Peter Oliver Loew

A matter-of-fact history of the city of Danzig/Gdansk that could have been improved by more vignettes of its inhabitants. Danzig was the spot where the first shots of the Second World War were fired on 1st September 1939. It was also the place where Solidarnosc gained its first victories against the hardliner Polish communist regime. Founded as a Slavic settlement, it prospered thanks to its German trader community that continued to rule the city for most of its commercial history.

Danzig had its "golden century" in the 16th and 17th century (like the Netherlands) when it was the largest city in the North and Baltic Sea between Amsterdam and Moscow. As a trading city, it prospered during peace time. Alas, its neighbors were constantly at war. First the Poles battling with the Teutonic Order. Later the Swedes and the Poles and finally the Germans and the Russians. The discovery of the New World and the reorientation of world trade away from the Baltic Sea reduced Danzig's role which was further diminished with the rise of Warsaw. Like Venice, Danzig today makes its living from tourism.… (mer)