july '19: the polish baltic sea pt. IV - gdańsk.

the european solidarity center - a museum and library dedicated to the history of solidarity and civil resistance of formerly communist eastern europe. 

danzig, or gdańsk how it's called in polish, was the biggest city we visited while staying at the baltic sea in poland. and it's been an amazing one, that i couldn't quite get out of my head after we left again. this city breathes the air of the hanseatic league, rich in medieval architecture and culture, but also is full of more recent historic places that bring you closer to the time of the eastern bloc. and throughout it all the contemporary side of the city entices you with its bubbly, creative and free-thinking demeanor.

while we were there we checked out a little bit of the shipyard of danzig ( mainly because we parked close to it and were meant to stumble upon it anyway ) and of course parts of the old city, which was sometimes quite overwhelming ( partially also because of the masses of tourists sprawled out on the streets everywhere ). if it weren't for the latter i would've enjoyed this city even more, but i guess that's the fate of incredible cities with a rich architectural history and layout. gdańsk was a tourist hotspot for sure, but with good reason. let me show you a bit around and give you a small insight into what this city is about.

i fell in love with the rusty exterior of the building ?

the building is supposed to look like a ship hull, which is a nod to the area it was built on - the shipyard of gdańsk, a historical site where in 1970 and in 1980 huge uprisings took place that helped topple over the soviet regime eventually. it was built from 2010 to 2014 by FORT architects.

industrialist chic is what i would call this particular style of architecture. 

i also liked the side partitions of the building, covered with steel and glass. we didn't have time to enter the museum, but if i ever make a return to gdańsk, i think i would definitely check it out and try to learn more about the solidarność movement, which was so crucial to bring down the soviet union and break the chains it imposed on the subordinate countries.

the psalm 29 is fixed to this concrete wall in front of the center, and right next to the monument of the fallen shipyard workers. 'the lord will give strength to his people, the lord will bless them and give them peace.'

think of that whatever you want, but i guess it brings the message across, no matter if you believe in god or not. i'd argue, though, that peace is a rather fragile thing these days, seeing that so many countries return to very conservative ( & religious ) nationalist mannerisms and politics and therefore bring peace to a dangerously close end. religion can be either an igniter or a healer, and i just kinda hope that people will use it as the latter, not the other way round. i think it would be devastating if people would use this psalm as a justification to enforce inhuman actions in the name of god to preserve their 'lawful right'. unfortunately, the direction poland took in the last few years in terms of politics isn't exactly uplifting, which is why i view messages like this rather critically.

inserted in that concrete wall were some reliefs that were pretty haunting.

the monument to the fallen shipyard workers of the uprise in 1970 in front of the solidarność center. this uprising happened because of an increase in food prices and it ended very bloody with about 90 people dead and thousands of protesters injured. the monument was unveiled in 1980 ( architects: bogdan pietruszka, wiesław szyślak, wojciech mokwiński & jacek krenz ), under the impression of another uprise in august of that year.

the monument was made out of steel and had bronze reliefs embedded in the columns that depicted scenes of the shipyard workers during the uprisings.

that particular style is so typical for eastern bloc monuments, drawing inspiration from socialist realism.

the entrance to the former shipyard area on which the uprisings took place.

there's a road leading further into the shipyard area, in which you can still find some last remaining original buildings.

several abstract structures stood around as well, i wasn't quite sure what their purpose was, though. probably were there for 'the gram' or something ? or just for photographers who need a good location.

this was another one of those random sculpture venues. i'm pretty sure they have some purpose, but i haven't found anything. just looking interesting, i guess ?

in the far back of the previous photo you can see this structure in very tiny. it's a gasometer, basically a gas tank. kinda liked it because industrial shit is sorta my thing.

another building that caught my attention was this grimy looking one! it's the gdansk shipyard center, a venue for concerts, gatherings and events. i love when people take something old and turn it into a place with a new purpose, but they keep the original structure pretty much the same in appearance. from the outside you'd think this is pretty abandoned, but then you take a look inside and it's the most amazing venue you can imagine. unfortunately i was only able to capture the building from this side, it's actually a lot bigger and more impressive from its right side.

we marginally passed by the gdańsk port, which is the biggest in the country, divided into an outer and an inner harbour. the port is huge, if you want to explore it in one day, you will probably need a bicycle, as it is said to have an expanse of about 24 kilometers in diameter. you could see some real behemoths of ships in the far, but we never got close enough to explore more thoroughly. if we had returned to poland this year, it would've been my goal to check it out, but due to corona restrictions we never made it. one day, though, one day i'm going to return to this city and roam through the many unseen streets and cityscapes that we missed out on the first time around.

there's something about huge ports that's incredibly appealing to me, all the metal and the industrial design to be found everywhere makes me think of possible apocalypse scenarios somehow. it's strange, but when i think of the future of our planet, i always imagine that the world will look like a shipwreck or mass of abandoned industrial sites and nature will gonna take over everything eventually, turning it into a metal and concrete jungle. the combination of nature and industrial ruins is such a good image in my head.

this old shipyard building is probably one of the oldest on the grounds of the former stocznia gdańska, also called 'lenin shipyard'. it dates back to the time of the imperial shipyard of danzig ( 1852 to 1918 ). there are a lot of smaller enterprises in these premises now, builders of yachts, steel producing companies and other industrial ventures.

loved the old brickstone structures? as i always do, to be honest 😅

some old train tracks could be found as well, obviously not in use anymore.

old entrance with eastern bloc atmosphere for modern day companies.

these halls were so majestic, i do love me some grimy brickstone aesthetic ❤ behind these walls there was once a forge.

you could even enter it and have a look around.

this apparatus of hell was a steam-powered hydraulic press from the breuer-schumacher factory in cologne. i LOVE discovering old metal monsters like this ?

the roof of the old forge. it was such a cool building!

back outside again, near the imperial shipyard piers. the big ship in the back looked super fascinating, but i couldn't really find a good angle for a better picture! looked like a drill ship to me!

we left the shipyard and made our way to the inner city, passing by some neigbourhoods that were under heavy construction. the brickstone building in front is one from the 1920ies ( which i already kinda guessed, because it felt like there were some expressionistic elements in it ). the district's epidemiological and sanitarian department sits inside this building now. the ones in the back are all appartment buildings that offer already furnished appartments for travellers and business people. it's wild to me that these buildings are already built with only those clientele in mind, not even with the intention to house locals.  

the normal population actually lives in less shiny appartment houses, panel flats from the PRL era. lots of concrete - just like in east germany. finding these traces excites me, because i feel so connected to the era through my family story already. it's like this is a connection i share with other countries of the former eastern bloc, like we went through similar backgrounds. i know, technically i only lived in the GDR for 1 year after i was born, but my parents still grew up in the german democratic republic behind the iron curtain and i feel like that informed my upbringing immensely, even though i might have not experienced it full on.

more shiny hotel buildings! this one being quite a cracker visually! the mercure hotel is one of the biggest hotels in the city and i think also the tallest hotel? it was initially called hotel hevelius when it was opened in 1979. i love the 'minesweeper' outfit ?

it stood directly next to some very old traditional buildings like this timber-framed house. dudes, contrasts like these, while they seem quite blasphemous to some, make me all excited! you don't have to call it pretty, but certainly interesting! this little house was built sometimes between 1800 and 1900.

there were more of those traditional pomeranian houses around, almost out of place in a huge city like danzig! which then again, added a certain charm to it, like the city still wanted to stay true to its roots.

a bit further down the street the main city ( mainly the rechtstadt – glowne miasto ) embraced you finally, with medieval st. catherine's church ( the oldest church in danzig - dating back to 1227/37 ) greeting you warmly. the brickstone structure on the left side is a mill building, one of two in that area.

this is the small mill, spanning over the radunia canal. it got built around 1400, being an auxiliary extension of the grand mill - one of the biggest medieval industrial plants at that time in europe (which i did not take photos of, curiously? even though it was just across the street? ).

st. catherine's church has a 76 meter high bell tower in which there is a carillon installed that the danzig citizens are very attached to. the originally gothic church has lots of baroque elements as well, as it was expanded and advanced during the 17th century.

inside, the interiors are kept stripped down to the bone ( i think the reason for this were the destructions of the second world war ), leaving it raw & vulnerable. i loved this! it gave the place a perfect air of ancient tranquility. the stellar vaults were especially impressive.

in the side chapels you could find some haunting little details.

the kramar chapel is equipped with an altar dedicated to st. catherine of alexandria, who is also the patron of the church.

the church choir with crucifixion.

another side chapel, with maria and jesus watching over it.

back outside we continued to explore the streets of gdańsk, passing by and having a quick look inside the neo-gothic hala targowa, a market hall from 1896. 

the market itself does not offer anything special (it's an assortment of fresh produce, meat and dairy and also clothes shops ). the interior is still kinda interesting with all the iron braces and struts. it kinda had a train station feel to it. in the basement they dug up fundaments of an old church and monastery that stood in that place until 1840. the fundaments that were found dated back to 1185. probably making this spot the oldest church find of danzig.

a market space was directly sandwiched between the new st. nicholas church and the market hall. in historic times the monastery buildings of st. nicholas were standing here, before they were destroyed in 1813 by russian artillery.

st. nicholas church from 1348 also enticed with brickstone facades and hanseatic gables! we didn't check out the interior of this church, though, as there are way too many old ones in the inner city of gdańsk and i think we would've pretty much missed out on exploring the rest of the city if we had a look at every single church?

beautiful old townhouses lined every street of the city core, some weathered in quite a charmingly way! danzig developed over a millenium so there's surely a lot of very different architectural styles to discover, from early romanesque buildings, to gothic churches, to baroque palaces, to hanseatic town houses and of course modern day dwellings. seriously, i felt like i was in the land of milk and honey architecturally?

we came across this very splendid building, a feast for the eyes! executed in the renaissance style between 1600 and 1609 by antonis von obberghen, the great armory takes your breath away with its beautifully embellished facade!

it is certainly one of the most gorgeous buildings in the city! and in a city where there's hundreds of wonderful buildings, that's quite something!

there are several long lanes cutting through the city core, one of them being the ulica piwna. the house rows here are an amalgamation of baroque domestic townhouses, one even more beautiful than the other. in front of the houses there were often some balustrated terraces, which i found quite unique! i haven't seen a similar style anywhere else i have been to, yet, so these will stay in my mind as typical for the city of gdańsk. this street, by the way is full of cafes, restaurants and bars, so it's one of the super packed streets in the city filled with tourists and honey-loving people.

the ulica piwna towards its most famous building, st. mary's cathedral.

we sat down in a little cafe and had some delicious cake and coffee here, eventually. the place was called kawiarnia retro and the people that served us were all super friendly and welcoming! definitely recommended! 

our coffee table 😋

i noticed these strange rainwater downpipes on many of the buildings and found them quite charming in their uniformity!

loved this entrance situation! and this is one of those balustrated terraces i was talking about earlier, they were executed entirely out of stone! sometimes carved into those balustrades were entire sceneries, but often it was just floral embellishments. also noticeable were the stone heads that seemed to function as some kind of guardian? i loved them, they were often animals, but sometimes also mythical creatures.

who would've thought that brickstone and baroque style elements would work so well together?

there was a litte museum in that street as well, which schowcased vintage toys. this little set-up transported me right back to my early years of life, when we had a tv that looked similar like this one  ( probably a later version, though ). i didn't know most of the toys displayed here, but that's only natural, seeing that the museum only exhibits polish toys that were manufactured from the 1920s to 1989.

more of piwna street, this time towards the great armory.

loved this interesting house facade! it looked like it was made out of clay tiles!

st. mary's basilica is one of those church structures that will leave you in awe as soon as you enter through the main portal. from the outside you might not expect much, though you will probably think that it is quite a massive building. it is actually one of the largest gothic brickstone buildings in the world, with a length of over 100 meters, a width of 66 meters in the transept and 44 meters in body, reaching 30 meters high. the bell tower is 82 meters high! the first foundation stone was laid into the ground in 1343 and in 1502, 159 years after beginning construction, the final brick in the vault finished the whole endeavour. the church can hold up to 25 000 people, which i couldn't believe at first! but when you enter it, you will feel super small in that massivly vaulted hall church. your disbelief will finally get turned around and you can imagine all those people pretty well! i didn't even know how to take photos in there to properly convey its size!

the ribbed vaults had those beautiful star- & crystal formations going on that we've already seen inside st. catherine's, though these felt much more elaborate. the mainly white plasterwork augmented the feeling of standing inside an overdimensional hall. also, it created a very elegant contrast to the solid brickstone facade outside. i was pretty much breathless upon seeing how filigree and sophisticated everything was in comparison to the outside appearance as to be honest with you, i had expected to see something as similarly as raw as inside st. catherine's church.

though it was covered mostly by scaffolds, the main organ of the church was an absolute feast for the eyes! it is a reconstruction of a renaissance organ from 1629. it formerly was made for the st. john's church, but most of its interiors were transfered to st. mary's in world war II, shortly after it was destroyed, and that's why you can find the organ in the basilica now.

it was so beautifully detailed and varnished!

i often find the side chapels more appealing than the main parts of churches, as they give the sculptures and art placed here more room to shine. this mid-century jesus with thorn crown and 'burnt' bush commemorated 2779 polish priests who fell victim to the second world war. the sculpture was made by janina stefanowicz-schmidt.

st. mary's basilica was also heavily bombarded during world war II, a lot of the windows did not survive this. like in many european churches they installed a few mid-century glass windows, which is not everyone's taste, but certainly is mine ;) i love the abstract, but equally powerful designs, and often they have the best light effects! unfortunately i couldn't find any info on the creator of this stained glass beauty.

another look up towards the ceiling! the angel on the right edge of the picture is one decorational remnant of an organ from baroque times ( 1760, destroyed in world war II ), designed by johann heinrich meißner.

many gold-plated epitaphs line the countless columns and walls, fantastic art treasures that survived the bombings. the one in the middle is from 1571 and was made for someone called bartolomeus wagner. it depicts his family, the ascension of christ and angels that carry a globus. caryatids and putti flank the work. on the left is another magnificient work of art – the epitaph of eduard blemke from 1591. the creator of this was willem van den blocke, a flemish sculptor.

the choir boasted a gilded wooden altar – the high altar of the coronation of mary. it's 5 meters high and weighs 3 tons! it was created from 1511 to 1517 by a sculptor with the name michael of augsburg. behind the altar you can see one of the most amazing stained windows in the basilica – a dreamy modern creation from 1980. it shows mary and jesus standing underneath a cross.

a more detailed picture of the main attractions in the choir.

again, looking up the ceiling reveals a few more treasures like this crucifixion scene from 1517.

this gorgeous piece of art is the altar of our lady of ostra brava, and is surrounded by intricate ironwork. it reminded me much of russian iconographic art! the artist that brought her to life was jan borowski and was probably done in the 1950ies or 1960ies.

the view back towards the organ. the pulpit on the right is a beautiful example of mannerism carvings, it dates back to 1616/17 and initially was made for the st. john's church in gdańsk, too.

back outside i tried to capture at least a tiny bit of the outlines of the cathedral, but it was difficult as there's rarely enough room to capture a full size perspective.

one of the 7 portals that lead into the church.

the roof ridges vary in style and execution, embellishing the otherwise pretty inornate appearance. another detail i loved were the high and slender ogival windows which gave it all the ornamental pizzazz it actually needed! oh, and let's not forget the little sun dial, which graces these walls since 1533.

onwards we went and discovered even more beautiful buildings and streets, like the back of the utterly gorgeous artus court – a merchant's meeting hall from the 14^th century ( more on that building later ).

the piwna street merges with the chlebnicka street which ends with the chlebnicka gate ( at the very far end ).

these house facades were absolutely, utterly magnificent! i couldn't get enough of them! from left to right you can see the renaissance 'english house' ( 1568 – 1570 ), two bourgois buildings that have no specific name, in the middle there's the late gothic schlieff house from 1520 and another house that i couldn't find any infos on. the schlieff house's original facade made it to germany in 1824, it was integrated into the tower of a palace on potsdam's peacock island! king frederic william III bought it before the city of danzig had the chance to follow through with plans of completely destroying and rebuilding a new house on the same spot. the facade you see now is a reconstruction of the original one!

the english house in all its glory! allegedly it is called this way because it had some connections to english merchants taking up rooms inside, but there's also a theory that says it's got nothing to do with england, but instead was called after the angel on top of the house. the german word for angel is 'engel' and often people would refer a house to a certain detail or even people who lived in it and it is actually possible that it was once actually called 'engel'sches haus' ( house of the angel ), which could've been changed to 'englisches haus'.

nearing the chlebnicka gate. i adored all the wonderful architecture, especially the balustrated terraces with beautiful ornaments! i totally felt transported back in time, because there was barely a modern element visible that could destroy the overall picture.

i mean, come on, this architecture is absolutely terrific! these are both from the 1600s, the 'golden era' of danzig, where it went through tremendous growth economically.

the chlebnicka gate, which was built in the 1450ies. it leads out to the piers next to the motława river, and is one of the many water gates of the old city.  

since the middle ages the motława river was used as a waterway out to the baltic sea, and it was the main harbour of danzig for a very long time. when you set foot out onto the piers you will see a set of super modern buildings that were designed to resemble granaries. this is because the island they stand on was formerly an island full of granaries until it was almost destroyed in world war II. only three original buildings survived, the rest was left to rot over the following 70 years until in the 2000s, it was decided to develop the area again, and bring it back to life. since then they rebuilt, restored and erected completely new buildings that now give granary island a very specific character, a mixture of old and new, of modern meets tradition! i would've loved to explore this island some more, but alas, we did not ( i think we were still totally overwhelmed with exploring główne miasto -the main city 😅).

touristic cruises ship the river these days, the freighters and carriers of old ( now of course changed into modern vessels ) moved to the port of gdańsk near the martwa wisła river branch. i really liked the look of all those modern 'granaries', made my heart beat loud and clear! nothing beats a good re-imagination of a formerly important and unique part of town that almost got completely destroyed.

a closer look at the new constructions. the radisson blu hotel still has some of the old granary fundaments incorporated into its design. on the far left the granaria apartment complex is the newest addition to the ensemble ( completed in 2019 ).

more of these wonderful townhouses were lining the piers, or the street that is called 'long bridge' ( or long waterfront ). overall, a total of 7 water gates also can be found here, some of which you've always seen, like the mariacka gate or the chlebnicka gate.

in danzig you can also find these pirate ships, turned touristic super magnets. this one rotated on the river to land on the pier. they drive out to the westerplatte, a peninsula on the baltic sea mouth of the dead vistula.

 on the river there were some motor cruises resembling cars out and about, which i thought was kind of hilarious. i get that it's quite a touristic thing to do, but the absurdity of it all still enticed me.

another water gate: brama mariacka ( st. mary's gate ). this one was first mentioned in 1484 and is leading onto mariacka street.

there is a special watergate on the waterfront famous for being a crane at the same time! while we were there it was under construction, so the only picture i have of that huge crane is this one, and it only shows a small detail of its flank towers and some parts of adjoining buildings, particularly some balconies. i kinda loved this little sector very much, it looked so picturesque! for a complete image of the crane and some infos on it, click here.

a bit further down, in front of the archeological museum of gdańsk, which resides in a former tenement house, they set up some curious rocks, prussian idol sculptures. they're supposed to depict gods and goddesses in an anthropomophic way and often were used as milestones.

really liked those kinda creepy things!

this one looked like a little fat monk 😂

the most famous gate on the long waterfront is the green gate, a renaissance residence built for polish royalty from 1568 – 1571 by regnier van amsterdam. its facade was painted green first, that's why it got its name. it seems that the royalty it was built for didn't use it a lot – only one princess lived here before she was crowned queen – marie louise gonzaga. in more recent times, the leader of the solidarnosc and the second president of poland lech wałęsa had an office here, before he moved to the european solidarity center. these days it is actually an art and photo gallery.

the view from the green bridge right next to the green gate towards chlebnicka gate, archeological museum and the big crane ( far in the back ) on the left and granary island & ołowianka island on the right.

i zoomed in a bit to the far back and discovered that on ołowianka island there's another museum, the national maritime museum. in front of it lies a special ship, the SS sołdek, a former coal and ore freighter, built in the gdańsk shipyard, which you can visit as well.

another zoom in image – this time on the archaeological museum ( the building with the two turrets ) and some ships on the pier, but also you can now see the big crane a little better – with its almost black wooden facade in the front and the massive brickstone back. if it weren't for the modern ships on the river, it could easily be an image straight from the past, when the hanseatic league was still ruling this seaside city.

when you look into the opposite direction you can see even more of granary island's cultivation. the big 'checkered' building in the middle is the headquarter of the social welfare office in gdańsk. i'm not sure if the buildings they use are actually former granaries or a new construction after all, i could not find any yielding info on it. further down you can still see a few of the older granaries, not yet developed into shiny new tenements.

also on granary island – stągiewna gate ( or milk can gate ). it was built between 1517 and 1519 and is called this way because the two cylindric towers look like milk cans to many locals. here you can only see one milk can ;) we did not explore granary island any further, though i again would've loved to, just for the interesting modern meets old architecture alone! instead we returned to the green gate, went through it and emerged on the other side on the długi targ, the long market, probably THE gem of the city. well, you could actually see that by means of all the people crowding the place.

the long market is full of the most beautiful tenements of danzig, mainly because the rich and the famous lived here. it was part of the royal route going through the city, granting the polish monarchs access, often with great hoopla. because of that the houses on the market and adjoining street are all surpassing each other in splendor.

the black/grey house in the middle had a special facade, it was made in sgraffito style! it dates back to the 16^th century, and to decorate house facades like this was particularly trendy back then! the buildings next to it on the left were all created later in the 18^th century and the buildings on the right are actually part of the building, just visually set apart.

 this facade is probably a product of post-war adornment. while the streets and the buildings of the inner city of gdańsk look quite historic and old, the appearance is actually deceiving. the city was heavily bombarded in the second world war, leaving only very few buildings of the former old city intact. many houses are reconstructions that are only loosely based on the initial development, and many were recreated in simplified forms. a lot of these facades atually had stone embellishments which, after the war was over, didn't survive it. to still give these buildings some kind of pleasing appearance, post-war architects designed their own kind of decor, paintings and murals. and this facade is proof of that!

cute design on this house facade, too! the designs are so-called polychromes and were a very favoured design element in the 1950ies and throughout the following centuries during PRL government.

beautiful elaborate sculptures and head figures on this facade. it belongs to the golden house – a home built for the grain trader and former mayor johann speymann. it was built between 1609 and 1618 by abraham van den blocke.

a most perfect gable ensemble – from left to right: artus court, the new jury house ( presumably built in the 15^th century, though it synergizes gothic, renaissance and baroque elements ), a 16^th century house looking rather 'simple' and the golden house.

loved this tiny detail on the new jury house, a fish as watersprout!

on a random balcony i found this parrot and stork/heron/crane? both were obviously painted at some time.

this part of the long market was probably the most gorgeous part – but also the most frequented, as you can see. protruding out of this scenery are the artus court ( of which you have already seen the back side ) behind the neptune's fountain and the town hall with its looming 84 meter high clock tower! the artus court was first built in 1348, making it a gothic building actually, but with a manneristic facade, which was designed by abraham van den blocke again ( recognize him? dude was quite sought-after back in the days ) in 1617. it had always been a meeting place for rich and wealthy people, from knights and aristocrats to merchants and other well-off visitors – basically an inn or tavern, but make it luxurious and splendid. it was also the town's stock exchange for a while, but now it's part of the gdańsk museum, which resides mainly inside the town hall. the town hall is a gothic-renaissance brickstone building from the 14^th century, enhanced and expanded after a fire in 1556. most notable is of course its tower with the big clock on it, but also the huge gable extension. it almost feels profane against the opulence that is the artus court, but the size of it compensates for that. also, if i could choose, i'd choose medieval brickstone architecture over extravagant bravado anytime 😅. the neptune fountain, which goes under a little in this image, is also worth mentioning. it is dedicated, of course, to the god neptune, the god of the sea, which symbolizes the importance of the city in context to the hanseatic league. the fountain was designed by abraham van den blocke again, who by now you probably guessed, was very important when it comes to the city's architectural landscape. the building of the fountain needed quite a long time, first constructions began in 1606, and it was finally completed in 1633. there were a lot of reasons why it took so long to build this fountain, the 30-years-war interrupted, there were problems with the water installations and also van den blocke died in 1628, leaving the builders without clear instructions. but eventually, the fountain was finally consigned to the public and has been gracing the square in front of the artus court ever since.

the artus court in full glory. even though i dislike photographing places with lots of people in it, i kinda like this one, especially because of the woman in the middle. somehow she looks quite picturesque in it, quite elegant and beautiful. some might say she steals the show a bit with her figure ;)

details of the artus court facade. these sculptures symbolize justice and bravery.

the gorgeous clock tower of the city hall. on the tip of the spire stands a golden figure that depicts sigismund II augustus, king of poland from 1530 to 1572. he was one of poland's most important kings, reigning during the polish golden age. the original tower was built in 1559/60, the one you see now is a replica of that historic one ( since the city hall was pretty much in shambles after the second world war ).

i liked the giant clock very much!

another detail to mention, this gorgeous sun dial was created in the 16^th century and a latin proverb is written on it: our days are shadows. i kinda love that a lot.

the renaissance entrance to the city hall was quite an elegant detail to the otherwise pretty raw-looking facade.

wandering down the long lane i noticed a lot more wonderful tidbits and details, such as this crowned lizard!

and more mid-century sgraffiti!

this black house felt kind of bad-ass, especially in a street that was colourful and pastel. it's been partly rebuilt after world war II and only has little historical details left like the stone entrance. the sgraffiti must be mid-century additions, as in some historical photos i found on the internet the house never had any.

uphagen's house, a beautiful rococo town house that now is a museum about how people lived during that particular era. The building itself is actually a lot older and dates back to the 13^th century, but the facade you see now is a reconstruction from the one that was realized in 1775.

fell in love hard with this sgraffito facade <3 definitely another one of those post-war additions that should be preserved!

close-up. why do i think these reliefs were made in the 1950ies? because the symbols over and under the sceneries shows are quite simple and stylized. because the clothes the figures wear all have abstract patterns, uncommon in the 'original' attire of that era.

the golden gate - another renaissance relict in the old town of gdańsk. created from 1612 to 1614 it is another work of abraham van den blocke, and i think it actually shows. van den blocke had a very distinct style, typical for flemish renaissance, and i feel like everytime you come across one of his works you will pretty much notice that he was responsible for them. he loved sculptures, he loved columns and apparently he had a thing for the colour combo blue and gold. this gate forms an ensemble with the high gate and the prison tower.

the other side. next to it is the late gothic court of the st. george brotherhood, now headquarters of the union of polish architects. the construction time for this one lasted from 1487 to 1494 and the architect was a jan glothau.

sandwiched between the golden gate and high gate is the prison tower and torture chamber, which is an even older part of danzig's fortifications, dating back to the 14^th century. it received a new outfit between 1593 and 1604, when both buildings ( the torture chamber is behind the tower ) were combined to fulfill courthouse duties. nowadays no one is tortured or imprisoned behind these walls anymore, but it still keeps the memories of those times alive through being a museum about torture ( and amber! ).

 the van den blocke family had more than one architects in their lines to help create danzig's cityscape, so it probably doesn't surprise you to hear their name again, doesn't it? this time, willem van den blocke, the father of abraham van den blocke, built another fortification gate – the high gate ( or upland gate ). i think one can see clearly where abraham got his inspirations from. the gate was erected in 1586 and and survived world war II almost entirely unscathed. from here the polish kings were officially welcomed and they would take the royal way down the long lane until they arrived at the green gate.

a detail shot of the imprints in the ashlar. i particularly liked these a lot, patterns are just kinda my thing.

there's a touristic info point inside the upland gate now, perfect as a welcome place coming from the main train station, which is about 10 minutes away.

a view back allows you a better look on the ensemble that constitute the three aforementioned buildings. passing by the prison tower reveals the torture chamber and also visible is the court of the st. george brotherhood.

after seeing all those historical buildings so close to each other, there is one building nearby that bunches out extremely. this almost ugly, but actually pretty amazing former furniture shop from 1961! people's opinions on this building widely diverge, though, there are concrete plans to tear this relict of PRL times down and either re-erect a renaissance court or start to built a completely new modern investment here. i'd say, keep this dinosaur alive, just renovate it and update it! as if i had a say in the matter 😂 the architect of this rusty jewel was lech kadłubowski.

to complete the wild architectural mix in that area, have some neo-renaissance goodness. this building is in possession of the polish national bank and was erected 1905 – 1906 by the architect max hasak, an architect who specialized on treasuries and bank buildings.

we now made it to a part of town that wasn't homogeneously medieval-looking like the old city. more and more buildings started to show up that were in stark contrast to the historical part, more contemporary and modern. these are the parts i am often most interested in, of course! contrasts!, that word alone should be my slogan. the straw tower was part of the medieval city fortifications, and built between the 14^th and 15^th century. it got its name because it was first thatched with straw! it was used as a depot and powder tower, as it had a connection to the grand armoury. the modern building next to it is from 1968 ( architect: ryszard semka ) and is an extension of the academy of fine arts which resides in the grand armory.

the grand armory is on the right side of the frame ( the back view isn't as gloriously decorated as the front view you can see from piwna street). next to the armory another modern building is creating a contrast: the teatr wybrzeże – the coastal theater. built in 1967 by lech kadłubowski ( the man who also built the LOT building from a few images prior ) it houses one of gdańsk's most important theaters, with focus on political, social and moral stories.

LOVED this glass facade and how the grand armory mirrored itself in it <3

the rectangular parts of the theater and the many glass facades are reason why the citizens of gdańsk are calling their theater 'aquarium'. i liked the different coloured tiles a lot that were also used for the facade.

i found a random facade with old german advertisement on it, willy iskraut obviously sold colonious goods in his shop. today there's no such thing inside anymore, but the old advertisement still stayed.

and advertisement the modern way: gorgeous artwork for an open-air theater event called FETA! The artist was paweł król, whom i urge you to check out, because his art is amazing ❤

this behemoth greeted us from afar as we slowly made our way back to the car, it's the zieleniak business center ( 1965 – 1971, stanisław tobolczyk & jasna strzałkowska ). the facade is a little green-ish, which gave it its name, as zieleni stands for green. though it looks rather huge, the height of it isn't even that tall, about 72 meters. i loved the tram that went by in the moment i pushed the trigger, it was one of those old ones, probably from the 80ies or something ❤

a look up.

and another one. it's one of those buildings that are pretty universal these days, but was an exceptional construction back in the day, especially in poland! the international style wasn't so common in eastern bloc countries, so its construction and being one of the very few highrises in the city were pretty much a little sensation.

before this monstrosity of a post ends, let's return quickly to some historic places. this is part of a wall painting on a house that commemorates johannes hevelius, an astronomer who was alive in the 17^th century and who lived and worked in gdańsk his entire life ( also as a mayor of the city! ). he is considered to be the 'father of lunar topography and also discovered 2 hands full of constellations, some of which are still used today by astronomers! i don't know why i haven't made more pictures of the house, but as a virgo moon sign i guess i was pretty intrigued with this part alone ( though it eludes me why every other star constellation of this mural was not important enough for me, lol ). here are some pictures of the whole mural and the nearby hevelius memorial.

not far from the memorial you'll find this overloaded bridge (bread bridge) full of love locks. i can't really relate to that practice, in fact i find it rather unnecessary, but i can't deny that this absurdity still sometimes creates an interesting photo motive. the person looking down on all the locks is my mom by the way ^^; behind my mom is the city hall of the old town ( built from 1587 – 1589 by antoni van obberghen ). gdańsk has basically two inner city parts, one being the main city ( rechtsstadt ) and the other one being the old city ( altstadt ). this can actually be a bit confusing as one would normally view the old city as the older part, but in this case the main city actually is!

the choir of st. joseph's church – a medieval former carmelite church ( built from 1582 – 1623 ). this church has a very dark history, especially from the times of the second world war. russian soldiers set it on fire in 1945 while 100 people took refuge inside. they locked the church and thus all the people inside burned and died, and the church was heavily damaged. one of the worst things to me is burning people, i personally think of it as a horrendous and frightful thing to do. such a horror scenario!

and finally, the last picture of this post, showing you the miller's guild house, the radunia canal and st. catherine's church in the back. behind the miller's guild house you can see a tiny bit of a gable, which belongs to the grand mill ( which you remember i haven't took a photo of, despite it being a very distinct historical building, lol ). the miller's guild house was originally built in 1831 at a slightly different location nearby, but moved onto this tiny foundation in the midst of the radunia canal in 1894. it's a very 'prussian' building, as the timber-frame construction with the checkered facade suggests.

with this picture i've finally finished this huge post about the city of danzig ( believe me, i've been frustrated over completing this for basically 4 weeks! ), a city that impressed me greatly and that i feel want to visit again to get to know it even more. during the process of assembling this post i noticed that i've missed out on quite a lot of the history and sites you can discover in this city, even shamefully neglected some of the coolest sites! so, if i ever return to danzig, i certainly hope to make up for that and give some sites in the city more attention ( i have to admit that i was quite overwhelmed with it, due to the huge tourist floods everywhere and therefore often decided against taking more pictures ). but all this said, i completely adored this city, and i feel like it is actually a must-see place in europe.

next post will be a bit smaller again, kudos to everyone who read this through.

until then, stay curious ❤