Gdańsk
Polish port on a branch of the Vistula and on the Gulf of Gdańsk; population (2003 est) 456,700; urban agglomeration 867,200. One of Poland's chief Baltic Sea ports, it is a leading industrial and communications centre with one of the world's largest shipyards. It has important machinery, chemical, mechanical-engineering, and metallurgical industries. Oil refinery, textile production, saw milling, food processing, and other light manufacturing are also important. The port cities of Gdańsk and Gydnia and the nearby resort of Sopot are administered as a single city. In the 1980s there were repeated antigovernment strikes at the Lenin shipyards; many were closed in 1996.
History
An old Slavic settlement, Gdańsk was first mentioned in 997. It joined the
Hanseatic League in the 13th century and developed as an important Baltic port. The first partition of Poland in 1772 made Gdańsk a free city; the second partition in 1793 gave it to Prussia, and it remained in almost continuous Prussian possession until 1919, when it again became a free city under the protection of the League of Nations. However, it still had a large German population, many of whom were Nazi party supporters. Constant Nazi agitation for reunification with Germany generated tension between Germany and Poland throughout the 1930s. It was taken by the Germans at the start of the Polish campaign, and was liberated by the Soviets under Marshal Rokossovsky 30 March 1945. The annexation of the city by Germany marked the beginning of World War II. It reverted to Poland 1945, when the churches and old merchant houses were restored. The Lenin shipyards were the birthplace 1981 of Solidarity, the Polish resistance movement to pro-Soviet communism.
The Gdańsk riots Workers' grievances sparked riots in Gdańsk in1970; these spread to other cities and led to changes in Poland's national leadership. Further unrest in the Lenin shipyards in 1980 led to the formation of Solidarity, the confederation of independent trade unions that led Polish resistance movement to pro-Soviet communism. An illegal organization 1981–89, it was elected senior partner in a coalition government formed in September 1989. |
Features The city has numerous educational and cultural institutions. Historic landmarks include the Gothic church of St Mary (1343–1505), which contains the celebrated Last Judgment by Hans Memling; the Gothic-style town hall, and the exchange, formerly the Merchants' Guild, built in 1379. Gunther Grass, author of The Tin Drum and Nobel Prize winner, was born and lived in Gdańsk. |
