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120 GDYNIA - THE TRI-CITY‘S YOUNGEST MEMBER
Gdynia 1925. Skwer Kosciuszki and the Southern Pier.
© Sławomir Kitowski
Poland as a defined nation had existed in various shapes and
sizes from the year 966, its composition being altered over
the centuries by wars and alliances before the Prussians,
Russians and Austrians succeeded in removing it entirely from
the map in 1795 with the 3rd partition. The doughty Poles were
not to be defeated, and continued to fight for their own colour
on the globe, succeeding finally in regaining independence in
1918 at the end of World War I when the state was recreated
at the Treaty of Versailles. The new nation required access
to the sea and, having failed to convince the powers to place
the important city and port of Gdansk/Danzig under Polish
control, the final borders of this new nation instead included
a narrow strip of land for Poland along the Baltic Sea coast.
Located between the newly created Free City of Danzig (Gdańsk)
and the German province of East Prussia to the east, and West
Prussia to the west, this strip of coastline was reached by what
was infamously to become known as the “Polish Corridor”, an
avenue of land connecting the bulk of the country with the sea.
The biggest port in this part of the Baltic coast at the time was
Danzig, a city with a 900 year history. However many citizens
there, as well as the German government who continued to
exercise huge influence over the decision making of the Free
City rulers, were unsympathetic to the needs of the new Polish
state. This was clearly demonstrated when the port of Danzig
refused to unload French armaments for Polish forces engaged
in the 1920 Polish-Soviet War.
The Polish Government were therefore determined to build
a new seaport at the top of the ‘corridor’ and the place
they settled on was the small fishing village, of Gdynia. The
development of Gdynia into a major port was seen as critical
for the economic independence of the new country and the
story of this development was to reflect, not just one of the
most incredible building projects of all time, but also the
determination of a nation and its people to survive and to
flourish in a new era of European history.
The development of Gdynia
Although Gdynia had first appeared in records in 1253
as a small Kashubian fishing village by 1789 it had only
increased in size to a settlement of a mere 20 houses. About
ul. Świętojańska and St. Mary’s church 1928.
© Sławomir Kitowski
80 years later, as the West Prussian village of Gdingen,
it had developed slightly, with a recorded population of
around 1200, some restaurants and accommodation for
holidaymakers. But it was as part of the new Poland that a
plan was put in train in 1920 to transform it utterly, a plan
which was accelerated by the passing in the Polish parliament
(Sejm) of the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act in 1923.
The new port to be carved out of the Baltic coast was to
be located in this former fishing village: the Hel Peninsula
provided protection from strong winds, the sea in the area
was deep and usually free of ice in winter, and an existing
railway was just 2 kilometres distant. Under chief port designer
Tadeusz Wenda, building of the port began in 1921, but financial
problems caused delays and, in 1922, the Polish Parliament
decided to light a fire under proceedings. By 1923, Gdynia had a
small harbour, a 550-meter long pier and a wooden breakwater,
and the port was visited by its first major ocean-going vessel and
its first foreign ship, the French Kentucky.
In late 1924, the Polish government engaged a French-Polish
consortium to build a harbour with a depth of seven meters,
and by the following year Gdynia had gained further piers,
a railway and cargo-handling equipment. However, work
continued at quite a slow pace until 1926 when Polish exports
increased during a German-Polish trade war and as a result
of a British miners’ strike. By late 1930, docks and industrial
facilities had been built, and the port was finally connected to
the Upper Silesian industrial and coal-producing centres by the
newly constructed Polish Coal Trunk Line railway. Poland’s first
passenger shipping line, from Gdynia to New York, also started
up and over subsequent years famous ships like the MS Batory
and MS Chrobry were to link Gdynia with transatlantic locations.
The basic plan for port construction was ingenious, consisting of
digging out large amounts of land from the coast inland to create
a large section of the port, then dumping the spoil from this first
stage into the sea at nearby locations. In this way, effectively twice
as much port area was created. In a tremendous engineering feat
huge concrete blocks were built on the shore and toppled into
the water in order to support the new quays and breakwaters.
Building of the port 1926 - 1927. © Sławomir Kitowski
While the port was being constructed, so too was the city. City
rights were granted in 1926, at which time Gdynia had around
6,000 inhabitants and the city started to expand quickly with
the Polish government alone bringing about 50,000 citizens
to the city. By 1939 the population had risen to over 120,000.
While the port was built by the state, essentially the city
was built by private investors. Small single-storey buildings
were initially constructed, then these were demolished by
the owners to make way for multi-storey buildings as the
city grew and the inhabitants became more prosperous.
The project attracted all parts of Polish society to the coast
with engineers, construction workers and administrators all
relocating from other Polish cities, in particular Warsaw, to
take part in this vital national project.
The construction of the basic harbour was completed in
1935 and by 1938 the former fishing village had become the
biggest and most modern port and shipyard on the Baltic
with almost half of Poland’s trade passing through it. Yet,
disaster was soon to follow.
GDYNIA - THE TRI-CITY‘S YOUNGEST MEMBER
The war years
In 1939, at the start of war, German troops occupied
Gdynia, the city was renamed Gotenhafen and (O-1) Skwer
Kosciuszki was renamed Adolf Hitler Platz. The Poles brought
by their government to the city of Gdynia were expelled and
worse, around 12,000, especially the more educated, were
executed. The port was turned into a German naval base
and the city was also used as a sub-camp of the Stutthof
concentration camp near Danzig.
When German troops eventually retreated from Gdynia near
the end of the War, they succeeded in largely destroying the
port, a job then completed by the advancing Red Army, who
bombed the port and city, destroying many buildings and
equipment, and sank several ships trying to escape through
the Baltic Sea: among them the Wilhelm Gustloff (see box in
Gdynia section), which had served as a floating barracks for
naval personnel in Gdynia and whose demise, in which more
than nine thousand civilians and personnel died, remains the
largest loss of life in a single incident in maritime history.
Post-war history
Having built this port and city from scratch, the post-war Polish
state renamed it Gdynia and started the process of making the
port once again a major location for importing and exporting.
The shipyard produced a large number of ships, many of them
for the Soviet Union, but is perhaps best known internationally
for the role the shipyard workers played in the formation of
the Solidarity trade union. An earlier event, in 1970, which left
much bitterness, had seen demonstrating Polish shipyard
workers fired on by the police, leaving around 20 people dead.
To this day this is one of the more tragic events of the fight
against the communist authorities and its memory has been
somewhat overlooked by the events of 1980 which saw Gdansk
recognised as the spiritual home of the anti-communist fight.
This is something which still rankles to this day with the local
population who feel that the major contribution and the price
paid in human life by the people of Gdynia has been forgotten.
What to see
The city centre is considered to be very well planned, with
(N/O-1) ul. 10 Lutego/Skwer Kosciuszki and ul. Starowiejska
forming the primary west-east axis and ul. Swietojanska and
ul. Abrahama the north-south one. For obvious reasons, don’t
expect to find an old town here, though there are still some
buildings from its days as a small resort. As good a place to
start as any is at the City of Gdynia Museum (O-2, ul. Zawiszy
Czarnego 1), which will give you a good grounding in the city’s
story, while the Naval Museum next door, featuring a garden
full of weaponry including a rusting MiG fighter, is also worth
a visit if you have children in tow.
While the port today is no longer the biggest in the Baltic it
is, along with the neighbouring port of Gdańsk, still of vital
economic importance to Poland. There are a few different
ways to view it. Most picturesque is to take a walk up to one of
the viewing points either at the top of Kamienna Góra (O-2, ul.
Mickiewicza) or in the Pogórze Górne district (ul. Ksawerego
Czernickiego). This is about 15 minutes bus ride from the
centre. Take bus 194 from outside the Hala Targowa (N-1,
ul. Jana z Kolna) to the last stop to enjoy majestic views over
the entire city and the port. It is also recommended to take
the local commuter train (SKM) to the Gdynia Stocznia stop
to see the poignant memorial to workers murdered during
the 1970 strikes. Finally on the port and Solidarity theme
keep an eye out for another memorial to the victims of 1970
outside the City Hall building (N-2, Al. Pilsudskiego 52/54).
BGK bank building on ul. 10-go Lutego 1937-1938.
© Sławomir Kitowski
Do look a little deeper as well, for as much of the development of
Gdynia took place during the heyday of the modernist architecture
movement, there are numerous stylish buildings from that era.
The short walk from the main train station to the sea along (N/O-1)
ul. 10 Lutego and Skwer Kosciuszki will provide the visitor with
several examples of modernist architecture which reflect the city’s
maritime role, including buildings with portholes, quarterdecks
and curved facades to resemble ships.
For example, there is the Polish Ocean Lines building, which
now houses the Tourist Information office on ul. 10 Lutego
(at the junction with N-1, ul. 3 Maja), the Bank Gospodarstwa
Krajowego residential building around the corner on ul. 3 Maja
or, a personal favourite, at the junction of (N-1) ul. Abrahama
and ul. Starowiejska. Further on towards the sea there are
a former cinema at no. 10-12 Skwer Kosciuszki, and the
Gdynia Aquarium building and the Polish Yachtsman’s House
at numbers 1 and 3 Aleja Jana Pawła II.
If you want to go shopping then ul. Świętojańska is one good
place to go, and you will see this architectural style at, for
example, no. 68 (Empik bookshop) or no. 122. Alternatively,
for something more earthy, the market complex near the train
station also dates from this period. Even today, many of the new
buildings constructed in or near the city centre – such as the
Batory shopping centre (N-1, ul. 10-Lutego 11), pay homage to
this era and the city’s essential raison d’etre, the sea.
And as you walk around enjoying this city of 250,000 souls,
take a moment to remember that had it not been for the
Treaty of Versailles and the Poles’ determination to show
the world, and in particular their bullying neighbours that
they were worth their salt, this place might be something
quite different altogether today.
Further reading
Local photographer and historian,
Slawomir Kitowski, has published
a number of beautiful albums
recording various parts of
Gdynia and her history. For
those interested in seeing more
wonderful photographs of the
development of Gdynia from
fishing village to international port
should keep an eye out for these,
pick of which is Gdynia Miasto z
Morza i Marzeń (Gdynia – City
of the sea and dreams), which can be picked up from
EMPiK on ul. Swietojanska 68.
Gdynia In Your Pocket gdynia.inyourpocket.com gdynia.inyourpocket.com
May - July 2012
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