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Gdynia

Gdynia ( (until 1939), Gotenhafen (1939-1945); ) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.

Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdansk and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over a million people.

History

The first known mention of the name "Gdynia" was of a Pomeranian (Kashubian) fishing village, in 1253. Oxhöft, now known as Oksywie, a part of Gdynia, was mentioned even earlier, in 1209. It was there that the first church on the this part of the Baltic Sea coast was built. In 1380 the owner of the village which became Gdynia, Peter from Rusocin, gave the village to the Cisterian Order, so in the years 1382–1772 Gdynia belonged to the Cistercian abbey in Oliva, now Oliwa. In 1789 there were only 21 houses in the village.

The area of the later city of Gdynia shared its history with Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania); in prehistoric times it was the center of Oksywie culture; it was later populated by Goths and eventually Slavs with some Baltic Prussian influences. As a part of Pomerania, it was a province of Poland from circa 990–1308. In 1309-1310 it was conquered by the Teutonic Order (1309–1454/66), but afterwards became part of Royal Prussia within the Kingdom of Poland (1466–1772). In the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it was annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia (1772–1870), and as part of Prussia became part of the German Empire (1870–1920).

In 1870, the village of Gdingen had some 1,200 inhabitants, and it was not a poor fishing village as it is sometimes described. It was a popular tourist spot with several guest houses, restaurants, cafes, several brick houses and a small harbour with a pier for small trading ships. The first Kashubian mayor of Gdingen was Jan Radtke. After the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Gdingen or Gdynia - as it was now called - along with other parts of former West Prussia, became a part of the new Republic of Poland; simultaneously, the city of 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 the Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in the winter of 1920, in the midst of the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1920). 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. Despite these demands, the workers went on strike, and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.

Construction of Gdynia seaport was started in 1921, but because of financial difficulties 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 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, and the first major seagoing ship arrived on 13 August 1923.

To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction, which by the end of 1925 had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had also 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 also thanks to the personal engagement of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Polish Minister of Industry and Trade, also responsible for construction of Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy. Till 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 clod room).

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. In the years 1931–1939 the 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.

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 and the population grew rapidly to over 120,000 in 1939.

In 1930 the Baltic Institute in Torun, an institution designed to research Polish heritage in Pomerania, opened its branch in Gdynia.

Gdynia during World War II (1939–1945)

The city and seaport were occupied in September of 1939 by German troops and renamed to Gotenhafen after the Goths, an ancient Germanic tribe. Some 50,000 Polish citizens, settled by the Polish government at the area after the decission to enlarge the harbour was made, were repatriated to the General Gouvernment. The harbour was turned into a German naval base. The shipyard was extended in 1940 and turned into a branch of a Kiel shipyard (Deutsche Werke Kiel A.G.). Gdynia became a primary German naval base, and being relatively distant from current war theater homed most of German large ships - battleships and heavy cruisers. Both seaport and the shipyard witnessed several air raids by the Allies from 1943 onwards, but suffered little damage. The seaport area was largely destroyed by withdrawing German troops in 1945 (90% of the buildings and equipment were destroyed) and the harbour entrance was blocked by the German battlecruiser Gneisenau that had been brought to Gdynia for major repairs and refit.

The city was also the location for the Nazi concentration camp Gotenhafen, a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig.

The harbour of Gotenhafen was also used in 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. For example, the ship Wilhelm Gustloff sank taking about 9,400 people with her — the worst loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history.

Gdynia after World War II

On March 28, 1945, Gdynia was captured by the Soviets and assigned to Polish Gdansk Voivodeship.

In the Polish 1970 protests, worker demonstrations took place at Gdynia Shipyard. Workers were fired upon by the police. The fallen became symbolized by a fictitious worker Janek Wisniewski, commemorated in a song by Mieczyslaw Cholewa, Piesn o Janku z Gdyni.
One of Gdynia's important streets is named after Janek Wisniewski. The same person was portrayed by Andrzej Wajda in his movie Man of Iron as Mateusz Birkut. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the archenemy of the character James Bond known for his white persian cat, comes from Gdynia.

On December 4th, 1999, a storm destroyed a huge crane in a shipyard, which was able to lift 900 tons

Economy

Notable companies that have their headquarters in Gdynia:

Stocznia Gdynia, the largest Polish shipyard

PROKOM SA, the largest Polish I.T. company

C. Hartwig Gdynia SA, one of the largest Polish frightforwarders

Some shipping lines.

Port of Gdynia

Cargo statistics:

* 1924: 10,000 tons

* 1929: 2,923,000 tons

* 1938: 8,700,000 tons

* 2002: 9,365,200 tons

* 2003: 9,748,000 tons

* 2004: 10,744,000 tons

* 2005: 12,230,000 tons

* 2006: 14,199,000 tons

* 2007: 17,025,000 tons

Containers:

* 2003:

* 2004:

* 2005:

* 2006:

* 2007:

**Passengers 364,202

::See also: Ports of the Baltic Sea

Education

There are currently 8 universities and institutions of higher education based in Gdynia. Many students from Gdynia attend also universities located in the Tricity.

State-owned:

*Gdynia Maritime University

*Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia

*University of Gdansk - departments of Biology, Geography and Oceanology

Privately owned:

*Academy of International Economic and Political Relations in Gdynia

*Business and Administration School in Gdynia

*Pomeranian Higher School of Humanities in Gdynia

*Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University - department in Gdynia

*Higher School of Social Communication

::See also: Education in Gdynia

Notable residents

Antoni Abraham (1869-1923) Kashubian representative to the Versailles Treaty, political activist and proponent of Polish Kashubia

Józef Michal Hubert Unrug (1884–1973) German-born Polish vice admiral who helped create the Polish navy

Marian Mokwa (1889-1987) maritime painter, traveller, social activist

Franciszek Stefan Sokól (1890-1956) author, Commissioner of the government of Gdynia and the city's chief promoter and defender

Antoni Suchanek (1901-1982) maritime painter

Karol Olgierd Borchardt (1905-1986) maritime author and educator

Kazimierz Ostrowski (1917-1999) painter

Irena Loroch (b. 1931) sculptress

Zbigniew Szczepanek (b. 1933) author of textbooks, considered one of the best watercolor artists in Europe

Jacek Fedorowicz (b. 1937) satirist and actor

Gunnar Heinsohn (b. 1943) German sociologist

Jörg Berger (b. 1944) German football trainer

Franciszka Cegielska (1946-2000) politician and Solidarity movement activist

Miroslaw Tomaszewski (b. 1955) writer, playwright, and inventor

Ryszard Krauze (b. 1956) computer science entrepreneur

Marcin Mieciel (b. 1975) footballer

Alexandra Nice (b. 1976) actrice

Adam Michal Darski, Nergal (b. 1977) composer, vocalist, and guitarist for blackened death metal band Behemoth

Michael Klim (b. 1977) Polish-born Australian swimmer, Olympic medalist, World Champion

Magdalena Brzeska (b. 1978) gymnast

Malgorzata Warda (b. 1978) writer, painter, and sculptress

Stefan Liv (b. 1980) Polish-born Swedish ice hockey player

Sports

There are many popular professional sports teams in Gdynia and Tricity area. Amateur sports are played by thousands of Gdynia’s citizens, as well as in schools and universities.

Sports in Gdynia

Arka Gdynia - men’s football team (Polish Cup winner 1979, 2nd league 2003/2004, 2004/2005 and 2007/2008 seasons, 1st league at season 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2008/2009)

Baltyk Gdynia - men's football team, 4th league at season 2005/2006 and 2006/2007

Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia - women’s basketball team (Polish Champion 2004 in Sharp Torell Basket Liga)

Kager Gdynia - men’s basketball team (Dominet Bank Ekstraliga)

KS Laczpol Gdynia - women’s handball team (1st league in season 2003/2004)

Arka Gdynia - rugby team (Champions of Poland in seasons 2003/2004 & 2004/2005)

Gdynia/Slupsk constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Gdynia/Slupsk constituency

Marek Biernacki, PO

Jolanta Szczypinska, PiS

Jaroslaw Sellin, PiS

Robert Strak, LPR

Joanna Senyszyn, SLD-UP

Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, SLD-UP

Jerzy Budnik, PO

Ryszard Kaczynski, PiS

Stanislaw Lamczyk, PO

Lech Woszczerowicz, Samoobrona

Members of Senat elected from Gdynia/Slupsk constituency

Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk, PiS

Antoni Szymanski, PiS

Edmund Wittbrodt, PO

Sights and tourist attractions

Gdynia is a relatively modern city and there are not many historical buildings. The oldest building in Gdynia is 13th century St. Michael the Archangel's Church in Oksywie. There is also a 17th century neo-Gothic manor house located on Folwarczna Street in Orlowo.
However, what attracts most tourists in Gdynia deals with its recent past. In the harbour there are two anchored museum ships, the ORP Blyskawica destroyer and the Dar Pomorza Tall Ship frigate. Gdynia is famous for its numerous examples of early 20th century architecture, especially monumentalism and early functionalism. Recently reconstructed Swietojanska street and Kosciuszko square are also worth a mention.
The surrounding hills and the coastline attract many nature lovers. Leisure pier and a cliff-like coastline in Kepa Redlowska as well as the surrounding Reservation Park are also popular locations. A 1.5 kilometre long promenade leads from the marina in the city centre to the beach in Redlowo. Most of Gdynia can be seen from Kamienna Góra (54 metres asl) or a newly built observation point near Chwaszczyno.
You can also take a hydrofoil or ship trip to Gdansk Westerplatte, Hel or just see the port.

There are also two remarkable observation towers, one at Góra Donas, the other at Kolibki.

Gdynia is also the host of the Heineken Open'er Festival, one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Poland. The festival welcomes many foreign hip-hop, rock and electronic music artists every year. The second most important summer event in Gdynia is Viva Beach Party, which is a large two-day techno party made on Gdynia's Public Beach. Usually organized in August.

Modern division into neighbourhoods

Babie Doly

Chwarzno Wiczlino

Chylonia

Cisowa

Dzialki Lesne

Dabrowa

Grabówek

Kamienna Góra

Karwiny

Leszczynki

Maly Kack

Obluze

Oksywie

Orlowo

Pogórze

Pustki Cisowskie-Demptowo

Redlowo

Sródmiescie

Wielki Kack

Witomino Lesniczówka

Witomino Radiostacja

Wzgórze Sw. Maksymiliana

Sister Cities

Seattle

Monopoly Here and Now

In 2008, Gdynia made it onto the Monopoly Here and Now board after being voted by fans. Gdynia occupies the space traditionaly held by Mediteranian Avenue, making it the lowest voted city to make it onto the Monopoly Here and Now board.

External links

Gdynia city website

Gdynia Portal (pl)

Marina in Gdynia

Maritime School

Seattle sister city of Gdynia

Maps, photos, albums and more than 200 postcards from Gotenhafen (1939-1945)

Open Directory Project - Gdynia

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