One of Poland’s most beautiful cities, Gdansk, on the Baltic Sea, has played major roles in history, especially in the 20th-century. It was the 1939 flash point of World War II, and then in 1980, the birthplace of the Solidarnosc labor movement, ushering the end of Communist domination in Eastern Europe. Gdansk’s Old Town, painstakingly reconstructed to its Hanseatic League glory after being leveled in World War II, is a highlight. The 14th-century Town Hall houses the city’s historical museum.
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A thousand-year history, a location at the crossroads of important commercial and communication routes, an extensive port and mercantile traditions - all this makes Gdańsk a meeting place of many cultures, nationalities, and denominations.
The first written mention of Gdańsk comes from 997. The defensive and urban complex, as well as a port, started to really form in the second half of the 10th century.
The dynamic development of trade, fishery and craft guilds soon pushed the city to the leading position in Pomerania. It maintained this even despite being taken over by the Teutonic Knights in 1308. The city continued to develop dynamically. Joining the League of Hanseatic Cities (in 1361) and the fast development of the port are just some of the factors contributing to the strong position of Gdańsk in Europe.
Although after the defeat of the Teutonic Order near Grunwald the city voted for the Polish king, it did not return to Poland until 1457 when King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk incorporated Gdańsk into the Crown and, in recognition of the merits of Gdańsk burghers, granted Gdańsk numerous privileges, thus starting a three-hundred-year period of prosperity.
The following years are traditionally called the "golden age." During this time Gdańsk was one of the wealthiest and most significant cities in Europe. The religious freedom gained in the 16th century turned the city into a true melting pot of nationalities and denominations, giving it yet another stimulus for development, thanks to the specific "community of differences." It was one of the few such places in the world at the time.
This prosperity was checked by the Swedish wars and partitions of Poland in the 18th century. The city was cut off from Poland and in 1793 it was annexed to Prussia. What followed was a period of slow decline, the gloomiest in its history, interrupted but for a while by the Napoleonic wars.
In 1919, the Free City of Gdańsk was established under the Treaty of Versailles, which brought the city back to the elite of European ports. Unfortunately, in 1933 Nazis took power and fascist terror started to escalate in the city.
On 1 September 1939, at around 4.30 in the morning, it was here, in Gdańsk, that the Second World War started with shots fired from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein. It was a time of bravery and martyrdom of its citizens. The heroic fighting in Westerplatte and the martyrdom of the defenders of the Polish Post Office opened a new, tragic chapter in the history of Gdańsk.
Top sights in Gdańsk
1. Długi Targ
Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.com
Długi Targ (Long Market) was once the main city market and is now the major focus for visitors. Things have got a bit touristy here over the last decade (dubious amber stalls, restaurant touts), but look up from the crowds to appreciate the period architecture, all of which is a very selective postwar rebuild, of course.
2. European Solidarity Centre
The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library in Gdańsk, Poland, devoted to the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe.The huge construction you can see next to the entrance to the Gdansk Shipyards is the impressive European Solidarity Centre which opened on August 30, 2014, the 34th anniversary of the signing of the August Accords. The 5-story building, which has been designed to give the impression of walls cracking and tilting and is covered in rust-colored sheet metal reminiscent of a ship’s hull, has been a project many years in the making. It was finally signed into life in 2005 on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the August Accords when a Founding Act was signed in Solidarity Square by 29 joint-signatories including EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Solidarity legend and former President Lech Walesa.
3. St Mary's Church
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The church is located in the historical center of Gdańsk - an old port city which started to develop around the late 10th century.
Christianity was introduced here around the same time. It is not known when the first church was built on the site of present-day St. Mary's Church, but around 1243 here most likely was a wooden church. The first brick church was built here in 1343 - 1360: fairly large for its time but considerably smaller than the present one. In 1379 there was started the construction of the present church. Design and works were led by local craftsman Heinrich Ungeradin. The architecture of the church most likely was inspired by the St. Mary's Church in Lübeck - the first great example of the Brick Gothic style. Such great churches devoted to St.Mary were built in numerous cities - members of the Hanseatic league. Construction works of the enormous church continued for a long time, until 1502.
4. Artus Court Museum
http://traveltricitypoland.com/artus-court/
Artus Court Museum is a complex of buildings forming a branch of the Gdańsk History Museum, located within the Main City boundaries and forming a part of the representative city route called the Royal Route. Długi Targ located near the historical harbour on the Motława river forms part of the route. The Artus Court complex consists of the following parts: the ground floor of two connected townhouses called The Old Bench House, Artus Court, and the New Bench House. The Old and New Bench House are the townhouses with narrow facades typical of Gdańsk architecture. The origins of Artus Court go back to the Middle Ages and its name stems from the European culture of knighthood. The common name of the courts originates from the name of the legendary leader of the Celts, Arthur, who lived in Britannia in the 5th and 6th century. For the people of those times he was a model of knightly virtues, and the Round Table, at which he sat with his courageous knights, was a symbol of equality and partnership. This very idea inspired the Baltic town communities to build Artus Courts.
5. St Bridget’s Church
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St. Bridget's Church of Gdansk was built in 1396. Gothic in style, it was totally destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt in 1973. The church became a monument, as it sheltered activists of the Solidarity Movement. Inside the church, you can contemplate a unique work of art. There is a large altar made of amber, a petrified resin that is called Baltic Gold. It is found on the Baltic shore only.
6. National Maritime Museum
https://www.visitlondon.com
The National Maritime Museum is the largest museum of its kind in the world, filled with stories of exploration and human endeavor. Discover stories about Britain's encounter with the world at sea, learn about the life of great British hero Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Royal Navy, and see the uniform he wore when he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar. We host free and ticketed events, from lectures by our curators, music nights to seasonal family celebrations. On-site eateries include Neptune Café, our Museum Café, and the elegant Brasserie.
7. National Museum’s Department of Early Art
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
The National Museum in Gdansk is the heir of the City Museum (Stadtmuseum) and the Musem of Decorative Arts. Established in 1872 through the efforts of Rudolf Freitag, the lecturer at the Royal School of Fine Arts, it was called the Pomeranian Museum until its reopening after World War II as the City Museum. Under its new name, the museum continued to grow. Several departments developed into stand-alone museum establishments: the Maritime Museum (1960), the Archaeological Museum (1962), and the Historical Museum of the City of Gdansk (1971). In 1972, this quickly expanding museum system was elevated to the rank of a National Museum. The present-day administrative structure of the Gdansk National Museum includes the Museum of Tradition of Nobility, the Museum of the National Anthem, the Gdansk Photography Gallery, Green Gate Branch, the Department of Ethnography, the Department of Modern Art, and the Department of Ancient Art, which is housed in the main building.
8. Historical Museum of Gdańsk
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The Historical Museum of the City of Gdansk was opened in the restored Gothic and Renaissance building of the Main Town Hall of the City of Gdansk in 1970. Over time the Museum has acquired other historical buildings to house its other departments. These include the Westerplatte Guardhouse no. 1, famous as a site of heroic defence at the outbreak of World War II in 1939; the Wisloujscie Fort - fortifications dating from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, a worldwide rarity and Poland's only preserved sea fort; the Uphagen House, now the Museum of Burgher Interiors; the Artus Court; the Prison Tower and Torture Chamber, at present the Jailing Museum; and the "Na Zamurzu" Tower, nowadays the Museum of Sports. In 1996 the Museum opened its Department of Tower Clocks inside the tower of St. Catherine of Alexandria church, the oldest parish church in Gdansk. This is where Poland's only concert carillon is kept.
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