Marriage to the sea
The marriage to the sea is a patriotic ceremony in Poland. It was carried out for the first time on February 10, 1920.
1920
On February 10, 1920 General Józef Haller came to the city of Putzig with representatives of the government, officers, Catholic clergy and artists , which had now been assigned to Poland after the Treaty of Versailles . As a sign of Poland's affinity with the sea, he threw a platinum ring into the Baltic Sea, similar to the Venetian Festa della Sensa ceremony . With the access to the sea, the re-established Poland saw itself as an independent state. In the 1930s a separate “sea ideology” emerged, combined with economic hopes through access to the sea, colonial fantasies and the goal of less dependence on the powerful neighbors Germany and the Soviet Union.
1945
After the conquest of Kołobrzeg on March 18, 1945, celebrations of the marriage to the sea took place near today's lighthouse , during which Corporal Niewidziajło threw a ring into the waves as a sign of the Baltic Sea's affiliation with Poland. This ceremony is repeated every year on the date in question to remember that Poland has regained access to the sea. The monument of the marriage of Poland to the sea by Polish sculptor Wiktor Tołkin (1922–2013) was unveiled in 1963 and commemorates the event .
literature
- Norman Davies: In the heart of Europe. History of Poland. Munich 2006, ISBN 3406467091 .
Web links
- Matthias Kneip: Poland's marriage to the sea . In: Spiegel Online on April 3, 2015, accessed on June 1, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ^ Stephanie Zloch: Polish Nationalism. Politics and society between the two world wars. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-412-20543-0 , p. 541.