz (1343) the Order had to acknowledge that it would hold Pomerelia as an alm
Alms
Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
from the Polish Crown. Although it left the legal basis of the Order's possession of the province in some doubt, the city thrived as a result of increased exports of grain (especially wheat), timber, potas, tar, and other goods of forestry from Prussia and Poland via the Vistula River
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
trading routes
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
, despite the fact that after its capture, the Teutonic Knights tried to actively reduce the economic significance of the town. While under the control of the Teutonic Order
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
German migration increased. A new war broke out in 1409, ending with the Battle of Grunwald
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
(1410), and the city came under the control of the Kingdom of Poland
Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty is the period in the history of Poland that spans the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila , the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish–Lithuanian union...
. A year later, with the first First Peace of Thorn, it returned to the Teutonic Order. In 1440, the city participated in the foundation of the Prussian Confederation
Prussian Confederation
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...
which was an organization opposed to the rule of the Teutonic Knights. This led to the Thirteen Years' War of independence from the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia (1454–1466). On May 25, 1457, when the city – jointly with Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
– became part of the Crown of Poland
Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty is the period in the history of Poland that spans the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila , the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish–Lithuanian union...
while maintaining its rights and independence as an autonomous city.
Modern ages
On 15 May 1457, Casimir IV of PolandCasimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....
granted Gdańsk the Great Privilege, after he had been invited by the town's council and had already stayed in town for five weeks. With the Great Privilege, the town was granted autonomy within the Kingdom of Poland. The privilege confirmed to the town independent jurisdiction, legislation and administration of her territory, and the rights of the Polish crown were limited to the following: The Polish king was allowed to stay in town for three days a year, he was further allowed to choose a permanent envoy from eight councilmen proposed to him by the town, and received an annual payment. Furthermore, the privilege united Old Town, Hakelwerk and Rechtstadt, and legalized the demolition of New Town, which had sided with the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
. Already in 1457, New Town was demolished completely, no buildings remained.
Gaining free and privileged access for the first time to Polish markets, the seaport prospered while simultaneously trading with the other Hanseatic cities. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) with the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia the warfare between the latter and the Polish crown ended permanently. After the incorporation of Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
by the Kingdom of Poland
Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty is the period in the history of Poland that spans the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila , the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish–Lithuanian union...
in 1569, the city continued to enjoy a large degree of internal autonomy (cf. Danzig Law).
King Stephen Báthory's attempt to subject the city, which had supported Maximilian II
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
in the prior election of the king, failed. The city, encouraged by its immense wealth and almost impregnable fortifications, as well as by the secret support of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Emperor Maximilian
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
, shut its gates against Stephen. After the Siege of Danzig (1577)
Siege of Danzig (1577)
The Siege of the city of Danzig in 1577 by king Stephen Báthory of Poland ended militarily inconclusive.The conflict begun as the city of Danzig, along with the Polish episcopate and a portion of the Polish szlachta, did not recognize the election of Bathory to the Polish throne and instead...
, lasting six months, the city's army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on December 16, 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: Stephen Báthory confirmed the city's special status and her Danzig Law privileges granted by earlier Polish kings. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 gulden
Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden'. The guilder originated as a gold coin but has been a common name for a silver or base metal coin for some centuries...
s in gold as payoff ("apology").
Beside the German-speaking majority, whose elites sometimes distinguished their German dialect as Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
n, the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Jew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish Poles, and Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
. In addition, a number of Scotsmen
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
took refuge or immigrated to and received citizenship in the city. During the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, most German-speaking inhabitants adopted Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
. Due to the special status of the city and significance within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the city inhabitants largely became bi-cultural sharing both Polish and German culture and attached to the traditions of the Commonwealth state
The city suffered a slow economic decline due to the wars of the 18th century, when it was taken by the Russians after the Siege of Danzig in 1734. Danzig was annexed
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
by the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in 1793. During the era of Napoleon Bonaparte the city became a free city
Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic)
The Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by Napoleon on September 9, 1807, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars following the capture of the city in the siege of Danzig in May...
in the period extending from 1807 to 1814. After France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
it again became part of Prussia and became the capital of Regierungsbezirk Danzig
Danzig (region)
Regierungsbezirk Danzig was a Regierungsbezirk, or administrative region, within the Prussian Province of West Prussia from 1815-1920. The regional capital was Danzig .-History:...
within the province of West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
from 1815. The city's longest serving Regierungspräsident was Robert von Blumenthal, who held office from 1841, through the revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
, until 1863. The city became part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871.
Throughout its long history, Gdańsk has faced various periods of rule by different states:
- 997–1308: as part of the Kingdom of Poland
- 1308–1454: as part of the territory of the Teutonic Order
- 1454–1466: Thirteen Years' War
- 1466–1569: as part of the Kingdom of Poland
- 1569–1793: as part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- 1793–1805: as part of Prussia
- 1807–1814: as a free city
- 1815–1871: as part of Prussia
- 1871–1920: as part of Imperial Germany
- 1920–1939: as a free city
- 1939–1945: as part of Nazi Germany
- 1945–1989: as part of Polish People's Republic
- 1989–present: as part of Republic of Poland
The inter-war years, and World War II
When Poland regained its independence after World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
with access to the sea as promised by the Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
on the basis of Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's "Fourteen Points
Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a speech given by United States President Woodrow Wilson to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. The address was intended to assure the country that the Great War was being fought for a moral cause and for postwar peace in Europe...
" (point 13 called for "an independent Polish state", "which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea"), the Poles hoped the city's harbour would also become part of Poland. However, since Germans formed a majority in the city, with Poles being a minority (in the 1923 census 7,896 people out of 335,921 gave Polish, Kashubian or Masurian as their native language, but Polish estimates of the Polish minority during the interwar era range from 37,000 to 100,000 (9%–34%)), the city was not placed under Polish sovereignty. Instead, in accordance with the terms of the Versailles Treaty
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, it became the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
, an independent quasi-state under the auspices of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
with its external affairs largely under Polish control. Poland's rights also included free usage of the harbour, a Polish post office, a garrison in Westerplatte district, customs union with Poland etc. This led to a considerable tension between the city and the surrounding Republic of Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. The Free City had its own constitution, national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
, parliament (Volkstag
Volkstag
The Volkstag was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939.-History:After World War I Danzig became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations....
), and government (Senat). It issued its own stamps as well as currency.
The German population of the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
favored reincorporation into Germany. In the early 1930s the local Nazi Party capitalized on these pro-German sentiments and in 1933 garnered 50% of vote in the parliament. Thereafter, the Nazis under Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
Albert Forster
Albert Forster
Albert Maria Forster was a Nazi German politician. Under his administration as the Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia during the Second World War, the local non-German population suffered ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and forceful Germanisation...
achieved dominance in the city government, which was still nominally overseen by the League of Nations' High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
. The German government officially demanded the return of Danzig to Germany along with an extraterritorial (meaning under German jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
) highway through the area of the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
for land-based access between those parts of Germany. Hitler used the issue of the status city as pretext for attacking Poland and on May 1939, during a high level meeting of German military officials explained to them: It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us it is a matter of expanding our Lebensraum
Lebensraum
was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...
in the east, adding that there will be no repeat of Czech situation, and Germany will attack Poland at first opportunity, after isolating the country from its Western Allies. As Nazi demands increased, German-Polish relations rapidly deteriorated. Germany invaded Poland on September 1 after having signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in late August.
The German attack began in Danzig, with a bombardment of Polish positions at Westerplatte
Westerplatte
Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...
by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, and the landing of German infantry on the peninsula. Outnumbered Polish defenders at Westerplatte resisted
Battle of Westerplatte
The Battle of Westerplatte was the very first battle that took place after Germany invaded Poland and World War II began in Europe. During the first week of September 1939, a Military Transit Depot on the peninsula of Westerplatte, manned by fewer than 200 Polish soldiers, held out for seven days...
for seven days before running out of ammunition. Meanwhile, after a fierce day-long fight
Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig
The Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig was one of the first acts of World War II in Europe, as part of the Invasion of Poland....
(1 September 1939), defenders of the Polish Post office were murdered and buried on the spot in the Danzig quarter of Zaspa
Zaspa
Zaspa is one of the quarters of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. Divided into two quarters:*Zaspa-Młyniec *Zaspa-RozstajeZaspa was founded on a place previously occupied by an airport...
in October 1939. To celebrate the surrender of Westerplatte, the NSDAP organized a night parade on September 7 along the Adolf-Hitlerstrasse that was inadvertently attacked by a Polish hydroplane taking off from Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula |Nehrung]]) is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.- Geography :...
. The city was officially annexed by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and incorporated into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,...
.
Jewish community of Danzig
The Jewish Community of Gdańsk dates back at least to the 15th century. For many centuries it was separated from the rest of the city. Under Polish rule, Jews acquired limited rights in the city in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the incorporation into Prussia the community largely assimilated...
had left the city within a year after a Pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
in October 1937, after the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
riots in November 1938 the community decided to organize its emigration and in March 1939 a first transport to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
started. By September 1939 barely 1,700 mostly elderly Jews remained. In early 1941 just 600 Jews were still living in Danzig who were later murdered in the Holocaust.
Out of the 2,938 Jewish community
Kehilla (modern)
The Kehilla is the local Jewish communal structure that was reinstated in the early twentieth century as a modern, secular, and religious sequel of the Qahal in Central and Eastern Europe, more particularly in Poland's Second Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukrainian People's Republic,...
in the city 1,227 were able to escape from the Nazis before the outbreak of war.Nazi secret police
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
had been observing Polish minority communities in the city since 1936, compiling information, which in 1939 served to prepare lists of Poles to be captured in Operation Tannenberg
Operation Tannenberg
Operation Tannenberg was the codename for one of the extermination actions directed at the Polish people during World War II, part of the Generalplan Ost...
. On the first day of the war, approximately 1,500 ethnic Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
were arrested, some because of their participation in social and economic life, others because they were activists and members of various Polish organizations. On September 2, 1939, 150 of them were deported to the Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
some 30 miles from Danzig, and murdered. Many Poles living in Danzig were deported to Stutthof or executed in the Piaśnica
Piasnica
Wielka Piaśnica is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Puck, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately west of Puck and north-west of the regional capital Gdańsk...
forest.
In 1941, the German government ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, eventually causing the fortunes of war to turn against it. As the Soviet Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
advanced in 1944, German populations in Central and Eastern Europe took flight, resulting in the beginning of a great population shift. After the final Soviet offensive began in January, 1945, hundreds of thousands of German refugees, many of whom had fled to Danzig on foot from East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
(see evacuation of East Prussia
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia refers to the evacuation of the German civilian population and military personnel in East Prussia and the Klaipėda region between 20 January, and March 1945, as part of the evacuation of German civilians towards the end of World War II...
), tried to escape through the city's port in a large-scale evacuation involving hundreds of German cargo and passenger ships. Some of the ships were sunk by the Soviets, including the Wilhelm Gustloff after an evacuation was attempted at neighboring Gdynia. In the process, tens of thousands of refugees were killed.
The city also endured heavy Allied and Soviet air raids. Those who survived and could not escape had to face the Soviet Army, which captured the city on March 30, 1945. The city was heavily damaged. In line with the decisions made by the Allies at the Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
and Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
conferences, the city became part of Poland. The remaining German residents of the city who had survived the war fled or were forcibly expelled
Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II
The flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II...
to postwar Germany, and the city was repopulated by ethnic Poles, up to 18 percent (1948) of them had been deported by the Soviets in two major waves
Repatriation of Poles (1955–1959)
Repatriation of Polish population in the years of 1955–1959 was the second wave of forced repatriation of the Poles living in the territories annexed by the Soviet Union. It was the aftermath of the death of Stalin and start of destalinization...
from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, i.e. from the eastern portion
Kresy
The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...
of pre-war Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
.
Contemporary times
Boosted by heavy investment in the development of its port and three major shipyards for Soviet ambitions in the Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
, Gdańsk became the major shipping and industrial centre of the Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
.
In December 1970, Gdańsk was the scene of anti-regime demonstrations
Polish 1970 protests
The Polish 1970 protests were protests that occurred in northern Poland in December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase of prices of food and other everyday items...
, which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Władysław Gomułka. During the demonstrations in Gdańsk and Gdynia, military as well as the police opened fire on the demonstrators causing several dozen deaths. Ten years later, on August 31, 1980, Gdańsk Shipyard
Gdansk Shipyard
Gdańsk Shipyard is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity was founded there in September 1980...
was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement, whose opposition to the Communist regime led to the end of Communist Party rule in 1989, and sparked a series of protests that successfully overturned the Communist regimes of the former Soviet bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
. Solidarity's leader, Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
became President of Poland in 1990. Gdańsk native Donald Tusk
Donald Tusk
Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....
became Prime Minister of Poland in 2007.
Today Gdańsk is a major shipping port and tourist destination
Tourist destination
A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."...
.
Climate
Gdańsk enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderate winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. Average temperatures range from -1.0 C and rainfall varies from 31.0 mm/month to 84.0 mm/month. In general it is a maritime climateOceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
and therefore damp, variable and mild.
The seasons are clearly differentiated. Spring starts in March and is initially cold and windy, later becoming pleasantly warm and often very sunny. Summer, which begins in June, is predominantly warm but hot at times (with temperature reaching as high as 30-35C at least once per year) with plenty of sunshine interspersed with heavy rain. The average annual hours of sunshine for Gdańsk are 1600, similar to other Northern cities. July and August are the hottest months. Autumn comes in September and is at first warm and usually sunny, turning cold, damp and foggy in November. Winter lasts from December to March and includes periods of snow. January and February are the coldest months with the temperature sometimes dropping as low as -15 °C.
Economy
The industrial sections of the city are dominated by shipbuilding, petrochemical and chemical industries, and food processing. The share of high-tech sectors such as electronics, telecommunications, IT engineering, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals is on the rise. AmberAmber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
processing is also an important part of the local economy, as the majority of the world's amber deposits lie along the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
coast. The Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
, including Gdańsk, is also a major tourist destination in the summer months, as millions of Poles and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
citizens flock to the beaches of the Baltic coastline.
Major companies in Gdańsk:
- Grupa LotosGrupa LOTOSGrupa LOTOS S.A. is a vertically integrated oil concern from Poland based in Gdańsk. The company is listed in the Polish index WIG 20. Its main activity branches are: crude oil production, refining and marketing of oil products....
- energy, petrol refinery - Energa Trading – electical and heat energy
- GE Money BankGE Capital BankGE Capital Bank is a brand of GE Money, itself part of the General Electric Company.The brand is used as the name of seven banking divisions and subsidiaries in Austria, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Hungary, Hong Kong, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland...
– finance - Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa – shipbuilding
- Elnord – energy
- Elektrociepłownie Wybrzeże – energy
- LPP – retail
- Polnord Energobudowa – construction company
- PetrobalticPetrobalticPrzedsiębiorstwo Poszukiwań i Eksploatacji Złóż Ropy i Gazu "Petrobaltic" S.A. is a Polish oil company that has received fame of late for discovering the lost Nazi Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin.-History:It was setup in November 1990...
– energy, oil drilling - Delphi – automotive parts
- IntelIntel CorporationIntel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
– IT - IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
– IT - FineosFineosFINEOS Corporation is a privately funded Dublin-based software development company, which was founded in 1993. FINEOS is a provider of enterprise software solutions for insurance, bancassurance, and government social insurance...
– IT - Wirtualna PolskaWirtualna PolskaWirtualna Polska is the sixth-largest Polish web portal. It was founded in 1995. It has often been the leader in offering new services on the Polish market...
– internet service - Arla FoodsArla FoodsArla Foods is a Swedish-Danish cooperative based in Århus, Denmark, and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia. Arla Foods was formed as the result of a merger between the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla and the Danish dairy company MD Foods on 17 April 2000.Arla Foods is the seventh...
– food processing - AcxiomAcxiomAcxiom is a global interactive marketing services company that uses consumer data, analytics, information technology, data aggregation, data integration, and consulting solutions to help companies conduct direct marketing programs...
– IT - KainosKainos-Company Background:Kainos is a privately held company based in Northern Ireland. Established in 1986, as a joint venture between Fujitsu and The Queen's University of Belfast business incubation unit , Kainos was one of Northern Ireland's first campus companies .Today Kainos has 260 consultants in...
– IT - Dr. OetkerDr. OetkerDr. Oetker is a German company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, yogurts, frozen pizza and pudding.Also included in the portfolio are a maritime freight business, a bank, a publishing company, an insurance outfit, a brewery and a number of high class hotels all over...
– food processing - Lufthansa SystemsLufthansa SystemsLufthansa Systems AG is an IT service provider for the aviation industry. It has around 3,000 employees in several locations in Germany and offices in 14 other countries and is headquartered in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt....
– IT - CompuwareCompuwareCompuware Corporation is a software company with products aimed at the information technology departments of large businesses. The company's services also include testing, development, professional services automation, project and portfolio management, cloud-based collaboration and performance...
– IT - ZenSar Technologies – IT
- SII – IT
- Suruga Seiki – IT
- Thomson ReutersThomson ReutersThomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
– media - ThyssenKruppThyssenKruppThyssenKrupp AG is a German multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Duisburg Essen, Germany. The corporation consists of 670 companies worldwide. While ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers, the company also provides components and systems for the automotive...
Johann A. Krause – steel, engineering, capital goods - Maersk Line – services & pick-up
- First DataFirst DataFirst Data Corporation is an American payment processing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. First Data is a provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions...
– finance - Masterlease – finance
- Transcom WorldWide – business processing outsourcing
- JyskJYSKJYSK is a Danish retail chain, selling mattresses, furniture and décor, etc. JYSK is the largest Danish retailer operating internationally, with around 1,720 JYSK-stores in 35 countries, planned to increase to at least 1,800 stores in 2010...
– retail - Meritum Bank – finance
- GlencoreGlencoreGlencore International plc is a multinational mining and commodities trading company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland and with its registered office in Saint Helier, Jersey...
– raw materials - Orlen MorenaPKN OrlenPKN Orlen is a major European oil refiner, and petrol retailer. The company is Poland's and Central Europe's largest publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States...
– energy - Fosfory Ciech – chemical company
- Crist – shipbuilding
- Dr Cordesmeyer – flour milling
- Hydrobudowa – construction company
- Mercor – fire protection systems
- Cognor – steel, engineering, capital goods
- Llentabhallen – steel constructions
- Atlanta Poland – nuts and dried fruit importer
- Ziaja – cosmetics and beauty company
- Stabilator – construction company
- SkanskaSkanskaSkanska AB, is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden, where it also is the largest construction company. The company's head office is in Solna, north of Stockholm.-History:...
– construction company - Young Digital Planet – IT
- Flügger – paints manufacturing
- Satel – security systems, IT
- HD heavy duty – retail
- Dresser Wayne – retail fueling systems
- First DataFirst DataFirst Data Corporation is an American payment processing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. First Data is a provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions...
– finance - Masterlease – finance
- Transcom WorldWide – business processing outsourcing
- Weyerhaeuser Cellulose Fibers – cellulose fibers manufacturing (planned)
- Gdańsk ShipyardGdansk ShipyardGdańsk Shipyard is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity was founded there in September 1980...
– shipbuilding - Stocznia Północna – shipbuilding
Main sights
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
. Most tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
s are located along or near Ulica Długa (Long Street) and Długi Targ (Long Market), a pedestrian thoroughfare surrounded by buildings reconstructed in historical (primarily 17th century) style and flanked at both ends by elaborate city gate
City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
s. This part of the city is sometimes referred to as the Royal Road as the former path of processions for visiting kings.
Walking from end to end, sites encountered on or near the Royal Way include:
- Upland Gate (Brama Wyżynna)
- Torture House (Katownia)
- Prison Tower (Wieża więzienna)
- Golden GateGolden Gate (Gdansk)thumb|right|200px|Langgasser Thor in 1687Golden Gate in Gdańsk, Poland, German Langgasser Tor, is one of the most notable tourist attractions of the city.It was raised in 1612–14 in place of the 13th century gothic gate...
(Złota Brama) - Long Street (Ulica Długa)
- Uphagen House (Dom Uphagena)
- Main Town Hall (Ratusz Głównego Miasta)
- Long Market (Długi Targ)
- Artus' CourtArtus CourtThe Artus Court, formerly also Junkerhof, is a building in the centre of Gdańsk, Poland , at Długi Targ 44, which used to be the meeting place of merchants and a centre of social life...
(Dwór Artusa) - Neptune Fountain (Fontanna Neptuna)
- Golden House (Złota kamienica)
- Artus' Court
- Green Gate (Zielona Brama)
Gdańsk has a number of historical churches:
- St. Bridget
- St. Catherine
- St. John
- St MarySt. Mary's Church, GdanskSt. Mary's Church or, properly, Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic church in Gdańsk, Poland, which is the largest brick church in the world. It was begun in 1379. St. Mary's Church (Polish: Bazylika Mariacka, German: Marienkirche) or, properly, Basilica of...
(Bazylika Mariacka), a municipal church built during the 15th century, is the largest brick church in the world. - St Nicholas' Church
- Church of the Holy TrinityTrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
The National Museum
National Museum, Gdańsk
National Museum in Gdańsk , established in 1972 , is one of the main branches of Poland's National Museum system....
contains a number of important artworks, including Hans Memling
Hans Memling
Hans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...
's Last Judgement
The Last Judgment (Memling)
The Last Judgment is a triptych attributed to German painter Hans Memling and painted between 1467 and 1471. It is now in the National Museum in Gdańsk in Poland. It was commissioned by Angelo Tani, an agent of the Medici at Bruges but was captured by a privateer from Danzig , Poland...
The museum ship
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
SS Soldek is anchored on the Motława River and was the first ship built in post-war Poland.
In the 16th century, Gdańsk hosted Shakespearean theatre on foreign tours, and the Danzig Research Society
Danzig Research Society
The Danzig Research Society was founded in 1743 in the city of Danzig . The Societas Physicae Experimentalis , later renamed to Naturforschende Gesellschaft , is thus considered as one of the oldest research societies in Central and Eastern Europe.Already in 1670, the physician Israel Conradi...
founded in 1743 was one of the first of its kind. Currently, there is a Fundation Theatrum Gedanensis aimed at rebuilding the Shakespeare theatre
Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. Their self professed mission "is to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their...
at its historical site. It is expected that Gdańsk will have a permanent English-language theatre, as at present it is only an annual event
Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival
Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival is an international theatre festival devoted to the idea of the Elizabethan theatre, and especially to the works of William Shakespeare. The event was first organized in 1993, on the initiative of Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, which had been created by prof. Jerzy Limon...
.
Famous people
Transport
- Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport – an international airportAirportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located in Gdańsk; - Port of GdańskPort of GdanskThe Port of Gdańsk is a seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk Bay in the city of Gdańsk, extending along the Vistula estuary Martwa Wisła , Port Channel and Kashubia Canal. It is one of the largest seaports on the Baltic Sea....
– a seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk BayGdansk BayGdańsk Bay or the Bay of Gdańsk or Danzig Bay is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland and is sometimes referred to as a gulf.-Geography:...
within the city; - Gdańsk Główny (PKP station) – major railway passenger station with PKP IntercityPKP IntercityPKP Intercity is a company of PKP Group responsible for long-distance passenger transport. It runs about 350 trains daily, connecting mainly large aglomerations and smaller towns, also servicing most of the international trains....
and SKM service; - Szybka Kolej Miejska – an urban transportation service of Tricity;
- City buses and trams are operated by ZTM Gdańsk (Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego w Gdańsku).
- Obwodnica TrojmiejskaObwodnica TrójmiejskaObwodnica Trójmiejska , – is part of S6 express road that bypasses the cities of Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk. The beltway runs north to south from Gdynia to Pruszcz Gdański and is long. Together with the Słupsk bypass, it forms a part of the S6 expressway which will eventually run from Szczecin to...
– part of expressway S6Expressway S6 (Poland)Expressway S6 or express road S6 is a major road in Poland which has been planned to run from the A6 autostrada at Goleniów in West Pomerania to Gdańsk parallel to the Baltic coast, forming the main connection between Gdańsk and Szczecin.At present, the only significant section of S6 that has been...
that bypasses the cities of Gdańsk, SopotSopotSopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000....
and GdyniaGdyniaGdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
.
Train transportation provides connections with all major Polish cities, and with the neighbouring Kashubian Lakes region. The A1 motorway connects the port and city of Gdańsk with the southern border of the country.
Gdańsk is the starting point of the EuroVelo
EuroVelo
]EuroVelo, the European cycle route network, is a project of the European Cyclists' Federation to develop 13 long-distance cycle routes crossing Europe. The total length is , of which more than are in place....
9 cycling route which continues southward through Poland, then into the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
before ending at the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
in Pula, Croatia
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
.
Sports
There are many popular professional sportsProfessional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
teams in the Gdańsk and Tricity area. Amateur sports
Amateur sports
Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...
are played by thousands of Gdańsk citizens and also in schools of all levels (elementary, secondary, university). On the right side the picture is showing the Construction that is in process for the Euro 2012 the stadium will hold a capacity of 44,000 seats.
The city's professional football club is Lechia Gdansk
Lechia Gdansk
Lechia Gdańsk is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk, Poland. The club's name comes from Lechia, a poetic name for Poland. The club was founded by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Lechia Lwów. Founded in 1945, Lechia was a powerhouse in Polish football during the mid-1950s...
. Founded in 1945, they play in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. Their home stadium, PGE Arena, is one of the four Polish stadiums to host the UEFA Euro 2012 competition.
Politics and local government
Contemporary Gdańsk is the capital of the province called Pomeranian VoivodeshipPomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
and is one of the major centres of economic and administrative life in Poland. Many important agencies of the state and local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
levels have their main offices here: the Provincial Administration Office, the Provincial Government, the Ministerial Agency of the State Treasury, the Agency for Consumer and Competition Protection, the National Insurance regional office, the Court of Appeals, and the High Administrative Court.
Regional centre
Gdańsk VoivodeshipGdansk Voivodeship
The name Gdańsk Voivodeship has been used twice to designate local governments in Poland.----Gdańsk Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–98, superseded by Pomeranian Voivodeship...
was extended in 1999 to include most of former Słupsk Voivodeship, the western part of Elbląg Voivodeship
Elblag Voivodeship
Elbląg Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Elbląg....
and Chojnice County
Chojnice County
Chojnice County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Chojnice, which lies ...
from Bydgoszcz Voivodeship
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Capital city: Bydgoszcz Area: Statistics : Population: inhabitants...
to form the new Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
.
The area of the region was thus extended from 7,394 km² to 18,293 km² and the population rose from 1,333,800 (1980) to 2,198,000 (2000). By 1998, Tricity constituted an absolute majority of the population; almost half of the inhabitants of the new region live in the centre.
Education and science
There are 14 higher schools including 3 universities with a total of 60,436 students, including 10,439 graduates as of 2001.- Gdańsk University (Uniwersytet Gdański)
- Gdańsk University of TechnologyGdansk University of TechnologyThe Gdańsk University of Technology is a technical university in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, and one of the oldest universities in Poland. It has nine faculties and more than 24 thousand undergraduate, as well as about 400 doctoral students...
(Politechnika Gdańska) - Gdańsk Medical University (Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny)
- Academy of Physical Education and Sport of Gdańsk (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego i Sportu im. Jędrzeja Śniadeckiego)
- Musical Academy (Akademia Muzyczna im. Stanisława Moniuszki)
- Arts Academy (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych)
- Instytut Budownictwa Wodnego PAN
- Ateneum Szkoła Wyższa
- Gdańska Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczna
- Gdańska Wyższa Szkoła Administracji
- Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa
- Wyższa Szkoła Społeczno-Ekonomiczna
- Wyższa Szkoła Turystyki i Hotelarstwa w Gdańsku
- Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania
Scientific and regional organizations
- Gdańsk Scientific SocietyGdansk Scientific SocietyGdańsk Scientific Society is a general scientific society in Gdańsk , Poland.It was established in 1922 as the Society of the Sciences and Arts Friends in Gdańsk and was active till 1939, abolished during World War II, reactivated in 1945, having had its present name since...
- Baltic InstituteBaltic InstituteThe Baltic Institute in Gdańsk is a scientific society researching the topics of the Baltic Sea countries, maritime economic issues, and Polish-German and Polish-Scandinavian relations.- History :...
(Instytut Bałtycki), established 1925 in ToruńTorunToruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, since 1946 (?) in Gdańsk - TNOiK – Towarzystwo Naukowe Organizacji i Kierowania (Scientific Society for Organization and Management) O/Gdańsk
- IBNGR – Instytut Badań nad Gospodarką Rynkową (The Gdańsk Institute for Market EconomicsMarket economyA market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
)
Twin towns — Sister cities
Gdańsk is twinned with:[in chronologicalChronology
Chronology is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time, such as the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the determination of the actual temporal sequence of past events".Chronology is part of periodization...
order]
| Bremen Bremen The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... (since 1976) Turku Turku Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... (since 1987) Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... (since 1990) Cleveland, Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... (since 1990) Kalmar Kalmar Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the... , Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... (since 1991) Helsingør, Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... (since 1992) Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... (since 1992) |
Rouen Rouen Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... (since 1992) Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... (since 1993) Sefton, England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... (since 1993) St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... (since 1993) Astana Astana Astana , formerly known as Akmola , Tselinograd and Akmolinsk , is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010... , Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... (since 1996) Odessa Odessa Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,... , Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... (since 1996) |
Rotterdam Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre... , Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... (since 1998) Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County... , Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... (since 1998) Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... (since 1999) Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... , China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... (since 2004) Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... (since 2005) Bytów Bytów Bytów is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northern Poland in the Bytów Lakeland with 16,888 inhabitants . Previously in Słupsk Voivodeship , it is the capital of Bytów County in Pomeranian Voivodeship .-History:... , Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... (since 2007) Colchester Colchester Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
See also
- 764 Gedania764 Gedania-External links:*...
– a minor planet orbiting the Sun - Danzig HighflyerDanzig HighflyerThe Danzig Highflyer is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding. Danzig Highflyers, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the Rock Pigeon...
- Danzig law
- Father Eugeniusz Dutkiewicz SAC HospiceFather Eugeniusz Dutkiewicz SAC HospiceFather Eugeniusz Dutkiewicz SAC Hospice in Gdańsk is a charitable organisation founded by the Pallottine priest E. Dutkiewicz in 1983, which provides palliative care for the terminally ill.-History:Father E...
- List of corporations in Gdańsk
- List of neighbourhoods of Gdańsk
- Pomeranian VoivodeshipPomeranian VoivodeshipPomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
- Space of FreedomSpace of FreedomSpace of Freedom was a concert performed by French musician Jean Michel Jarre in Poland, at the Gdańsk Shipyard, on August 26, 2005, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity trade union's foundation...
– Jean Michel JarreJean Michel JarreJean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
's concert (26 August 2005) - St. Mary's Church, GdańskSt. Mary's Church, GdanskSt. Mary's Church or, properly, Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic church in Gdańsk, Poland, which is the largest brick church in the world. It was begun in 1379. St. Mary's Church (Polish: Bazylika Mariacka, German: Marienkirche) or, properly, Basilica of...