List of honorary citizens of Gdansk
The title of honorary citizen of the city of Gdańsk has been bestowed by city leaders (usually the city council) since 1832. It is awarded to people who have made a special contribution to the interests of the city, regardless of whether they were born in Gdansk or have lived there.
The first award of the title goes back to a Prussian ordinance on the self-government of Danzig in 1831. It introduced the designation of an honorary citizen of Danzig and was valid until 1920. During the time of the Free City of Danzig , the city's Senate adopted the Prussian tradition of granting the title of honorary citizen, but without passing an ordinance. The city government granted Hermann Göring honorary citizenship in 1943. After the Second World War , a simple decision by the city council was enough to award the title. There was no special regulation.
In 1993 the city council passed an ordinance on the award of honorary citizenship, which contains general rules for the award. On the basis of this ordinance, the city council has since decided on the award and during a special session of the city council (mostly in the Artushof ) the honorary citizenship of the respective person is awarded.
The regulation does not describe whether the honorary citizenship can be withdrawn again. However, historians and lawyers believe that honorary citizenship expires with the death of the recipient. The honorary citizenship is not connected with any financial obligations of the city towards the recipient. The honorary citizen receives a diploma, a replica of a Gdańsk-style chair, the right to use the Gdańsk public transport company free of charge, and a burial place in the city's municipal cemetery.
So far, the awards have usually taken place in Danzig, a few times in Berlin . So far (as of December 2011) honorary citizenship has been awarded 58 times, three times as community honorary citizenship.
The honorary citizens of the city of Gdansk
Chronological listing by date of award.
-
Wilhelm Baum (born September 10, 1799 in Elbing, † September 6, 1883 in Göttingen)
- surgeon
- Awarded in 1832
- For his contribution to fighting the cholera epidemic of 1831.
-
Johann Karl Rothe (born April 4, 1771 in Danzig; † August 27, 1853 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1841
-
Jakob Friedrich Rüchel-Kleist
- Awarded in 1842
-
Paul W. Wundsch
- Awarded in 1847
-
Adolf Heinrich von Grabow
- Awarded in 1849
-
Stanisław Kostka Rosołkiewicz (born November 13, 1775 in Old Scotland near Danzig, † June 16, 1855 in Danzig)
- catholic priest
- Awarded in 1849
-
Emil Friedrich Götz (born July 26, 1806 in Danzig; † August 8, 1858 in Kiel)
- doctor
- Awarded in 1849
-
Otto Theodor von Manteuffel (born February 3, 1805 in Lübben (Spreewald); † November 26, 1882 at Gut Krossen)
- President of the Ministry of State
- Awarded in 1853
-
Friedrich Wilhelm von Clausewitz (born September 6, 1809 in Graudenz; † January 10, 1881 in Berlin)
- Chief of Police
- Awarded in 1856
-
Robert von Blumenthal (born March 16, 1806 in Königsberg, East Prussia; † March 11, 1892 in Posen)
- District President in Danzig (1840–1863)
- Awarded in 1863
-
Matthias Gotthilf Löschin (born February 24, 1790 in Danzig; † January 31, 1868 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1865
-
Eduard Friedrich Wiebe (born October 12, 1804 in Stalle; † February 23, 1892 in Berlin)
- architect
- Awarded in 1885
-
Karl Adolf Ernsthausen (born March 14, 1827 in Gummersbach; † August 24, 1894 in Bonn )
- Civil servant and politician
- Awarded in 1888
-
Leopold von Winter (born January 23, 1823 in Schwetz; † July 9, 1893 in Schwetz)
- Awarded in 1890
-
Julius Albert Licht (born June 25, 1821 in Gieshof, † January 28, 1898 in Wiesbaden)
- architect
- Awarded in 1893
-
Leo von Caprivi (born February 24, 1831 in Charlottenburg, † February 6, 1899 in Skyren)
- Chancellor
- Awarded in 1894
-
Heinrich Rickert (born December 27, 1833 in Putzig, † November 3, 1902 in Berlin)
- Awarded in 1895
-
Otto Steffens (born April 7, 1826 in Danzig; † August 12, 1904 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1896
-
Richard Damme
- Awarded in 1897
-
Georg Friedrich Abegg (born March 19, 1826 in Königsberg, † October 3, 1900 in Wiesbaden)
- Awarded in 1898
-
Gustav von Goßler (born April 13, 1838 in Naumburg, † September 29, 1902 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1899
-
Emil Berenz (born February 15, 1833 in Elbing, † December 17, 1907 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1903
-
Paul von Hindenburg (born October 2, 1847 in Posen, † August 2, 1934 at Gut Neudeck)
- Field Marshal General
- Awarded in 1915
-
August von Mackensen (born December 6, 1849 in House Leipnitz; † November 8, 1945 in Burghorn)
- Field Marshal General
- Awarded in 1915
-
Max Halbe (born October 4, 1865 in Güttland near Danzig; † November 30, 1944 in Neuötting)
- writer
- Awarded in 1925
-
Albert Forster (born July 26, 1902 in Fürth, † February 28, 1952 in Warsaw)
- Gauleiter
- Awarded on July 14, 1933
-
Adolf Hitler (born April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, † April 30, 1945 in Berlin)
- Fuehrer and Chancellor
- Awarded in 1939
-
Hermann Göring (born January 12, 1893 in Rosenheim, † October 15, 1946 in Nuremberg)
- Reichsfeldmarschall
- Awarded in 1943
-
Bolesław Bierut (born April 18, 1892 in Rury Brigidkowskie, † March 12, 1956 in Moscow)
- President
- Awarded in 1947
-
Konstantin Rokossowski (born December 21, 1896 in Velikije Luki, † August 3, 1968 in Moscow)
- Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland
- Awarded in 1949
-
Pawel Ivanovich Batow (June 1, 1897 - April 19, 1985)
- soviet army general
- Awarded in 1965
-
Viktor Kulikow (born July 5, 1921 - † May 28, 2013)
- Marshal of the Soviet Union
- Awarded in 1977
-
Hans Eggebrecht (born May 17, 1925 - June 24, 2004)
- Dock workers
- Awarded March 29, 1989
-
Günter Grass (born October 16, 1927 in Danzig-Langfuhr † April 13, 2015 in Lübeck)
- writer
- Awarded in 1993
-
Hans-Lothar Fauth (born March 14, 1928 in Danzig; † January 8, 2012 in Lübeck)
- Gastronom and local politician
- Awarded in 1994
-
Gerard Labuda (born December 28, 1916 in Neuhütte, † October 1, 2010 in Posen)
- historian
- Awarded in 1994
-
Ignacy Adamczewski (born January 25, 1907, † June 23, 2000)
- Awarded in 1994
-
Hans Koschnick (born April 2, 1929 in Bremen; † April 21, 2016 in Bremen)
- Politician
- Awarded in 1994
-
George HW Bush (born June 12, 1924 in Milton, † November 30, 2018 in Houston)
- former President of the United States of America
- Awarded in 1997
-
Richard von Weizsäcker (born April 15, 1920 in Stuttgart; † January 31, 2015 in Berlin)
- former Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Awarded in 1997
-
Lech Wałęsa (born September 29, 1943 in Popowo)
- former Chairman of Solidarność, former President
- Awarded in 1997
-
Marian Kołodziej (born December 6, 1921 in Raszków, † October 13, 2009 in Danzig)
- Awarded in 1997
-
Ryszard Kukliński (born June 13, 1930 in Warsaw, † February 11, 2004 in Tampa)
- Colonel in the Polish Army
- Awarded in 1998
-
The defenders of the Westerplatte in 1939
- Awarded in 1998
-
The defenders of the Polish Post Office Gdansk 1939
- Awarded in 1998
-
Trade unionist of the free trade unions of Gdańsk and signatory of the Gdańsk August Agreement 1980
- (of the winners, only Anna Walentynowicz rejected the award)
- Awarded in 1998
-
Henryk Jankowski (born December 18, 1936 - † July 12, 2010)
- priest
- Awarded in 2000
- Revoked on March 7, 2019
-
Margaret Thatcher (born October 13, 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, † April 8, 2013 in London)
- former British Prime Minister
- Awarded in 2000
-
Ronald Reagan (born February 6, 1911 in Tampico - † June 5, 2004 in Bel Air)
- former President of the United States of America
- Awarded in 2000
-
Andrzej Januszajtis (born August 18, 1928 in Lida)
- Physicist and historian
- Awarded in 2000
-
Zbigniew Brzeziński (born March 28, 1928 in Warsaw; † May 26, 2017 in Falls Church, Virginia, USA)
- Political scientist
- Awarded in 2002
-
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański (born October 3, 1914 in Warsaw, † January 20, 2005 in Warsaw)
- Journalist and writer
- Awarded in 2002
-
Dieter Schenk (* 1937 in Frankfurt am Main)
- Criminologist, historian and writer
- Awarded in 2003
-
Zygmunt Chychła (born November 6, 1926 in Danzig; † September 26, 2009 in Hamburg)
- boxer
- Awarded in 2003 - but did not accept the award
-
Stanisław Bogdanowicz (born November 6, 1939)
- Awarded in 2004
-
Ryszard Kaczorowski (born November 26, 1919 in Białystok, † April 10, 2010 in Smolensk, Russia)
- last President of Poland in exile
- Awarded in 2008
-
Helmut Kohl (born April 3, 1930 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein; † June 16, 2017 there)
- former German Chancellor
- Awarded in 2009
-
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (born April 18, 1927 in Płock, Poland; † October 28, 2013 in Warsaw)
- former Polish Prime Minister
- Awarded in 2009
-
Ludwik Wiśniewski
- Awarded in 2011
-
Andrzej Zbierski
- Awarded in 2011
-
Tadeusz Gocłowski (born September 16, 1931 in Piski, Poland; † May 3, 2016 in Danzig)
- Archbishop of Danzig
- Award ceremony 2016
Web links
- Honorowi obywatele Gdańska (Polish)