Gdynia

Gdynia

*Gdiniô* (Kashubian)
Gdynia Gdiniô (Kashubian)
	Gdynia Waterfront (top) and the Port of Gdynia (bottom);
	GDN)
Website	http://www.gdynia.pl

Gdynia (Polish:

12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk.^[1] Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity

(Trójmiasto) with around one million inhabitants.

Historically and culturally part of

Solidarity movement in nearby Gdańsk

.

The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and ferries travelling to Scandinavia. Gdynia's downtown, designated a historical monument of Poland in 2015, is an example of building an integrated European community and includes Functionalist architectural forms.^[2]^[3] Its axis is based around 10 Lutego Street and connects the main train station with the Southern Pier. The city is also known for holding the annual Gdynia Film Festival. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked by readers of The News as Poland's best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of "general quality of life".^[4] In 2021, the city entered the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and was named UNESCO City of Film.^[5]

History

Early history

The area of the later city of Gdynia shared its history with

Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish-Teutonic wars, started. It ended in 1466, when the Teutonic Knights recognized the region as part of Poland. Administratively, Gdynia was located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia^[8] in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and later of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The present-day neighbourhood of Kolibki was the location of the Kolibki estate, purchased by King John III Sobieski

in 1685.

In 1772, Gdynia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. Gdynia, under the Germanized name Gdingen, was included within the newly formed province of West Prussia and was expropriated from the Cistercian Order. In 1789, there were only 21 houses in Gdynia. Around that time Gdynia was so small that it was not marked on many maps of the period: it was about halfway from Oksywie and Mały Kack, now districts of Gdynia. In 1871, the village became part of the German Empire. In the early 20th century Gdynia was not a poor fishing village as it is sometimes described; it had become a popular tourist spot with several guest houses, restaurants, cafés, several brick houses and a small harbour with a pier for small trading ships. The first Kashubian mayor was Jan Radtke.^[9] It is estimated that around 1910 the population of Gdynia was 895 people.^[10]

Following World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and following the Treaty of Versailles, in 1920, Gdynia was re-integrated with the reborn Polish state. Simultaneously, the nearby city of Gdańsk (Danzig) and surrounding area was declared a free city and put under the League of Nations, though Poland was given economic liberties and requisitioned for matters of foreign representation.

Construction of the seaport

The decision to build a major seaport at Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in winter 1920,^[11] in the midst of the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1920).^[12] The authorities and seaport workers of the Free City of Danzig felt Poland's economic rights in the city were being misappropriated to help fight the war. German dockworkers went on strike, refusing to unload shipments of military supplies sent from the West to aid the Polish army,^[12] and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.^{[citation needed]}

Construction of Gdynia seaport started in 1921^[12] but, because of financial difficulties, it was conducted slowly and with interruptions. It was accelerated after the Sejm (Polish parliament) passed the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act on 23 September 1922. By 1923 a 550-metre pier, 175 metres (574 feet) of a wooden tide breaker, and a small harbour had been constructed. Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter took place on 23 April 1923. The first major seagoing ship, the French Line steamer Kentucky, arrived on 13 August 1923 after being diverted because of a strike at Gdansk.^[13]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1950	103,458	—
1960	147,625	+42.7%
1970	191,500	+29.7%
1980	236,432	+23.5%
1990	251,498	+6.4%
2000	253,387	+0.8%
2010	247,324	−2.4%
2020	244,969	−1.0%
source ^[14]

To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction. By the end of 1925, they had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had ordered the trans-shipment equipment. The works were going more slowly than expected, however. They accelerated only after May 1926, because of an increase in Polish exports by sea, economic prosperity, the outbreak of the German–Polish trade war which reverted most Polish international trade to sea routes, and thanks to the personal engagement of

Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy). By the end of 1930 docks, piers, breakwaters, and many auxiliary and industrial installations were constructed (such as depots, trans-shipment equipment, and a rice processing factory) or started (such as a large cold store).^{[citation needed}

]

Trans-shipments rose from 10,000 tons (1924) to 2,923,000 tons (1929). At this time Gdynia was the only transit and special seaport designed for coal exports.^[citation needed]

In the years 1931–1939 Gdynia harbour was further extended to become a universal seaport. In 1938 Gdynia was the largest and most modern seaport on the Baltic Sea, as well as the tenth biggest in Europe. The trans-shipments rose to 8.7 million tons, which was 46% of Polish foreign trade. In 1938 the Gdynia shipyard started to build its first full-sea ship, the Olza.^[15]

Construction of the city

The city was constructed later than the seaport. In 1925 a special committee was inaugurated to build the city; city expansion plans were designed and

city rights

were granted in 1926, and tax privileges were granted for investors in 1927. The city started to grow significantly after 1928.

A new railway station and the Post Office were completed. The State railways extended their lines, built bridges and also constructed a group of houses for their employees. Within a few years houses were built along some 10 miles (16 km) of road leading northward from the Free City of Danzig to Gdynia and beyond. Public institutions and private employers helped their staff to build houses.
In 1933 a plan of development providing for a population of 250,000 was worked out by a special commission appointed by a government committee, in collaboration with the municipal authorities. By 1939 the population had grown to over 120,000.^[16]

Gdynia Courthouse by Zbigniew Karpiński, 1936
Headquarters of the Polish Navy
Piłsudski Avenue with modernist buildings
Plac Kaszubski, one of the main squares in the city
PLO Building designed by Roman Piotrowski
Krenski House, detail, by Zbigniew Kupiec

Gdynia during World War II (1939–1945)

During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Gdynia was the site of fierce Polish defense. On 13 September 1939, the Germans carried out first arrests of local Poles in the southern part of the city, while the Polish defense was still ongoing in the northern part.^[17] On 14 September 1939, the Germans captured the entire city, and then occupied it until 1945. On 15–16 September, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 7,000 Poles, while Polish soldiers still fought in nearby Kępa Oksywska.^[17] The German police surrounded the city and carried out mass searches of weapons.^[17] Arrested Poles were held and interrogated in churches, cinemas and halls, and then around 3,000 people were released until 18 September.^[17] The occupiers established several prisons and camps for Polish people, who were afterwards either deported to concentration camps or executed.^[18] Some Poles from Gdynia were executed by the Germans near Starogard Gdański in September 1939.^[19] In October and November 1939, the Germans carried out public executions of 52 Poles, including activists, bank directors and priests, in various parts of the city.^[20] In November 1939, the occupiers also murdered hundreds of Poles from Gdynia during the massacres in Piaśnica committed nearby as part of the Intelligenzaktion. Among the victims were policemen, officials, civil defenders of Gdynia, judges, court employees, the director and employees of the National Bank of Poland, merchants, priests, school principals, teachers,^[21] and students of local high schools.^[22] On the night of 10–11 November, the German security police carried out mass arrests of over 1,500 Poles in the Obłuże district, and then murdered 23 young men aged 16–20, in retaliation for breaking windows at the headquarters of the German security police.^[23]

On 11 November, a German gendarme shot and killed two Polish boys who were collecting Polish books from the street, which were thrown out of the windows by new German settlers in the Oksywie district.^[24] The Germans renamed the city to Gotenhafen after the Goths, an ancient Germanic tribe, who had lived in the area. 10 Poles from Gdynia were also murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.^[25]

Some 50,000 Polish citizens were

Gray Ranks. Activities included distribution of underground Polish press, smuggling data on German persecution of Poles and Jews to Western Europe, sabotage actions, espionage of the local German industry,^[26] and facilitating escapes of endangered Polish resistance members and British and French prisoners of war who fled from German POW camps via the city's port to neutral Sweden.^[27] The Gestapo cracked down on the Polish resistance several times, with the Poles either killed or deported to the Stutthof and Ravensbrück concentration camps.^[28]^[29] In 1943, local Poles managed to save some kidnapped Polish children from the Zamość region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.^[30]

The harbour was transformed into a German naval base. The

war theater, and many German large ships—battleships and heavy cruisers—were anchored there. During 1942, Dr Joseph Goebbels authorized relocation of Cap Arcona to Gotenhafen Harbour as a stand-in for RMS Titanic during filming of the German-produced movie Titanic, directed by Herbert Selpin

.

The Germans set up an

subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp, the first located in the Orłowo district in 1941–1942, the second, named Gotenhafen, located at the shipyard in 1944–1945.^[34]

The seaport and the shipyard both witnessed several air raids by the Allies from 1943 onwards, but suffered little damage. Gdynia was used during winter 1944–45 to evacuate German troops and refugees trapped by the Red Army. Some of the ships were hit by torpedoes from Soviet submarines in the Baltic Sea on the route west. The ship Wilhelm Gustloff sank, taking about 9,400 people with her – the worst loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history. The seaport area was largely destroyed by withdrawing German troops and millions of encircled refugees in 1945 being bombarded by the Soviet military (90% of the buildings and equipment were destroyed) and the harbour entrance was blocked by the German battleship Gneisenau that had been brought to Gotenhafen for major repairs.

After World War II

Solidarity election rally in Gdynia, 1989

On 28 March 1945, the city was captured by the Soviets and restored to Poland. The Soviets installed a communist regime, which stayed in power until the
Lwów (now Lviv) from the Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland. Also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in the city.^[35] The port of Gdynia was one of the three Polish ports through which refugees of the Greek Civil War reached Poland.^[36]

On December 17, 1970, worker demonstrations took place at Gdynia Shipyard. Workers were fired upon by the police.
Janek Wiśniewski was one of 40 killed, and was commemorated in a song by Mieczysław Cholewa, Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni. One of Gdynia's important streets is named after Janek Wiśniewski. The event was also portrayed in Andrzej Wajda's movie Man of Iron
.
On 4 December 1999, a storm destroyed a huge crane in a shipyard.

Geography

Climate

The climate of Gdynia is an oceanic climate owing to its position of the Baltic Sea, which moderates the temperatures, compared to the interior of Poland. The climate is rather cool throughout the year and there is a somewhat uniform precipitation throughout the year. Typical of Northern Europe, there is little sunshine during late autumn, winter and early spring, but plenty during summer. Because of its northerly latitude, Gdynia has 17 hours of daylight in midsummer but only around 7 hours in midwinter. The lowest pressure in Poland was recorded in Gdynia - 960.2 hPa on January 17, 1931.

Climate data for Gdynia (1981-2010, extremes 1951–2015)

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high °C (°F) 13.2
(55.8) 14.4
(57.9) 22.9
(73.2) 28.9
(84.0) 30.3
(86.5) 33.2
(91.8) 35.5
(95.9) 33.4
(92.1) 30.7
(87.3) 26.9
(80.4) 19.8
(67.6) 13.7
(56.7) 35.5
(95.9)

Mean maximum °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7) 8.4
(47.1) 14.2
(57.6) 19.4
(66.9) 23.6
(74.5) 26.2
(79.2) 28.0
(82.4) 27.8
(82.0) 23.1
(73.6) 19.3
(66.7) 12.6
(54.7) 9.4
(48.9) 30.0
(86.0)

Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.6
(36.7) 2.9
(37.2) 5.6
(42.1) 9.8
(49.6) 15.0
(59.0) 18.4
(65.1) 21.1
(70.0) 21.2
(70.2) 17.2
(63.0) 12.5
(54.5) 6.9
(44.4) 3.6
(38.5) 11.4
(52.5)

Daily mean °C (°F) 0.5
(32.9) 0.7
(33.3) 2.9
(37.2) 6.5
(43.7) 11.6
(52.9) 15.1
(59.2) 18.0
(64.4) 18.0
(64.4) 14.2
(57.6) 9.7
(49.5) 4.8
(40.6) 1.6
(34.9) 8.6
(47.5)

Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −1.6
(29.1) −1.4
(29.5) 0.6
(33.1) 3.8
(38.8) 8.6
(47.5) 12.3
(54.1) 15.1
(59.2) 15.1
(59.2) 11.6
(52.9) 7.3
(45.1) 2.8
(37.0) −0.4
(31.3) 6.1
(43.0)

Mean minimum °C (°F) −9.6
(14.7) −8.1
(17.4) −4.5
(23.9) −0.7
(30.7) 3.8
(38.8) 8.0
(46.4) 11.3
(52.3) 10.9
(51.6) 7.0
(44.6) 1.4
(34.5) −3.1
(26.4) −7.7
(18.1) −12.0
(10.4)

Record low °C (°F) −19.7
(−3.5) −23.8
(−10.8) −13.8
(7.2) −4.9
(23.2) −0.6
(30.9) 3.8
(38.8) 8.1
(46.6) 7.0
(44.6) 2.1
(35.8) −3.6
(25.5) −11.7
(10.9) −17.8
(0.0) −23.8
(−10.8)

Average precipitation mm (inches) 31.5
(1.24) 21.4
(0.84) 30.6
(1.20) 28.5
(1.12) 53.3
(2.10) 56.8
(2.24) 60.8
(2.39) 63.7
(2.51) 62.8
(2.47) 46.2
(1.82) 43.9
(1.73) 37.7
(1.48) 537.0
(21.14)

Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 17.4 15.2 14.7 12.2 11.7 13.8 13.2 13.2 14.0 14.1 16.3 18.3 173.9

Average
relative humidity
(%) 81.7 81.5 79.5 77.7 77.0 76.5 77.1 77.7 79.1 80.7 83.4 83.6 79.6

Average dew point °C (°F) −3
(27) −3
(27) −1
(30) 2
(36) 6
(43) 10
(50) 13
(55) 12
(54) 9
(48) 6
(43) 2
(36) −1
(30) 4
(40)

Source 1: Meteomodel.pl^[37]

Source 2: Time and Date (dewpoints, 2005-2015)^[38]

Districts

Gdynia is divided into smaller divisions:
Śródmieście
, Wielki Kack, Witomino-Leśniczówka, Witomino-Radiostacja, Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana.

Babie
Doły

Pogórze

Obłuże

Oksywie

Cisowa

Chylonia

Śródmieście

Działki Leśne

Leszczynki

Grabówek

Pustki Cisowskie-
-Demptowo

Kam.
Góra

Wzg.Św.
Maksymiliana

Chwarzno-Wiczlino

Witomino-Leśniczówka

Witomino-
-Radiostacja

Orłowo

Redłowo

Mały Kack

Wielki Kack

Karwiny

Dąbrowa

Osiedles: Bernadowo, Brzozowa Góra, Chwarzno, Dąbrówka, Demptowo, Dębowa Góra, Fikakowo, Gołębiewo, Kacze Buki, Kolibki, Kolonia Chwaszczyno, Kolonia Rybacka, Krykulec, Marszewo, Międzytorze, Niemotowo, Osada Kolejowa, Osada Rybacka, Osiedle Bernadowo, Port, Pustki Cisowskie, Tasza, Wiczlino, Wielka Rola, Witomino, Wysoka, Zielenisz.

Cityscape

View from Kościuszko Square; Dar Pomorza on the left, Sea Towers on the right

Gdynia's main boardwalk in Orłowo

Gdynia is a relatively modern city.
neo-Gothic manor house
located on Folwarczna Street in Orłowo.
The surrounding hills and the coastline attract many nature lovers. A leisure
Redłowo.^[41]

Most of Gdynia can be seen from Kamienna Góra
asl) or the viewing point near Chwaszczyno. There are also two viewing towers, one at Góra Donas
, the other at Kolibki.
In 2015 the Emigration Museum opened in the city. Other museums include the Gdynia Aquarium, Experyment Science Center, Abraham's house, Żeromski's house, Gdynia Automotive Museum, Naval Museum, and Gdynia City Museum.

Modernist Center

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Further reading

External links

Gdynia

History

Early history

Construction of the seaport

Construction of the city

Gdynia during World War II (1939–1945)

After World War II

Geography

Climate

Districts

Cityscape

Modernist Center

Culture

Cultural references

Notable people

Sport

Fictional characters

Sports

International events

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Port of Gdynia

Public transport

Airport

Road transport

Railways

Economy

Education

Twin towns – sister cities

See also

Notes

References