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Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic coast in the Pomeranian Voivodship of northern Poland, with a population of 460,000 in 2002.
Until 1945 the city was known for a certian time in its history by its alternative German name of Danzig, reflecting its past attachment at times to German polities, the presence over many centuries of a German-speaking population. Alternative spellings from documents from the medieval and early modern periods are Gyddanzyc, Dantzig, Dantzigk or Dantzk

The city is situated at the Motlawa river, near to the swampy area in the delta of the Vistula river. Location at the mouth of the Vistula, whose waterway system connects 60% of the area of today's Poland, gives Gdansk unique advantage as the center of the sea trade. In the past Gdansk made the most of this advantage and became the biggest city of today's Poland.

A major regional port since the 14th century and subsequently a principal ship-building centre, today's Gdansk remains an important industrial centre despite the development in the 1920s of the nearby port of Gdynia. Both cities combined together also with the spa town of Sopot constitute a metropolitan area of 850,000 people called the Tricity.

History of the city

Settlements existed in the area for several centuries before the birth of Christ. The coast was called 'Gothiscandza' by Jordanes; Tacitus also referred to it in his Germania. Both historians believed the area to be populated. Although there were already wooden structures in existence, the year 997 has in recent years been considered to be the date of the foundation of the city itself, as the year in which Saint Adalbert of Prague entered Prussia from the castle of Gdansk to convert the inhabitants: in 1997 Poland celebrated the millennium of Gdańsk's foundation by Mieszko I, Duke of Poland to compete with the ports of Szczecin and Wolin on the Oder River.

By 1148, the town had been assigned to the diocese of Wloclawek and Pomerania, while several crusades were ordered by the popes, to 'christianize' the pagan Prussians. Missionary activity was brought by the empire to Pomerania from the west and to eastern Prussia coming from the east via Riga.

The city was granted a charter in 1224 incorporating the Lübeck rights. Merchants from the Hansa cities of Lübeck and Bremen were the principal founders. Gdansk rose to become one of the more important of the many trading and fishing ports along the Baltic Sea coast, surpassing in size the nearby city of Elblag.

During the Fragmentation period in Poland (1138-1320), power in Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) fell to a local dynasty subject to Polish princes. In 1295 the last of the Pomerelian ducal dynasty ceded Gdansk to king Przemysl II of Poland. After his assassination in 1296, the city was temporary ruled by the kings of Bohemia and Poland, Wenceslaus II and his son Wenceslaus III.

At the begining of the 14th century the region was plunged into war involving Poland and Brandenburg to the west. Brandenburg's claim to the Gdansk Pomerania was based on a treaty of August 8, 1305 between Brandenburg's rulers and Wenceslaus III, promising the Meissen territory to the Bohemian crown in exchange for Gdansk Pomerania. The claim was fictitious, because neither signatory held title to either of the territories concerned, and no such exchange was ever effected.

During the course of the war Gdansk was seized (November 1308) by the Teutonic Knights, called in by Wladislaw Lokietek of Poland. All the inhabitants of the city, both Polish and German, were brutally slaughtered. The Teutonic Order continued its invasion of the Polish lands, incorporating them into its domains. In September 1309, Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg sold his claim over the territory to the Teutonic Order for 10,000 marks. At this time the city started to be known also under its German name of Danzig. This was the beginning of a series of conflicts between Poland and the Teutonic Order

Gdansk flourished under the authority of the Teutonic Knights, benefiting from major investment and economic prosperity in Poland, which stimulated trade along the Vistula. The city became a full member of the Hanseatic League by 1361, but its merchants remained resentful at the barriers in the trade up the Vistula river to Poland, along with the lack of political rights in a state ruled in the interest of the Order's religiously-motivated knight-monks.

In 1440, Gdańsk joined the nearby Hanseatic cities of Elblag and Torun to form the Prussian Confederation, which was supported by Casimir IV of Poland in its rebellion (February 1454) against the Teutonic Order's rule. The resulting ""War of the Cities" or Thirteen Years' War ended with the Order's defeat and its surrender to the Polish crown (Second Treaty of Thorn, October 1466) of its rights in Gdańsk Pomerania and the rest of the area subsequently known as Polish or Royal Prussia.

The 15th and 16th centuries brought changes to the city's cultural heritage. We can see these changes in the arts, language, and in Gdansk contributions to the world of science. In 1471, a refurbished sailing ship under Gdańsk captain Paul Beneke the famous altar painting titled: Latest Judgement (Juengste Gericht) by artist Hans Memling to Gdansk. In around 1480-1490, tablets were installed at St. Mary's church, depicting the Ten Commandments (1) in a Low German language. In 1566, the official language of the city's governing institutions was changed from the Low German used throughout the Hanseatic cities to High German.

Georg Joachim Rheticus visited the mayor of Gdańsk in 1539, while he was working with Nicolaus Copernicus in nearby Frombork. The mayor of Gdańsk gave Rheticus financial assistance for the publication of the Narratio Prima, published by the Gdansk printer Rhode in 1540 and to this day considered the best introduction to the Copernican theory. While in Gdańsk, Rheticus, who was also a cartographer and navigational instrument maker, interviewed Gdańsk pilots as to their navigational needs. He presented the Tabula chorographica auff Preusse to Duke Albert of Prussia in 1541.

The Gdansk printer Andreas Huenefeld(t) (Hunsfeldus) (1606-1652) printed a Gdansk edition of the Rosicrucian Manifestos. Later on, he published the poems of Martin Opitz. The famous poet Opitz had died in 1639 and his friend, the pastor of Gdańsk, known as Bartholomaeus Nigrinus, together with two associates edited the Opitz poems for the Huenefeld printing house.

In 1606 a distillery named Der Lachs (the Salmon) was founded , which produced one of Gdańsk's most famous products, a liqueur named Danziger Goldwasser ("Gdansk gold water"), made from herbs and with small 22-carat gold flakes floating in the bottle. The recipe for this went with the expellees of 1945 to western Germany, where it continued to be produced.

From the 14th century until the mid-17th century Gdansk experienced rapid growth, becoming the largest city on the Baltic seaboard by the 16th century owing to its large trade with the Netherlands and its handling of most of Poland's seaborne trade, trasported via the Vistula river. The city's prosperity was severely damaged, however, by the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) and the Second Northern War (1655-60), and it suffered an epidemic of bubonic plague in 1709.

Gdańsk took part in all Hanseatic League conferences until the last one in 1669. By that time the United Provinces and other long-distance overseas commercial powers had overtaken the Baltic trade centres such as Gdansk.

In 1743 a Gdansk Research Society (Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Danzig) was formed by Daniel Gralath.

At the first of the late 18th century Partitions of Poland (1772), Gdańsk remained a Polish exclave surrounded by the Kingdom of Prussia until 1793, when it was incorporated into the Prussian kingdom as part of the province of West Prussia, reverting to direct Prussian rule after a second brief period under Napoleon (1807-14) as a free city.

The feeling of grief felt by the citizens of Gdansk when their city was incorporated into the state of Prussia is well reflected in the pessimistic philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. From the first partition of Poland, the city lost its function as the principal port for Polish exports via the Baltic, and ceased to be the region's largest port as it experienced a prolonged economic and demographic slump.

From 1824 until 1878, East and West Prussia were combined as a single province under the Prussian kingdom. But although Gdansk was a part of Kingdom of Prussia, it was never a member of the 1815-66 German Confederation (Deutsche Bund). After the Confederation's dissolution, the city was included in the newly created German Empire in 1871.

Following Germany's defeat in World War I, Gdansk was not returned to Poland but in 1920 under the Treaty of Versailles was made a Free City with a small surrounding territory under a commissioner appointed by the League of Nations. The League of Nations rejected the citizens' petition to have their city officially named Free Hanseatic city of Gdansk (in German, Freie Hansastadt Danzig). However, the League recognized them as citizens of Gdansk, and thus no longer possessors of German citizenship.

The strategic aim of Poland, was to return to the relationship Poland had with its main port in Gdansk before 1772. However, in the crucial time of Polish-Soviet war, when Soviet army tried to capture Warsaw, Gdansk workers went on strike to block delivery of ammunition to fighting Polish army. This move set both sides in the conflicts, that marks whole history of Free City of Gdansk.

A customs union with Poland was created and gave the Gdansk Westerplatte port to the Polish republic. The separation of the Gdansk port, post office and customs office under the treaty was said to be justified by Poland's need for direct access to the Baltic Sea. Poland then stationed small sqad of troops in Gdansk. Directly next to Gdansk, Poland began building a large port in Gdynia.

Due to Polish-German trade war 1925-1934, Poland was more focused then ever in history on the international trade. I.e. the new railway line was build to connect Silesia with the coast and the new tariffs made it very cheap to send goods through Polish ports rather then German. Gdansk and Gdynia became the biggest ports on the Baltic sea. The splendid time for economy, was badly used by Gdansk, since leaders of the city were keen on showing their nationalistic views rather then development of peaceful and friendly relations with Poland.

The Free City of Gdansk - (Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; German Freie Stadt Danzig) issued its own stamps and currency (the Gulden). Many examples of stamps and coins, bearing the legend Freie Stadt Danzig, survive in collections. The desire to rescind the Allied Powers' decision on the status of the city's 400,000 citizens, majority of them local Kasub descents. Nevertheless, it is believed, that 96 percent of whom were believers of non-compromised German chauvinism, that saw no other future then reunification with Germany. It culminated in the election of a Nazi government in Gdansk's elections of May 1933.

Gdansk's unification with Germany was one of nationalistic territorial claims that every government of the Weimar Republic put on his agenda. Obviously, the nationalistic movement of Nazi underline this aim as well.

WhenNazi government got in power in Germany in 1933, having Nazi government in Gdansk led military incident in Gdansk in 1934. Both countries were on edge of war, but since Poland had showed its strength and united political will, Germany decided to compromise.

Polish-German Non-aggression agreement was signed and Gdansk government was ordered by Nazi to stop making problems between Poland and Gdansk. Poland and Gdansk entered brief period of good economical cooperation and prosperity. Neverthless, building totalitarian society was progressing, being a member of minority either Polish or Jewish, required stamina for everyday acts of violence and persecutions.

In 1939 Jewish community decided, that all members need to leave, not only Gdansk, but whole region, they realised will be soon in the hands of Nazi. It was successfully achieved.

Following the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland, Germany in October 1938 urged the territory's return to Germany. Not surprisingly, Poland refused to accept reunification and, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, seizing Westerplatte, and annexing Gdansk, initiating the Second World War.

Gdansk and areas of the "Polish Corridor" to the south and west became the German Gau (administrative district) of Gdansk-West Prussia (Danzig-West Preussen). Many Poles from Gdansk were sent to the concentration camps, mainly the neighbouring Stuthof.

At the beginning of 1945 Germans initiated evacuation of civilians from Gdansk. This actually happenned during winter, under the bombs and in constant danger of submarines. Most of Germans, especially those engaged in Nazi organisation, actually fled the city, many by seaborne evacuation to Schleswig-Holstein. On March 30, 1945 the Soviet Army seized Gdańsk. Following days Soviet soldiers were given completely free hand in the city. Gdansk were scene of brutal violence, rapes, murders, robbery and eventually the city was set on fire.

The official German history estimates that about 100,000 citizens of Gdansk - a quarter of the city's prewar population - lost their lives in the war, including 25,000 members of Polish intelligentsia, brutally murdered or executed during the first days of Nazi terror in Gdańsk, in September 1939.

Already before the end of World War II, the Yalta Conference had agreed to place Gdańsk under de facto Polish administration, and this decision was confirmed at the Potsdam Conference, though no peace treaty making it formal (de jure) was signed. A Communist-led Polish administration was declared in Gdansk. Nevertheless, the city were seriously devastated.

Polish sovereignty were finally recognized by Germany, see Oder-Neisse line. After the war ended, nearly all citizens of Germany, that remained in the city, were recognized as a enemy aliens, citizens of enemy country. Poles widely held belief, that Danzigers fault for triggering the WWII was not refusable.

Most of them had to face speciall verification comitees, that had to judge the personal behaviour during Nazi regime. Many failed, even if their families' roots in Gdansk went back many centuries, or they were of Kashubian descent, but showed their support for Nazi Germany during WWII. The commitees are often criticised, since they were established by communist government and their members were not always very competent persons.

Later on, the question of citizenship were subject of judiciary process. Nevertheless, if somebody was granted Polish citizenship, he was not able to emigrate to Germany on his own wish. After 1948 Stalin turn in Polish government, border became close for those who wanted to join their families in Germany. People of German origins had to obtain speciall permissions for emigration.

In the whole process most of pre-war citizens of Gdansk left to Germany.

New Polish residents were settled in Gdansk from other parts of Poland and from Polish-speaking areas east of the Curzon Line that were annexed by the Soviet Union. Many local Kasubs also moved into the city. The city was thus transformed from the city, were most of people communicate using German language - portrayed in Gdańsk native Günter Grass's novels The Tin Drum and Dog Years - into the city were most of people communicate using Polish.

Eventually, Polish artisans restored much of the old city's architecture, 90 percent destroyed in the war, but removed nearly all German inscriptions. All German names of streets, buildings, shipyards and districts were changed to Polish names (under which they were known for centuries to the Polish speaking citizens of Gdańsk), such as Dlugi Targ for Langemarkt (Long Market), the city's main pedestrian center.

Gdansk was the scene of anti-government demonstrations which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Wladyslaw Gomulka in December 1970, and ten years later was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement, whose opposition to the government led to the end of communist party rule (1989) and the election as president of Poland of its leader Lech Walesa. It remains today a major port and industrial city.

A list of the 173 mayors of the City of Gdansk from 1347 to March 1945 was compiled by the current Gdansk city government and can be found on their recent website with the invitation for a reunion meeting of Gdansk at the "First World Gdańsk Reunion", which took place in May 2002. This list demonstrates the shifting ethnicity of the city's inhabitants before and after the World Wars.

Famous people born in Gdansk

• Johannes Dantiscus 1485
• Bernhard von Reesen 1490
• Albrecht IV Giese 1524
• Johannes Hevelius 1611
• Georg Daniel Schultz 1615
• Andreas Schlueter 1660
• Jacob Theodor Klein 1685
• Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686
• Daniel Gralath 1708
• Louise Adelgunde Gottsched 1713
• Daniel Chodowiecki 1726
• Johann Wilhelm Archenholz 1741
• Georg Forster 1754
• Johanna Schopenhauer 1766
• Johannes Daniel Falk 1768
• Arthur Schopenhauer 1788
• Max Halbe 1865
• Günter Grass 1927

External Links

• The Website of Gdansk Town Hall
• Together in Gdansk Again - Comprehensive information about Gdansk online
• 1598 map of Pomerania and western Prussia with Dan(t)zig
• ca. 1630 map of Prussia with Dantzk
• Free City of Gdansk stamps