Gdańsk

Gdańsk, city, capital of Pomorskie województwo (province), northern Poland, situated at the mouth of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea. An important cultural center, it contains schools of medicine, engineering, and fine arts; a maritime center; churches, museums, theaters, and gardens; and a concert hall and an opera house.

History

First mentioned as a Polish city in 997 or 999, Gdańsk was part of the Polish diocese of Włocławek, as noted in a papal bull of 1148. It was granted municipal autonomy in 1260 and developed as a trade center. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights seized the city, which they held until 1466, when King Casimir IV of Poland regained the territory after a 13-year war. Granted local autonomy by the king in gratitude for its loyalty, Gdańsk expanded greatly, reaching its peak during the Renaissance as the most prosperous port on the Baltic. By 1754 it had gained the largest population (77,000) of any eastern European city and was handling annual grain exports of more than 200,000 tons.

The Swedish wars of the 17th and 18th centuries halted the city’s economic growth and began its decline. In 1772 Gdańsk was seized by Prussia, which resulted in a rapid dissolution of trade through the port, and in 1793 it was incorporated as part of Prussia. Napoleon I granted it the privileges of a free city in 1807, but its territorial separation from Poland, as a result of the creation of a Prussian corridor to the sea, ruined its economy. Gdańsk appealed for reunification with Poland (1813–14), but, when the Congress of Vienna instead partitioned Poland among Russia, Austria, and Prussia, the city was relegated to the province of West Prussia. Danzig, as the city was then called, became somewhat industrialized but failed to regain its stature as a great Baltic trading port.

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From 1919 to 1939 Danzig again had the status of a free city, under the Treaty of Versailles, and Poland had administrative governance over it. However, the Danzig legislative assembly, which was of German composition, tended to antagonize the Polish overseer whenever possible. Poland finally built another port on Polish territory at Gdynia, 10 miles (16 km) to the north. Gdynia grew rapidly, and Danzig also flourished. German control of Danzig increased as the German National Socialist (Nazi) Party won a majority of the assembly seats in the 1933 and 1935 elections. In 1938 Adolf Hitler demanded that the city be given to Germany. Poland’s refusal was used by Germany as provocation for its attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, which precipitated World War II.

Greatly damaged during the war, Gdańsk was returned to Poland in March 1945. Now fully reconstructed, it counts among its restored buildings St. Catherine’s Church, sections of which date from the 14th century, and the medieval town hall. As Danzig it was the childhood home of the German writer Günter Grass, several of whose novels are set in the locality.

The contemporary city

The city center, known as Główne Miasto (“Main Town”), lies on the Motława, a tributary of the Vistula, 2 miles (3 km) inland. Not to be confused with Stare Miasto (“Old Town”)—which lies to the west and is the site of several significant historical structures, including St. Catherine’s Church—Główne Miasto was rebuilt after World War II to resurrect Gdańsk’s 16th–17th-century architectural heritage. The city has two main port areas. The older one, Nowy Port (“New Port”), is a major industrial center for shipyards, metallurgical and chemical plants, timber mills, and food-processing facilities. The Polish maritime commission was first begun there in 1568 to handle questions of defense and trade. The shipyards launched their first warship in 1572. In modern times shipbuilding there has been an important source of foreign currency. Labor unrest in the Gdańsk shipyards in 1980 led to the creation of the Solidarity trade union. The Gdańsk shipyards were sold in 2007 to Donbass, a Ukrainian shipbuilding company. The newer port, Port Północny (“North Port”), is Poland’s largest maritime development project (its first stage was completed in 1975); it handles coal exports and petroleum imports, much of the latter processed at a nearby refinery. The city has an international airport and ferry connections to Sweden.

Gdańsk is an important cultural center, containing schools of medicine, engineering, and fine arts; a maritime center; many fine churches, museums, theaters, and gardens; and a concert hall and an opera house. The National Museum and the Maritime Museum are particularly important institutions. The Dominican Fair, one of the longest-running cultural events in the city, originated in 1260. The University of Gdańsk was founded in 1970. The nearby Westerplatte peninsula is the site of a monument commemorating the servicemen who fought there in the first battle of World War II, in September 1939. The forces at the Westerplatte fort withstood seven days of bombardment by the Germans before surrendering, and the fort remains the foremost symbol of Polish resistance. Gdańsk is part of the Trójmiasto (“Tri-City”) urban area, comprising the towns of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot. Pop. (2021) 486,022.

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