Wrzeszcz

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Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz
Flag of GdanskTwo districts of Gdansk
Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz (Poland)
Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz
Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz
Basic data
State : Poland
Voivodeship : Pomerania
District of: Danzig
Area : 10.0  km²
Geographic location : 54 ° 23 '  N , 18 ° 37'  E Coordinates: 54 ° 22 '55 "  N , 18 ° 36' 35"  E
Residents : 50,200
Economy and Transport
Rail route : Gdańsk Wrzeszcz – Gdańsk Osowa



Location of Wrzeszcz (Langfuhr) in Gdańsk (Danzig)

Wrzeszcz (pronounced vʒɛʃʧ , German Langfuhr , Kashubian Wrzészcz or Lengforda ) is a district of Gdansk in Poland . It covers an area of ​​almost 10 km² and has over 50,000 inhabitants with a population density of around 5,000 inhabitants / km². Administratively, Wrzeszcz has consisted of the two districts of Wrzeszcz Dolny and Wrzeszcz Górny since 2010 .

history

The current name Wrzeszcz goes back to an earlier name for this area, Wrzost , which in turn is derived from the Polish word wrzos , which means something like heather .

Historical sources mention the location of a mill Vriezst 1263 and Vriest 1283, which was sold to the monks of the monastery of Oliwa . Vriest in Low German and Dutch means freezes or frost . At the end of the 13th century, four of the five water mills in the village on the course of the Strießbach (Strzyża) were owned by the Cistercian monastery of Oliwa.

In 1412 the suburb of Danzig was incorporated on the initiative of council member Gerd von der Beke, who was close to the Teutonic Order. In the following centuries the district was called Langfuhr .

The owners of the land were the Bischof family in the 16th and 17th centuries and the Köhne-Jaski family, who from 1616 increasingly acquired holdings in the Langfuhr area. The Gdańsk patrician Zacharias Zappio (namesake of the health resort Sopot ) acquired most of the land between Hochstrieß Street (now Ulica Słowackiego) and Heiligenbrunnerweg (Ulica do Studzienki) . Here he built a palace. When in 1677 King John III. Sobieski visited the palace, the small valley in which the palace was located was renamed the Royal Valley (Dolina Krolewska) in commemoration of this event . Strictly speaking, the name Langfuhr only refers to a small market town from the 17th century, 130 by 35 meters in size, which was located where part of the Aleja Grundwaldzka (Danziger Chaussee) runs today and the neoclassical fountain in front of it Manhattan shopping mall stands.

Between 1767 and 1770, the mayor of Gdańsk Daniel Gralath personally campaigned for a two-kilometer-long old street that connected Gdańsk and Langfuhr to be restored as a four-lane avenue and renamed it Grosse Allee (now Aleja Zwycięstwa) . Each of the four lanes of the road was lined with 354 linden trees imported from the Netherlands (1416 trees in total). To date, around 400 of them have survived. The entire project caused immense costs of 100,000 guilders for the time. The well-known Danzig draftsman Daniel Chodowiecki immortalized in a drawn report on a trip from Berlin to his hometown Langfuhrs Hauptstrasse in 1773 (“In Langenfuhr he can see the barrier to the autonomous Hanseatic city”).

In the 18th century, Langfuhr was a preferred address for wealthy townspeople. The houses from this period were mostly built in the classical style and usually had large, attractive gardens through which a tree-lined driveway led to the house. In 1804 Langfuhr had 900 inhabitants, most of whom worked in breweries, distilleries and trading houses. There were also factories that produced potash , which was used to bleach clothes and bed linen.

In 1807, during the French occupation, Langfuhr became part of the Free City of Danzig after the Peace of Tilsit . After the Congress of Vienna , Danzig and Langfuhr, which was incorporated in 1814, fell back to Prussia .

Since the middle of the 19th century, Langfuhr has developed into an elegant and prosperous municipality in which both representative city villas of wealthy citizens south of the railway line - for example the villa of the shipyard owner Ferdinand Schichau in Jäschkenthaler Weg (Jaśkowa Dolina) - as modern accommodation for local workers in North, on the border with the military training area in Saspe (Zaspa) . In 1872 a horse-drawn tram was set up that connected Langfuhr with Gdansk via Aleja Zwycięstwa .

In 1886 the Zingler family opened the popular “Zingler-Höhe” restaurant on a hill not far from Jäschkenthaler Weg. Between 1925 and 1933, the restaurant was the seat of the Masonic lodges at the chain on the Vistula and at the three pillars (today Ulica Sobótki 13 and 14 ).

The Royal Technical University of Gdansk, built in neo-renaissance

In 1904 the Technical University of Danzig was founded in Langfuhr. Soon afterwards, between 1907 and 1911, the city hospital was built and in 1935 the Gdansk Medical Academy was housed. The population quintupled in just 25 years, from 5,192 in 1885 to 25,831 in 1910.

Free City of Gdansk (1920–1939)

In the interwar period ( Free City of Danzig ) the suburb already had 40,000 inhabitants. A large part of the Polish minority of the free city of Danzig lived here, mainly civil servants and workers.

In 1910, the first Danzig airfield was built on the Prussian military training area in Langfuhr, initially for private use by princes and officers. Following the resolutions of the Versailles Treaty, Danzig was demilitarized and the airport opened for civil aviation in 1919. In 1920 the first international flights to the German Reich and the Soviet Union were handled ( DERULUFT - German-Russian Air Transport Company) and in 1922 a connection to Warsaw was established. In 1941 the A / B 6 pilot school was located in Danzig-Langfuhr. During the Second World War the building was one of the most important military airfields in the German Reich and it was badly damaged by Allied bombings. The airport was closed in 1974, relocated to Rębiechowo near Bissau, a village about ten kilometers west of the city (where Oskar's grandmother from the Tin Drum lived) and has been called Lech Walesa Airport Gdansk since 2003 . The ETC shopping center in a former hangar (formerly the Prince of Prussia Hall ) on the border between Wrzeszcz and Zaspa and numerous wide streets with original concrete slabs in the new Zaspa housing estate are reminiscent of the old airfield.

In 1920 the Royal Provincial Midwifery and Maternity Institute, founded by Franz Christian Brunatti in 1804/1819, moved here from Gdansk, which is still in operation today.

In 1925, the first Polish church (Kosciól Świętego Stanisława) in Langfuhr was inaugurated on the site of the former telegraph barracks by Danzig Bishop Eduard O'Rourke . The parish was led by Father Bronisław Komorowski , who died in 1940 in the Stutthof concentration camp . The cultural life of the Gdańsk Poles took place in the Polenhof settlement. The Polish sports club KKS Gedania was founded here.

In 1927, the New Synagogue , another place of worship for the Jewish community in Gdańsk, was completed. Demolished in 1938, it was sold in 1939.

Effects of the Second World War

The buildings in Langfuhr were less affected by the aftermath of World War II than, for example, Gdansk's old town. Nevertheless, numerous residents fled in view of the bombing in the area. In 1945, the fighting between the German defenders and the advancing Red Army took place in the main axis of the suburb (formerly Hauptstrasse and Große Allee, from 1939 Adolf-Hitler-Allee and Hindenburg-Allee, today Aleja Grunwaldzka and Aleja Zwycięstwa ). Here, in the center of Langfuhr, most of the Wilhelminian-style buildings were badly damaged, many of which were subsequently set on fire by Soviet soldiers. A tank memorial on the border between Gdansk and Langfuhr still reminds of the heavy fighting of 1945. This is one of the first Soviet T-34 tanks from the 1st Tank Brigade to arrive in the hard-fought city with a Polish crew (and the first to arrive in Gdynia on March 27, 1945). After the flight and expulsion of the German population during the Second World War and in the post-war period, Danzig was awarded to Poland in the Treaty of Yalta and the suburb Langfuhr was renamed Wrzeszcz. Refugees and resettlers mainly from the formerly Polish parts of the country now assigned to the Soviet Union settled in the vacated apartments in the intact buildings. In the 1950s, the buildings along the main street (Aleja Grunwaldzka) were built in the socialist-realistic style, while many old buildings in the side streets were slowly decaying. Numerous owners fled or were expropriated and the villas were divided into smaller rental apartments. The city administration, the new owners or tenants were unable to maintain the buildings. Only a few houses survived this period in good condition. These include the consulates of Germany, China, Russia and some other states. Many of the old buildings have been renovated since the fall of the Wall.

Development in the post-war period

The Baltic Opera (Opera Bałtycka w Gdańsku) was created in 1953 as the "State Opera and Baltic Philharmonic" and was housed in an old building not far from the former sports field on the large avenue of lime trees (Aleja Zwyciestwa) . The conversion to a modern opera house was completed in 1982.

The Academic Park (Park Akademski) opposite the Opera was built in 1956 on a former Catholic cemetery site. In 2006 a lapidarium with German gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries was built there.

The Miniature Puppet Theater is located at 16 Aleja Grunwaldzka . The ensemble, which has received many international awards, was founded in the 1920s by the Totwen sisters in Vilnius and continued its work in Wrzeszcz from 1947. At the end of the 1950s the theater was nationalized.

Radio Gdańsk, the local branch of Polish radio, is located in the neighboring house, Aleja Grunwaldzka 18.

In the fifties, the studios for Gdansk television were set up on the former Zingler Höhe in Ulica Sobótki 13. Until 1996, when the company moved to a new building in Oliwa, the daily information program “Panorama” as well as numerous documentaries and television series were produced here. The buildings of the former Masonic lodges remain in the possession of Polish television and are to be leased in the future.

From August 1980 to December 1981, at the time of the Polish uprising, the nationwide headquarters of the Independent Trade Union Solidarność was located at Aleja Grunwaldzka 103, now a bank building . Lech Wałęsa regularly spoke from a balcony to the assembled crowd and international journalists. Before that, the building was used as a workers' hotel (Hotel Morski) of the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard . The Ster club was located in the basement . a. the well-known Polish group Kombi had their first appearances. Solidarność's printing presses were later housed there.

Secondary school No. 3 is located on Ulica Topolowa (III Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace imienia Bohaterów Westerplatte) . Founded in 1909 as the Königs-Realgymnasium , it was named the Heroes of Westerplatte in 1962 . In the 1980s it became known for its political activities and as a training center for dissidents. Well-known graduates include a. the former Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga, the journalists Jacek and Jaroslaw Kurski, the director Maciej Dejczer, the Polish table tennis champion Andrzej Grubba and the Miss World Aneta Kręglicka . In 2005 the school was named the best high school in Poland in a Newsweek Polska ranking .

On the former barracks of the Leibhusars, the Garnizon area is being built with great effort, with residential and commercial buildings, cafés, restaurants, cultural centers and, in the former riding stables of the Leibhusars, Poland's largest bouldering hall (climbing hall), which have been renovated in consideration of monument protection.

Division into two districts

The Wrzeszcz District was divided into the Wrzeszcz Dolny and Wrzeszcz Górny Districts in 2010 . Wrzeszcz Dolny (meaning Nieder-Langfuhr ) is located east of the Gdańsk – Sopot railway line , Wrzeszcz Górny (Hoch-Langfuhr) is located west of the railway line. With almost the same population, the population density of Wrzeszcz Dolny is almost twice that of the other district.

District name German name Area in km² population Population density in inhabitants / km² map
Wrzeszcz Dolny (Nieder-)
Langfuhr		 03.5219 25,817 7,330 Wrzeszcz Dolny
Wrzeszcz Górny (Hoch-)
Langfuhr		 06.4572 24,298 3,763 Wrzeszcz Górny

Wrzeszcz today

Aleja Grunwaldzka in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, December 2003

The suburb is growing at a rapid pace today. Extensive economic activities (mainly banking and retail) now characterize the district. Many international companies prefer Wrzeszcz as their residence compared to downtown Gdańsk. Large shopping centers are located in the center of the village, especially on Aleja Grunwaldzka. Former military installations (the former barracks of the body hussars) have been sold and are being converted into civilian use or cultural centers. Traditional streets, such as Aleja Grunwaldzka or Ulica Juliusza Słowackiego, are no longer able to cope with the increased volume of traffic and are being rebuilt on a large scale.

EU funds are now being used to revitalize the northern part of Wrzeszcz. The Ulica Wajdeloty is to be redesigned into a representative pedestrian zone and the adjoining streets renovated.

Wrzeszcz railway station has been developed into an important transport hub. This is the final stop of the S-Bahn connection, which went into operation on September 1, 2015, via the Gdynia – Gdańsk Port Lotniczy – Wrzeszcz line to the airport in Rębiechowo. At Wrzeszcz train station there is a direct transfer to all Intercity and TLK trains on the Gdańsk – Stargard line , and the SKM S-Bahn trains can also be reached.

The brewery, which has now been closed, is currently being converted into a housing estate. Further new buildings are being built in the vicinity of the station.

(As of September 2015)

Personalities

Significant buildings and landmarks

  • Technical University of Gdansk: The main building was built in 1901–1903. The machine hall has also been preserved; it was used to generate electricity and supply the university buildings with heat.
  • Conradinum : Progymnasium attended by Günter Grass in the 1930s .
  • Jäschkenthaler Weg (Jaśkowa Dolina) : residential area at the foot of the moraine hills . Numerous playful villas were built here at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The house of the Steffens family in neo -renaissance style and a brick villa with a tower from 1899 in Ulica Jaśkowa Dolina 19 are particularly worth seeing. The prettiest house of all is in Ulica Pawłowskiego: a fairytale villa designed by the architect Johann Henkenhaf (1848– 1908). According to tradition, ETA Hoffmann is said to have written parts of his novel " The Devil's Elixirs " in Jäschkenthal.
  • Labesweg (Ulica Lelewela) 13: Günter Grass' former home. Not far from there, a bench with the bronze figure of Oskar Mazerath from his novel The Tin Drum was set up on the former New Market (plac generala Jozefa Wybickiego) in honor of the city's famous son . Grass did not want a memorial with a representation of himself, since usually only deceased personalities are honored in this way. After Grass' death in 2015, on his 88th birthday, a larger bronze figure of the author was placed on the other side of the park bench.
  • Monument to the Polish priest Bronisław Komorowski on Plac Księdza Bronisława Komorowskiego (formerly Max-Halbe- Platz) not far from the Polenhof
  • Medical University of Gdansk
  • Opera Bałtycka (Baltic Opera)
  • Centrum Handlowe Manhattan (shopping mall)
  • Galeria Bałtycka (shopping center)
  • railway station
  • Teatr Leśny (Forest Stage) in Gutenberghain
  • Johannes Gutenberg Memorial in Gutenberghain, inaugurated on June 22, 1890
  • Park Kuźniczki (Kleinhammer Park)

Churches, places of worship and cemeteries

  • - Former Lutheran Church Parafia Matki Odkupiciela 1899 in neo-Gothic style by Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel built
  • Sacred Heart Church - Kolegiata Gdańska pw.Serca Jezusowego , 1911 (neo-Gothic). First catholic church in Langfuhr. Günter Grass was baptized and received first communion here.
  • former Christ Church - Parafia Świętego Krzyża , 1916 neo-baroque
  • Parafia etc. Stanisława , consecrated as the first Polish church in Langfuhr in 1925
  • Cerkiew sw. Mikołaja , former Lutheran cemetery chapel (19th century), today covered with Byzantine domes, Orthodox church since 1954
  • New synagogue , now used as a state music school
  • The Jewish cemetery is now a publicly accessible park, in which only seven gravestones have been preserved, the oldest dating from 1823.

Trivia

In the Magdeburg settlement of Danziger Dorf , one of the three streets was named Langfuhrer Straße in 1936 . Under the GDR government, these three streets were renamed in 1951.

In the Eilenburg district of Danziger Siedlung , a street was named Langfuhrer Straße in 1936 ; it was later also renamed.

In Berlin-Rahnsdorf there is still a Langfuhrer Allee (so named in 1931).

swell

Parts of the text are a translation from the English language Wikipedia.

Web links

Commons : Wrzeszcz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Uchwała nr liii / 1550/10 Rady Miasta Gdańska PDF file, 73 KB; Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ Het is natural, dat et in December vriest. In welke maand vriest het't meest?
  3. ↑ a b c Podział administracyjny Gdańska - Gdańsk - oficjalna strona miasta - Official website of the City of Gdańsk. As of January 12, 2011. Accessed June 23, 2012
  4. ^ Danzig honors Grass on dw.com, October 17, 2015 (accessed October 17, 2015).