🎬 Introduction
Strategically located, Gdańsk, with its natural port at the mouth of the “queen” of Polish rivers—the Vistula—has always attracted people like a magnet. The city’s fate, often turbulent and uncertain, intertwined with periods of prosperity, stagnation, and shifts in power and state affiliation.
It was here that the “amber route” began, and around the year 975, Mieszko I, the first ruler of Poland, built a settlement where Saint Adalbert baptized converted Christians. In 1236, Duke Świętopełk II of Pomerania granted Gdańsk city rights, giving it the status of a town under German law. The city was a jewel in Pomerania’s crown, but the unstable political situation of a divided Poland led to its capture by the Teutonic Knights. The Knights’ invasion in 1308 was called the “massacre of Gdańsk,” in which several hundred residents were killed out of a population of several thousand.
Although Gdańsk’s citizens sought freedom from the Teutonic Order, they owe the Knights certain developments, such as the construction of the Radunia Canal, which supplied the city and castle with drinking water and powered the Great Mill—one of the most significant secular buildings in the town. The Teutonic Knights also modernized the city by building defensive walls, a town hall, and the iconic Crane, and in 1361, they made Gdańsk a member of the Hanseatic League, boosting its wealth through trade in grain and timber.
Teutonic rule was a burden on the city, and after the Knights’ defeat at Grunwald in 1410, Gdańsk pledged loyalty to the Jagiellonian dynasty, supporting the king with a fleet, money, and soldiers. The Teutonic Order’s rule ended in 1454, when Poland regained territories like Gdańsk Pomerania, Warmia, and Żuławy, and King Casimir IV Jagiellon, in return for the city’s help, granted Gdańsk numerous privileges. From that point, the city’s coat of arms featured the royal crown of the Jagiellons above two crosses. Gdańsk enjoyed autonomy unmatched by any other Polish city, controlling navigation in its port, enjoying the right to freely transport goods from Poland and Lithuania, and even minting its own coins.
Attempts by subsequent kings to limit Gdańsk’s privileges often ended in open conflict, such as the war with King Stephen Báthory in 1577. Rather than weakening Gdańsk, these conflicts strengthened its position. In the 17th century, known as Gdańsk’s “golden age”, the city was one of the largest and most powerful in Europe, comparable to Copenhagen. Numerous granaries, wealthy townhouses, and massive fortifications were built. Gdańsk was a multicultural city, inhabited by people of various nationalities, religions, and cultures. It was a haven for religious dissenters, including Mennonites, Huguenots, Scots, and Jews. Gdańsk became the most international city in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, building a community based on diversity.
n the 18th century, Gdańsk experienced wars with Sweden and a gradual economic decline as Poland’s influence waned. In 1734, King Stanisław Leszczyński sought refuge in the city, which defended his honor despite the siege by Russian and Saxon forces. The conflict ended with the city’s surrender, a huge indemnity, and the king’s escape under the cover of night.
At the end of the 18th century, the partitions of Poland took place, resulting in Gdańsk being cut off from the Kingdom of Poland and annexed to Prussia. This situation lasted until the end of World War I, with a brief period between 1807 and 1814 when Gdańsk functioned as a Free City.
In 1920, the Treaty of Versailles officially established the Free City of Danzig, a goal its residents had pursued for centuries. Unfortunately, political conflict with Poland led to a reduction in the city’s export activities, which were redirected to the newly constructed port in 🔗 Gdynia.
On September 1, 1939, the attack on the Polish Military Transit Depot on Westerplatte marked the beginning of World War II. Until the end of the war, Gdańsk was the capital of the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia district of Nazi Germany. The city was bombed twice by Allied air forces. Tragically, Adolf Hitler classified Gdańsk as one of the “fortress cities” that were to be defended to the last man, effectively sentencing the city to destruction.
The greatest damage occurred in March 1945, during the so-called “liberation” of the city by Soviet and Polish forces, after which Gdańsk’s historic center was virtually obliterated. After the war, nearly two-thirds of the city’s buildings were destroyed.
Most of the few remaining native Gdańsk inhabitants were expelled to Germany, and the city was repopulated with repatriates from the East and people from central Poland and Pomerania. This resulted in an almost complete exchange of the population.
After the war, Gdańsk returned to Poland. Despite the devastation, the decision was made to rebuild the city in its historic form, a feat achieved thanks to preserved plans and documents. Gdańsk’s reconstruction was recognized as a remarkable achievement on a global scale, accomplished without material or financial aid from other countries.
In the second half of the 20th century, Gdańsk became the scene of numerous worker and intellectual protests against the communist regime, with the largest taking place in 1968, 1970, and 1980. It was here that the Solidarity movement was born, playing a key role in the fall of communism and leading to the first free elections in 1989.
Today, Gdańsk, with nearly half a million inhabitants, is a vital center of industry, commerce, and tourism, as well as a university city full of theaters, museums, and art galleries. It is a modern city, a popular destination for tourists, that played a pivotal role in the history of Poland and Europe, remaining to this day a symbol of strength, resilience, and openness to the world.