Hel Peninsula
| Hel Peninsula | ||
 Hela Peninsula |
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| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 54 ° 39 ′ N , 18 ° 47 ′ E | |
| Waters 1 | Baltic Sea | |
| Waters 2 | Gdańsk Bay | |
| length | 34 km | |
| width | 3 km | |
 Aerial view in southeast direction |
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The Hel Peninsula (Polish: Półwysep Helski , Mierzeja Helska , Kashubian : Hélskô Sztremlëzna , German Peninsula Hela or Putziger Spit ) is a 34-kilometer headland in the Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship . It is only about half as long as the Fresh Spit , but has significantly more inhabitants than this.
Geographical location
The peninsula, which is about 20 kilometers north of Gdansk and belongs to the region of Kashubia , partially separates the Gdansk Bay from the Baltic Sea and forms the Putziger Bay ( Zatoka Pucka ). The headland is between 200 meters and three kilometers wide and is protected from the surf by three rows of dunes up to 25 meters high . The headland has its narrowest points at Władysławowo ( Großendorf ) and Kuźnica ( Kußfeld ).
places
Places on the Hel Peninsula are:
- Hel (German Hela )
- Jurata (German Helaheide )
- Jastarnia ( Heisternest )
- Kuźnica ( kissing field )
- Chałupy ( Ceynowa )
history
The peninsula was formed from a chain of small islands that were here until the 18th century. Little by little the current closed the gaps between the islands with dunes . The Hela peninsula is a spit typical of a compensatory coast for this part of the Baltic Sea. In contrast to the Frischen and the Curonian Spit , the Gdańsk Bay behind it was too big to be almost completely separated from the Baltic Sea like a lagoon .
The Hela peninsula is located in the Pomerellen landscape , which in earlier times belonged to the Duchy of Pomerania , when it was extended in the east to the Vistula . As part of Pomerellen, the headland came under the sovereignty of the Teutonic Order through the Treaties of Soldin (1309) and Kalisch (1343) . With a certificate dated August 17, 1378, Winrich von Kniprode , at that time Grand Master of the Teutonic Order on the Marienburg , the largest town on the peninsula, called Heyle at the time , granted city rights under Lübischem law .
The city of Hela joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440 and had belonged to the autonomous city republic of Danzig since 1457 , which renounced the Teutonic Order in 1454 and voluntarily placed itself under the patronage of the Polish King Casimir IV . As part of the first partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1772, the peninsula came to the Kingdom of Prussia , to which it belonged until 1808 and from 1814 to 1919 as part of the province of West Prussia . In the period between 1808 and 1814, the entire area of the Hela peninsula was the territory of the Napoleonic Republic of Gdansk .
In 1836 one of the last incidents of witchcraft madness occurred on Hela : an alleged witch was subjected to a water test by the fishermen of the peninsula and, since she did not sink, she was forcibly drowned.
In 1875, four beach bailiffs were responsible for beach supervision on both sides of the Hela peninsula :
- Strandvogtei Hela , for the area from the Helaer Spitze to the lighthouse of Danziger Heisternest
- Strandvogtei Putziger Heisternest , for the area from the lighthouse from Danziger Heisternest to Kussfeld
- Strandvogtei Ceynowa , for the area from Kussfeld to Erlenbusch, called Olschin, in the middle between Großendorf and Ceynowa
- Strandvogtei Großendorf , for the area from Erlenbusch to Großendorf or Rixhöft
Each of these beach bailiffs was subordinate to its own beach guard.
Due to the provisions of the Peace Treaty of Versailles , the peninsula had to be ceded to the Second Polish Republic after the First World War in order to establish the Polish Corridor . During the German invasion of Poland , the peninsula was one of the longest and most fiercely contested theaters of war. During their siege (September 9 to October 2, 1939) the attacking German air force lost around 50 aircraft. After the capitulation of Poland, the peninsula was returned to the German Reich from 1933 to 1945 and incorporated into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia .
At the end of the Second World War , the peninsula was from March 1945 the last place of refuge for German units and civilian refugees, as the elongated but only one to two kilometers wide peninsula was easy to defend militarily. The two ports for fishing and navy in Hela were also the last possibility for the evacuation of military relatives, wounded and civilian refugees by sea. As a result, over 100,000 German civilians fled to Hela in March, and another 265,000 came in April. On 4th / 5th In April 1945, about 30,000 people were evacuated from the Oxhöfter Kämpe to the Hela peninsula at the “ Walpurgis Night Company ” . Refugees and soldiers camped in the woods and dunes of Hela, huddled together unimaginably.
Continuous Soviet air raids claimed numerous lives here and made transport by ship extremely difficult. Among them was the nightly torpedoing of the freighter Goya , which departed from Hela on April 16, 1945, with an estimated more than 7,000 refugees and 200 members of a tank regiment, one of the greatest shipping disasters of the Second World War . A total of 387,000 people were evacuated from Hela in April alone. The last transport with the destroyer Z 14 Friedrich Ihn left the peninsula shortly before the unconditional surrender came into force on May 8, 1945. When the ceasefire began, there were still around 60,000 refugees and soldiers on Hela. On the evening of May 9, a ferry with Russian officers docked in the port of Hela. The remaining German soldiers were then transported to Soviet captivity.
As far as the long-established German inhabitants of the peninsula had not fled, they were in the period that followed sold . At the time of the People's Republic of Poland , parts of the peninsula were a restricted military area and were not allowed to be entered.
After the exclusion zone was lifted, tourism developed rapidly here. On July 9, 2011, a German-Polish summit took place on Hel.
tourism
The peninsula is accessed by the Reda – Hel railway line , which connects all places on the peninsula with the Tricity of Gdynia / Sopot / Gdańsk (Gdynia / Sopot / Danzig) and with other Polish cities during the holiday season.
The peninsula can be reached from Gdansk by passenger boat. Seasonally, there are three ferries a day; Driving time is around two hours. Bicycles can be taken along. The entire length of the peninsula is accessible with a cycle path. The peninsula is popular with divers and kite surfers .
The peninsula has two beaches, each with its own character and microclimate. The wider beach is to the north, the narrower, but often warmer, towards Zatoka Pucka.
In the spa town Jurata , the Polish president 's summer residence, have been received in the already numerous heads of state from around the world. The area includes a protection zone with an approx. 2 km long strip along the beach that is closed to the public.
literature
- Johann Friedrich Goldbeck : Complete topography of the Kingdom of Prussia. Part II, Marienwerder 1789, p. 58, no.3.2 ( books.google.de ).
- Friedrich Carl Gottlieb von Duisburg : Attempt of a historical-topographical description of the Königl. Prussia. Maritime and trading city of Gdansk . 2nd edition, G. Adolph Krause, Danzig 1816, pp. 426–454 ( books.google.de ).
- August Eduard Preuss : Prussian country and folklore or description of Prussia. Bornträger brothers, Königsberg 1835, p. 11 ( books.google.de ).
- Hans Prutz: History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia. Danzig 1872, in particular pp. 189–192 ( books.google.de ).
- Carl Girth: History of the Hela Peninsula to the Most Recent. Danzig 1891.
- Ernst Hermann Wünsche: Studies on the Hela Peninsula. Dresden 1904.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ August Eduard Preuss : Prussian country and folklore or description of Prussia. A manual for primary school teachers in the province of Prussia, as well as for all friends of the fatherland . Bornträger brothers, Königsberg 1835, p. 11 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ http://maps.mapywig.org/m/German_maps/series/100K_KDR_Gross_and_Einheitsblaetter/Gb_13_Danzig-Putzig_III_1945.jpg
- ↑ Johannes Voigt : Clear presentation of the legal constitution of Prussia during the time of the order . Marienwerder 1834, p. 64 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ The witch test on the Baltic Sea in Putziger Wieck in 1836 . In: Prussian provincial sheets. Volume 18, Königsberg 1837, pp. 581-593 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ a b Reich Chancellor Office (Ed.): Central sheet for the German Reich. Volume 3, Berlin 1875, p. 481, No. 5 ( books.google.it ).
- ^ Henry Steele Commager: The Story of the Second World War. Brassey's, Washington, DC 2004, ISBN 1-57488-741-6 , pp. 16-19.
- ↑ Focus: Company Walpurgis Night see section For the night from April 4th to 5th.
- ↑ rudolfklein.de
- ^ Trip to Danzig: Merkel visits the Polish President. In: Handelsblatt . July 10, 2011 ( handelsblatt.com , accessed July 10, 2011).
- ^ Page of the Gdansk Transport Association , accessed on July 6, 2011.
- ^ Report in Polski Radio from June 8, 2007 , accessed on October 12, 2014.
