Gdańsk or Danzig?



The Gdansk Coat of Arms

Polish  are sensitive about Gdansk being referred to as Danzig but unfortunately this is the name better known by foreigners. It has been always a sensitive issue and I believe that German citizens of Gdańsk do not like its Polish name either. The thing is that the town was ruled by both of the nations for a considerable time.

The town was funded by the first Polish king Mieszko I in 980s. In the early times Gdansk changed hands frequently from Polish Dukes to Pomeralians.  From 1308 till 1454 Gdansk was a part of Teutonic Knights State. Only from 1454 Gdansk became a part of Polish Kingdom and for a considerable time, till 1793 when Poland was partitioned between Prussia, Russia and Austria and disappeared from the map of Europe for a long while. By that time Gdansk citizens were mixed nation, equally of Polish and German background. Both of the languages were used in the town.

After the First World  Gdansk became a free city in 1920.

Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the Allied powers in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) decided to create the Free City of Danzig (under a commissioner appointed by the League of Nations) covering the city itself, the seaport, and a substantial surrounding territory. The League of Nations rejected the citizens' petition to have their city officially named as the Free Hanseatic city of Danzig (Freie Hansestadt Danzig).^[41] The citizens of Danzig received a separate citizenship of the Free City and thus lost their former German citizenship.

This lasted till 1939. For Poland the World War II started in Gdansk, the 1^st of September 1939. And again Gdansk fell into German hands. From 1945 is again a part of the Polish Republic.  One consequence of Gdansk changing hands is a change of all streets names from German to Polish.

My imperfect calculations point to Gdansk being under Teutonic, Prussian or German ruling for about the same time as under Polish. About 300 years each off  and on.

Over the ages some world famous people were born in Gdansk. Among others: Hevelius – astronomer and the founder of lunar topology, Daniel Fahrenheit – father of the temperature scale; Arthur Schopenhauer – philosopher. None of those people are thought as having Polish origin. They were not. At the same time all of them were born in the period when Gdansk was under Polish ruling. This shows the nature of the city, both nations can claim the towns as theirs. This is why we, Poles are so sensitive when the town is referred to as Danzig.  Feelings are not always objective of know history too well.

              

                                                     Fahrenheit House - Gdansk



In one of my earlier posts I wrote about Henry Strassburger – the man of style. Henry is my friend who lives in Australia, in Sydney. His father 

Henryk Leon Strasburger (1887-1951) was a Polish economist, General Commissioner in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk) and delegate to the League of Nations. He was also a member of the Polish government in exile during World War II. According to the New York Times, he was among the earliest and most outspoken of Poles to recognize the Hitler menace to his country. His warning was clear in his book The Case of Danzig, published some months before the outbreak of World War II.^[1]

As the General Commissioner of the Polish Republic he was responsible for liaison between the Senate and the Polish government of the Free City of Gdansk

 My friend Henry was born in Gdansk at Gralathstrasse.  He asked me once to find out what has happened to the house he was born in and find the street. After some enquiries I found out that the current name of the Gralathstrasse is now Hoene-Wronskiego. This is the street I live at when in Gdansk. Nice synchronicity, I think. The street is not long there are only 12 buildings there. All were build at the beginning of the XX century. The house Henry was born belongs to the Medical Academy and the ornaments on its facade indicate that it was maternity ward of the main Gdansk Hospital. It is the house at the corner of the street and my house is at the corner of the other end of the street.    

   

                       

                                                                                            



Sorry, Ray from Mummulgum

Some time ago I wrote about how my old IBM colleague explained to me that patriotism may lead to nationalism and we all know where it can end. Life convinced me that Ray was very right and I rarely display signs of nationalism. One of the reasons is that, as I said to my friend recently, I am confused about me feeling or not feeling European. There is so much of an Aussie in me, you see.

With all of that I see with even more confusion that I am rather nationalistic as far as tennis is concerned. Most of the non-Polish people do not know much about Polish tennis. Frankly there has not been all that much to know. But then it came Radwanska, today world number 3 tennis player.  She has not won yet any of the two most important, in my opinion, competitions– Australian Open or the Wimbledon. I hope there are some chances this year to change the score. She won yesterday over Li Na in a quarter final, nice revenge after the reversed situation in the Australian Open 2013. While I like Li Na and in any other situation I would cheer for her, yesterday was a different story.

My Polish nationalistic pride is getting stronger with each Wimbledon day. Will this last another day or more? I wish!  Today two Polish players – Kubot and Janowicz played against each other in the quarter final.   Beautiful tennis, by the way, I am sorry that my friends in Sydney will most likely not watch the match. The tennis commentators said many times today that there were many Great Slam matches when two Australians played against each other. So for my Aussie compatriots such situation is nothing special but when I put my Polish hat on I am proud that it has happened eventually to Poland as well.

Since yesterday, my cooking has improved as I have a small TV set in the kitchen and while I watch tennis I cook more elaborately than normally. Tonight it was a nice vegetarian dish and a  mandatory glass of red wine to cheer Janowicz victory.

Hurray for two Poles in the Wimbledon semi-final!

Linden trees are in bloom!

It is only lately that I started to notice beauty and details of nature. Trees and flowers open up a new way of experience to me. Well, it is the time in my life to smell the roses. This could be it. Now, that I spend the most beautiful months of the year in Poland I notice its nature in a different, more profound way.

Lindenstrasse today

I suppose I always liked linden trees as they are typically lining up streets making them look like alleys. This effect I always admired. However, I have learnt to notice more than that. Right now linden trees are in bloom. The flowers are not very showy as far as the visual side is concerned but they smell divine.

The street next to the house I stay in when in Poland used to be called  before the II World  War Lindenstrasse. At that time Gdansk was called Danzig and was The Free City of Danzig, half Polish, half German.

The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (today Gdańsk) and surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920^[1][2] in accordance with the terms of Article 100 (Section XI of Part III) of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

The German name of the street was fully justified  by the presence of the trees and I am sorry that the name has been changed after the war to the name of Julian Tuwim, a Polish poet. While I love Tuwim’s poems, I would much preferred the exact translation from the old German name. More appropriate in my opinion as the linden trees are still  it their old place.

It is nice and warm at the moment in Gdansk and my windows are open most of the time. The smell of the trees comes to my place which is perfumed with linden fragrance. Lovely...