Gdańsk: City Guide

52 Pages·2015·3.906 MB·English

by  Christofer Herrmann

City Guide
E.uropcan Ro utc
(cid:143) f Blick C othfc
Edited and typeset by: Michael Imhof Verlag
Printing: Hakus, Olsztyn
Text: Christofer Herrmann
Photos: Christofer Herrmann
Illustrations:
Tomasz Korzeniowski: cover picture
Remaining illustrations from the author's archive.
© 2015
ARTES
Pro( Christofer Herrmann
Bart;ig, ul. Zgodna 5
PL-10-687 Olsztyn
Tel.: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
Michael ImhofVerlag GmbH & Co. KG
Stettiner Straße 25, D-36100 Petersberg
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Printed in EU
ISBN (PL) 978-83-925458-9-7
ISBN (D) 978-3-86568-307-6
HISTORY before the first half of the first mil- View of the town
lennium A.D. After that the Slav from 1575 by Braun
Since the earliest times the inhab- tribes settled in the surroundings and Hogenberg
itants of the region of Gdańsk lived of Gdańsk. They took over the tra-
by trading, due to amber which dition of amber trading, selling it
even in the ancient times was an as highly demanded commodity
object of desire of the Roman even to the Arabic countries. The
women. The mouth of the Vistu- Vikings became interested in this
la River was the beginning of one prosperous enterprise, therefore
of the oldest European trading their presence in this region can
routes - the amber route - by be traced as far as in the 9th and
which gold of the North reached 10th centuries.
as far as Rome. Thanks to amber For the first time the name Gdańsk
trade, Roman chroniclers learnt appears in the biography of St
about the Vistula River, which Adalbert, the bishop of Prague,
they described as a boarder who in 997 set off from the town
between the German, the Baltic “Gyddanyzc” to the neighbour-
and the Slav tribes. ing territory of the Old Prussians
As a result of the so called “great in order to disseminate Christian-
migrations of the peoples”, the ity among pagan nations. Soon
Goths and other German tribes after the arrival he was killed. Pol-
left the Vistula river territory ish prince Bolesław Chrobry
1
bought his dead body from the finally the traders’ town with St
pagans, giving them as much gold Mary’s parish church. Three eth-
as the corpse weight, and took the nic groups - the Pomeranians,
relics of the martyr to Gniezno. Prussians and Germans - lived
there side by side.
Gdańsk of the time of St Adalbert During the reign of Świętopełk’s
was a small Slav town in Pomera- successors bloody fratricidal war
nia, where fishermen and traders to conquer Gdańsk and Eastern
lived. The inhabitants of the town Pomerania took place. To
The Great Coat of were bound with the Polish state strengthen their position partici-
Arms of Gdańsk of the Piast dynas ty. The town pants contracted alliance with
used since 1400
gradually became the main har- Poland, Branderburg or the Teu-
bour of the Eastern Pomerania tonic Order. When in May 1294
duchy. Prince Subisław (d. 1187) the dynasty of the Pomeranian
brought Cistercian monks to near- princes died out the allies them-
by Oliwa in 1180. Pious monks selves fought in the battle to con-
not only developed a big area of quer the land. Final victory came
land, but also erected the first brick to the Teutonic Knight’s Order,
building in this part of Europe, who took the power over Gdańsk
about the year 1200. The town and the whole of Eastern Pomera-
flourished under the reign of nia.
Prince Swiętopełk (1220-1266). In the town the Teutonic knights
The Prince handed St Nicolaus founded a huge castle with the seat
Church to the Dominican order. of the Grand Master. In 1342/43
left: Foundation
Before 1240 he also founded a new the Main Town (Główne Miasto)
walls of the earliest
St Nicholas’ Church town for the German traders under received the town charter of
(end of 12th century) the Lübeck law. During the rule Chełmno, and quickly developed
underneath the of Swiętopełk Gdańsk consisted of into a big metropolis of far reach-
Market Hall four settlements: the prince’s cas- ing trade. The town became a
tle, the settlements of fishermen member of the Hanseatic League
right: Vaults from
and amber finders situated next to in 1361. In the year 1343 the cor-
the 13th century in
the castle, the Old Town with St nerstone of a new St Mary’s
the Dominican
monastery Catherine’s parish church, and Church was laid, also a new big
2
The Coat of arms of Gdańsk from
the times of the Teutonic Order
(at the Bread Gate)
Gdańsk in the 15th century
Inhabitants of Gdańsk besieging Malbork in 1457 (fragment of a lost A = Old Town
painting in Artus Court) B = Main Town
C= New Town
D = Castle
E = Isle of Storehouses
Town Hall and city walls with
many towers were built. At the
end of the 15th century Gdańsk,
as a group of several distinct cen-
tres, grew and became the biggest
and commercially developed town
in the Teutonic state. In 1377 the
Old Town received the town char-
ter. In 1380 the Order founded
the New Town (Nowe Miasto) to
the south of the Main Town sit-
uated on the Motława river. Also
The Island of Storehouses, with
granaries full of goods from the
whole Europe, located opposite
the harbour, was set up.
Despite the economic boom in the
town in the 15th century, the
burghers en tered into a conflict
with their feudal master. The rea-
son why the merchants were dis-
satisfied was the fact that the Teu-
tonic Order was actively involved
in trading, and that the knights
made use of various privileges.
They also monopolised some
branches of commercial activity,
such as amber and salt trade. After
the defeat in the battle of Grun-
wald/Tannenberg in 1410, the
3
Gdańsk in the 17th Order had to im pose new taxes to set war against their feudal mas-
century, huge fortifi- pay war debts, which worsened ter. The Teutonic castle was tak-
cations in the fore- their relations with Gdańsk, as en over and destroyed. In May
ground (engraving merchants got angry with the tax 1457, Kazimierz the Jagiellonian
by Merian)
increase. As a consequence, the entered Gdańsk and received hom-
opposition against the Order unit- age from the burghers. However,
ed forming the Prussian Confed- the war with the Teutonic Order
eration. In 1454 Prussian towns, was to continue for 10 years. Final-
under the leadership of Gdańsk, ly, according to the Second Treaty
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Plan of fortified
Gdańsk, mid 17th
century
4
of Toruń in 1466, Poland took
over the power in Gdańsk. The
dream of the members of the town
council from Gdańsk was to estab-
lish a town republic - to a great
extent autono mous - based on the
model of Lübeck or Venice.
Thanks to the alliance with Poland
this ideal was almost achieved.
Gdańsk and the Polish Republic
lived in a beneficial for both sides
symbiosis. The town received
wide privileges and liberties from
Poland while Gdańsk filled the
treasury and frequently gave mil-
itary help. This alliance was effi-
cient as long as both sides were
powerful, that is from the XV to
XVII century. Formally the Polish
king was the protector of the town
but in fact Gdańsk didn’t have to
be protected as in the 16th and entire overseas trade. Ships from Walls of the founda-
17th century won the fame of an Gdańsk supplied not only north- tions of the Teutonic
invincible fortress. And since war ern countries of Europe, but also Order’s castle
is poison to business traders from the Mediterranean region. When destroyed in 1454
Gdańsk often tried not to get a place anywhere in Europe was
involved in his king’s wars remain- threatened by famine caused by
ing neutral in many conflicts. failed crops a messenger was sent
The source of wealth in Gdańsk to Gdańsk to order as many ships
was grain trade. Poland in the ear- with grain as possible. Even the
ly modern period was the biggest Pope was thankful to the protes-
grain producer in Europe. In fact, tant town for saving Rome from
situated at the mouth of the Vis- starvation in the end of the 16th
tula River Gdańsk controlled the century.
The busy harbour
of Gdańsk on the
Motława River at
the beginning of
the 17th century
5
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As a rule the newly-chosen King no choice but to reach a peace set-
at the beginning of his reign vis- tlement agreeing to grant request-
ited Gdańsk to confirm town’s ed privileges. The king’s resent-
privileges and receive homage. ment was partly mitigated by a
Such visits were occasions for generous offering of 200,000
splendid celebrations. It was also florins, but the monarch’s favours
the mutual manifestation of wealth weren’t easy to win back - Batory
and power. Since the time when never visited Gdańsk during his
the Teutonic knights had been reign.
thrown out of town and their cas- Gdańsk was in the heyday of its
tle destroyed, Gdańsk never agreed prosperity and power. Town’s
on any superior feudal monarch income was twice as big as that of
having his seat within the city the Polish Kingdom. This assured
walls. Therefore Polish kings did its self-esteem and considerable
not have their own residence in independence. Gdańsk followed
Outfit of a woman
town and stopped at exquisite pri- his own foreign policy and had its
from Gdańsk from
vate houses on the Long Market. representatives in many capital
the second half of
King Stefan Batory couldn’t have cities in Europe. The town was
the 16th century
been pleased with Gdańsk, though crowded with traders from all over
it was the biggest and richest town Europe, though to do business
in the kingdom. When he every foreign merchant needed a
demanded homage from the proud partner from Gdańsk. With eco-
burghers without having approved nomic prosperity science and arts
their earlier privileges, Gdańsk flourished. Burghers erected splen-
rejected the king’s request. In 1577 did houses in the fashionable
the newly-crowned king came to Dutch Renaissance style, both to
town with his army to attack it. live and run business in. The
Surrounded by modern system of town’s library could compete with
fortifications, Gdańsk turned out the book collections of big uni-
impossible to conquer. Batory had versities. The astronomer from
Gdańsk Johann Hevelius, built his
famous observatory which rose
above the rooftops of other town
buildings.
During the rule of the Vasa
dynasty the relations between
Gdańsk and its royal patron were
more friendly and the visits more
frequent. Although the new mon-
archs drew the town into a long
lasting conflict - the Northern
War - which inflicted much dam-
age on Gdańsk, it’s strong posi-
tion wasn’t generally upset in the
XVII c. But in the XVIII c. the
star of Gdańsk began to wane
Johann Hevelius slowly. Once very powerful, the
6
Gdańsk beleaguered
by the Russian and
Saxon armies in
1734
Hanseatic League fell. Polish sia, which happened to the sur-
Kingdom showed the signs of rounding areas. But, in fact
decline, too. In 1734 during the Gdańsk stopped to be a town
War of the Polish Succession the republic as all roads to the town
town gave shelter to king Stanisław went across the Prusssian territo-
Leszczyński within its city walls, ry. The town lost its royal protec-
and as a consequence Gdańsk was torate in Warsaw. King Frederick
left alone in the battle against the II of Prussia didn’t want to con-
power of Russia and their Saxon quer Gdańsk with armed forces,
allies. Russian siege did much therefore he began economic war
damage to the town and Gdańsk against the town. The barriers
had to capitulate. For the first time were put on the roads leading to
since the Teutonic Order’s con- town; at the posts situated on the
quest in 1308 the town had to lay
down arms and give in to a more
powerful enemy. This defeat
meant the end of Gdańsk as an
independent power in the north
east of Europe. War damages and
debts became a burden for many
more years. The town together
with the whole of Poland was at
the mercy of neighbouring pow-
ers. Economic fall and political
decline were inevitable conse- ~.,....,
quences of the new situation. ltl1<~\'i...<.n..._..,. . ..i.~......., ~ !
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After the first partition of Poland , ....... ~-,t!~,' - ~-
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in 1772 Gdańsk formally still -•-'- •~•o~ -rn- ).,,....,,,_ 1 Page from the
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belonged to the Polish Republic - ...c;.,.J.!,u.,_o ; ,ö,, . .. . ..._ ~• .• burgher’s book of
it wasn’t incorporated into Prus- Gdańsk (1700)
7
The High Gate and outskirts of Gdańsk Prussian offi- under the rule of Prussia on 11
the fortifications at cers started to collect horrendous March 1793.
the beginning of the duties. As a result, Gdańsk was cut Once an independent town repub-
19th century
off the world and trade died out lic Gdańsk now became a provin-
completely. Soon granaries and cial town in the Prussian King-
storehouses were empty and thou- dom. Many inhabitants of Gdańsk
sands of people emigrated from openly showed their resentment
the town. The population towards the new monarch, but
decreased by 37,000- being now many tradesmen were aware that
half as big in number as when in the long run they will have to
Gdańsk was in its heyday. accept the new political situation.
For more than 20 years the town Gdańsk had to reconsider its place
called some time before “the pearl in the new European order dom-
in the crown of the Polish Repub- inated by national states. The posi-
lic” suffered because of the tion was by no means as significant
imposed blockade, the but finally as in former Poland, but on the
the big-headed representatives of other hand developing Prussia cre-
the town council couldn’t escape ated new economic opportunities.
inevitable fate. In the second par- Firstly, the debts had been extin-
tition of Poland in which Prussia guished. Secondly, the town got
and Russia took part, Gdańsk got access to new duty free markets
8