"Gdansk - Freedom For All" a Gdansk Travel Page by mightywease

August 1980 – the television showed pictures from Poland, shipyards and workers, strikes and confrontations. Too young to really understand the implications of the events that were unfolding I was still aware that something momentous was happening and also that certain words and names were slipping into people’s vocabulary and memory – Solidarity, Lech Walesa and Gdansk.

I suppose that for many people outside Poland, like me, those images and that period was their introduction to - and remembrance of - Gdansk. It’s a powerful, proud legacy and one admirably celebrated at the wonderful “Roads to Freedom” Solidarity exhibition in the city.

The history of Gdansk, however, stretches back over 1000 years during which time it has been a wealthy and successful trading port, particularly for such items as grain and timber, and centre of jewellery making and ornamental arts, especially incorporating “Baltic Gold”, also known as amber, a tradition which can still be seen today in the city’s many amber galleries and workshops. German influence on the city has led to it being known as Danzig at various points in its history. It has witnessed change of governance pass between Teutonic Knights, Polish Kings, Prussia and, in more recent times, Nazi occupation followed by Soviet rule until now and the Third Republic of Poland. For two short periods, 1807 to 1814 and 1919 to 1939, the city was granted ‘free city’ status, the latter period under the stewardship of the League of Nations coming to an end with the first shots of World War II at Westerplatte.

Throughout the city’s at times turbulent history there seems to be one word which keeps recurring and which, for me, sums up my feelings about Gdansk. That word is “Freedom”.

Liberty, independence, openness, ease – all those elements of “Freedom” can be found in Gdansk.

It has seen struggles for liberty and independence, both in the resistance by postal workers to the Nazi invasion on the first day in World War II through the shipyard strikes and protests of 1970 to the formation of Solidarity ten years later.

This is a city that seems very much at ease with itself, confident yet not assertive, and maybe because of this it seems very at ease with those visiting it. It’s was easy to relax in Gdansk, the atmosphere was open and welcoming and there seemed to be a very strong feeling of acceptance, of “live and let live” about the city.

Some cities seduce you, some pull you in, some bludgeon you into submission, Gdansk simply accepts you. And it feels great!

A good place to start exploring Gdansk is along ul Dluga and Dluga Targ which together constitute the main thoroughfare in Gdansk’s old town. Known as the Royal Way (from 1457 the two streets, running one into the other, were used as a processional route during Royal visits) this area was used for parades, ceremonies and even public executions. Like much of the city centre both streets suffered terrible devastation during the Second World War, however, they have been painstakingly re-built and the beautiful facades of the buildings, especially in Dluga Targ provide a lovely backdrop to the buskers, stalls, cafes and general bustle of people in this lively thoroughfare. Dluga also contains many places of interest including Uphagen House, a restored townhouse with 18th Century interiors, the beautiful Neptune’s Fountain and Artus Court, meeting place for merchants who inspired by Arthurian traditions strove to uphold ideas of chivalry, fraternity and discussion. At the meeting point of ul. Dluga and Dluga Targ stands the wonderful Main Town Hall incorporating the beautifully decorated Red Room and the slender Tower, from which there are fantastic views over the city. Also from the latter emanate the hourly musical chimes of the 37 bell carillon.

A couple of streets parallel to Dluga runs ul. Mariacki an especially pretty street of townhouses with decorated facades and raised terraces. Along here are some lovely cafes, amber and craft stalls. At the end of ul Mariacki is the imposing Church of St. Mary, the largest medieval brick built church in Europe. Inside are the impressive Astronomical Clock and the beautiful sculpture “Madonna of Gdansk”. More wonderful artwork is on show at the National Museum of Gdansk which includes works by Polish painters Piotr Michalowski, Stanislaw Wyspianski and Jacek Malczewski plus Hans Memling’s riveting “Last Judgement”.

A stroll along the Motlawa Canal, past the reconstructed medieval crane and the Martime Museum, is very pleasant, especially at dusk as daylight is replaced by streetlights hanging along the waterfront. Or for a stroll along the sand – or the 500ft long pier- take a train to Sopot, a lovely and lively seaside town.

For me, however, the highlight of Gdansk is the fantastic “Roads To Freedom” Solidarity Exhibition in the former shipyard No. 2. Moving, inspiring, hopeful what you sense in there stays with you for a long time. Rather like the city itself.