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| Motto: Nec temere, nec timide (Neither rashly nor timidly) | |||||
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| Voivodship | Pomeranian | ||||
| Municipal government | Rada miasta Gdańska | ||||
| Mayor | Paweł Adamowicz | ||||
| Area | 262 km² | ||||
| Population - city - urban - density |
460 524 (2004) Ranked 6th 1 100 000 1761/km² | ||||
| Founded City rights |
997 1263 | ||||
| Latitude Longitude |
54°40'N 18°60'E | ||||
| Area code | +48 58 | ||||
| Car plates | GD | ||||
| Twin towns | Astana, Barcelona, Bremen, Cleveland, Elsinore, Kaliningrad, Kalmar, Marseille, Nice, Odessa, Rotterdam, Rouen, Sefton, St. Petersburg, Turku, Vilnius | ||||
| Municipal Website | |||||
Gdańsk Audio file "Gdansk.ogg" not found (-Polish; Kashubian: Gduńsk, German: Danzig, Latin: Gedania; also other languages) is the sixth-largest city in Poland, its principal seaport, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodship.
The city lies on the southern coast of the Gdańsk Bay (of the Baltic Sea), in a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdynia and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the greater Gdańsk or the Tricity (Trójmiasto) with a population of over a million people. Gdańsk is, with a population of 460,524 (mid 2004), the largest city in the historical province of Eastern Pomerania. North lies the Kashubian Tricity (Rumia, Reda and Wejherowo).
Gdańsk is situated at the mouth of the Motława river, connected to the Leniwka, a branch in the delta of the Vistula, whose waterway system connects 60% of the area of Poland, giving the city a unique advantage as the center of Poland's sea trade.
Historically an important Polish seaport since the 10th century and subsequently a principal ship-building centre, Gdańsk was a member of the Hanseatic League and the largest city in Poland. Today Gdańsk remains an important industrial centre together with the nearby port of Gdynia, and is world famous as a birthplace of Solidarity movement with its leader Lech Wałęsa, who broke down the Communist bloc.
Names
The name is thought to mean town located on Gdania river, the original name of the Motława branch the city is situated on. Like many other European cities, Gdańsk has had many different names throughout its history.
The Polish name is Gdańsk and in the local Kashubian language it is known as Gduńsk. Due to the city's German heritage the name Danzig is still in use, especially when referring to the city prior to the Second World War. The city's Latin name may be given as any of Gedania, Gedanum or Dantiscum; the variety of Latin names reflects the influence of the Polish, Kashubian, and German names.
A former English name is Dantsic (in use until WWI). The name Gdańsk is usually pronounced IPA , , or in English. The acute accent is usually left off due to the difficulty of entering it.
See also: List of European cities with names in different languages
Historical documents
The name of a settlement was recorded after St. Adalbert's demise in 997 A.D. as urbs Gyddanyzc and later was written as Kdanzk (1148), Gdanzc (1188), Gdansk (1236), Danzc (1263), Danczk (1311, 1399, 1410, 1414–1438), Danczik (1399, 1410, 1414), Danczig (1414), Gdansk (1454, 1468, 1484), Gdansk (1590), Gdąnsk (1636) and in Latin documents Gedanum or Dantiscum. These early recordings show the Pomeranian name Gduńsk, the Polish name Gdańsk and the German name Danzig.
Alternative spellings from medieval and early modern documents are Gyddanyzc, Kdansk, Gdanzc, Dantzk, Dantzig, Dantzigk, Dantiscum and Gedanum. The official Latin name of Gedanum was used simultaneously.
Special celebration names
On special occasions it is also known as The Royal Polish City of Gdańsk; Polish: Królewskie Polskie Miasto Gdańsk, German: Königliche Polnische Stadt Danzig, Latin: Regia Civitas Polonica Gedanensis, Kashubian: Królewsczi Polsczi Gard Gduńsk.
The Kashubians prefer the name: Our Capital City Gdańsk (=Nasz Stoleczny Gard Gduńsk) or The Kashubian Capital City Gdańsk (=Stoleczny Kaszëbsczi Gard Gduńsk).
Sources:
- Gdańsk, in: Kazimierz Rymut, Nazwy Miast Polski, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1987
- Hubert Gurnowicz, Gdańsk, in: Nazwy miast Pomorza Gdańskiego, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1978
History
Main article: History of Gdańsk, see also: History of Pomerania
Historical summary
According to archeologists, the Gdańsk stronghold was constructed in the 980s by Mieszko I of Poland; however, 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 (sent by the Polish king Boleslaus the Brave) baptized the inhabitants of Gdańsk (urbs Gyddanyzc). In the following years Gdańsk was the main centre of a Polish splinter duchy ruled by the dynasty of Dukes of Pomerania. The most famous of them, Świętopełk II of Pomerania, granted a local autonomy charter in ca. 1235 to the city, which had some 2,000 inhabitants. Gdańsk became a flourishing trading city with some 10,000 inhabitants by the year 1308. In this year it was occupied and demolished by the Teutonic Knights (the Gdańsk massacre of November 13, 1308). This led to the city's decline and to a series of wars between the rebellious Knights and the Polish kings, ending with the Peace of Kalisz in 1343 when the Knights acknowledged that they would keep Pomerania as "an alm" from the Polish king. This left the legal basis of their possession of the province in some doubt. The agreement permitted the foundation of the municipality in 1343 and the development of increased trade in export of grain from Poland via the Vistula river trading routes. Gdańsk became a full member of the Hanseatic League by 1361. When a new war broke out in 1409 and ended with the Battle of Grunwald (1410) the city accepted the direct overlordship of the Polish kings, but with the Peace of Toruń in 1411 it returned to the Teutonic Knights' administration. In 1440 Gdańsk participated in the foundation of the Prussian Union which led to the Thirteen Years War (1454-1466) and the incorporation of Royal Prussia to the direct rule of the Polish Crown.
Thanks to the Royal charters granted by the king Casimir IV the Jagiellonian and the free access to all Polish markets, Gdańsk became a large and rich seaport and city. The 16th and 17th centuries were a Golden Age for trade and culture in Gdańsk. Inhabitants from various ethnic groups (Germans, Poles, Jews, and the Dutch being the largest) contributed to Gdańsk's identity and rich culture of the period. The city suffered a slow economic decline due to the wars in the 18th century, which ended with the Partitions of Poland from 1772–1795. Gdańsk was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793 and, again in 1815, after a short period as the Free City of Danzig (1807–1815) under Napoleon. In contrast to the independent period, under the Prussian administration Gdańsk became a relatively unimportant city dominated by the military garrison and the administration officials. As part of Prussia, it became part of the German Empire in 1871.
After World War I, Poland became independent, and the Poles hoped to receive Gdańsk to provide the "free access to the sea", which they had been promised by the Allies on the basis of Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points". However, the city was not placed under full Polish sovereignty, but was made into the Free City of Danzig, an independent free city under the auspices of the League of Nations, governed by its largely German-speaking residents but with its external affairs largely under Polish control.
Because the German authorities in Gdańsk obstructed Polish trade and restricted Poles from settling in the city, the Polish government decided to build the nearby seaport of Gdynia, which in the following years took the majority of total Polish exports. Meanwhile, the independent Free City with its surrounding district, which included the seaside spa of Zoppot (Sopot), issued its own stamps and currency bearing the legend, "Freie Stadt Danzig" and symbols of the city's maritime orientation and history.
Tensions arising from quarrels between Germany and Poland over control of the Free City served as a pretext for the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and the outbreak of World War II. The Jewish community in Gdańsk took the opportunity to escape from the Nazis soon before the outbreak of the war. Polish defenders at the Westerplatte peninsula defended against the ship of the line Schleswig-Holstein for nearly a week, while the Polish Post Office was bravely defended until its capture; its overwhelmed defenders were executed instead of imprisoned for the war's duration. Many members of Gdańsk's Polish population were deported to the concentration camp in Stutthof or were directly executed at Piasnica. The Nazis' capture of the city resulted in its annexation into Nazi Germany and its incorporation into the Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.
The city was occupied by Polish and Soviet forces on March 30, 1945 after a fierce battle with defending Germans which left 90% of the old city reduced to ruins. At the Yalta and the Potsdam conferences, Gdańsk was transferred to Poland along with the whole territory of the Free City. According to the terms of the Potsdam conference, Germans remaining in the city were expelled. Out of the Free City's pre-war population of 385,000, 285,000 lived in exile in Germany after the post-war migrations were over.
Many Poles impressed with Gdańsk's historic prosperity came to rebuild the city from throughout Poland, especially from the regions of eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. The Old City was rebuilt from its ruins during the 1950s and 1960s. Because of the development of its port and three major shipyards, Gdańsk was a major shipping and industrial center of the Communist People's Republic of Poland.
Gdańsk was the scene of anti-government demonstrations which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Wladyslaw Gomulka in December 1970. Ten years later the Gdańsk Shipyard was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement, whose opposition to the government led to the end of communist party rule (1989); Solidarity's leader Lech Wałęsa became the Polish president in 1990. Today Gdańsk remains a major industrial city and shipping port.
Historical population
Historical population
of Gdańsk
| ca. 1000 | 1000 | |
| 1235 | 2,000 | |
| 1600 | 40,000 | |
| 1650 | 70,000 | |
| 1700 | 50,000 | |
| 1750 | 46,000 | |
| 1793 | 36,000 | |
| 1800 | 48,000 | |
| 1825 | 61,900 | |
| 1840 | 65,000 | |
| 1852 | 67,000 | |
| 1874 | 90,500 | |
| 1880 | 13,701 | |
| 1885 | 108,500 | |
| 1900 | 140,600 | |
| 1910 | 170,300 | |
| 1920 | 360,000 (whole FCG) | |
| 1925 | 210,300 | |
| 1939 | 250,000 | |
| 1946 | 118,000 | |
| 1950 | ? | |
| 1960 | 286,900 | |
| 1970 | 365,600 | |
| 1975 | 421,000 | |
| 1980 | 456,700 | |
| 1990 | ? | |
| 1994 | 464,000 | |
| 2000 | ? | |
| 2002 | 460,000 |
Compare: population of Tricity
Economy
Main article: Economy of Gdańsk
The city's industrial kaleidoscope is dominated by traditional lines of shipbuilding, the petrochemical and chemical industry, and food processing. The share of more high-tech sectors such as electronics, telecommunications, IT engineering, or cosmetics and pharmaceuticals is on the rise. Amber processing for the local economy is also prominent.
Culture
Gdańsk was once an important center of culture. In the 16th century it hosted Shakespearean theater on foreign tours. Currently, there is a Fundation Theatrum Gedanensis aimed at rebuilding the Shakespeare theater building on its traditional site in Gdańsk. It is expected that Gdańsk will have a permanent English-language theater, as at present it is only an annual event.
Tourism
The city boasts many fine Hanseatic league buildings. The St Mary's Church (Bazylika Mariacka), a municipal church built in Gdańsk in the 15th century, is one of the largest brick churches in the world.
On the Motława river the museum ship SS Soldek is anchored.
Gdańsk is the starting point of the EuroVelo 9 cycle route which continues southward through Poland, then onto the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovenia before it finally ends on the Adriatic Sea at Pula in Croatia.
Transportation
Sports
Main article: Sports in Gdańsk
There are many popular professional sports 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).
Politics and Local Government
Main article: Politics of Gdańsk
Contemporary Gdańsk is the capital of the Pomeranian province 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 Appeal, and the High Administrative Court.
Regional center
Gdańsk Voivodship was extended in 1999 to include most of Słupsk Voivodship, the western part of Elbląg Voivodship and Chojnice County from Bydgoszcz Voivodship to form the new Pomeranian Voivodship. 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 (greater Gdańsk) 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 universities with a total of 60,436 students, including 10,439 graduates as of 2001.
- Gdańsk University (Uniwersytet Gdański)
- Gdańsk University of Technology (Politechnika Gdańska)
- Medical Academy (Akademia Medyczna)
- Physical Education Academy (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego 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 Society
- Baltic Institute (Instytut Bałtycki), established 1925 in Toruń, since 1946 (?) in Gdańsk
- TNOiK - Towarzystwo Naukowe Organizacji i Kierowania (Scientific Society for Organization and Management) O/Gdansk
- IBNGR - Instytut Badań nad Gospodarką Rynkową (The Gdańsk Institute for Market Economics)http://www.ibngr.edu.pl/english/index2.htm
See also
- List of modern neighbourhoods of Gdańsk
- List of Dukes of Gdańsk
- List of famous people born in Gdańsk
- List of major corporations in Gdańsk
- List of famous people living or working in Gdańsk
- St. Mary's Church
External links
- The Website of Gdańsk Town Hall
- Together in Gdańsk Again — Comprehensive information about Gdańsk online
- www.gdansk.com
- Freie Stadt Danzig
- Airport Gdańsk-Rębiechowo
- Tricity Regional Portal
- Gdańsk University
- Gdańsk Companies
- Gdańsk Life
- Mayors of Gdańsk
- Gdańsk jewish community
- Organs of Gdańsk — History of pipe organs in Gdańsk
- History of Danzig with lots of pictures and the old anthem, in english and polish