The Golden Gate ( pl, Złota Brama, german: Langgasser Tor) is a historic

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goo ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. It is located within the Royal Route, the most prominent part of the historic city center and is one of its most notable

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

s. It was created in 1612–14 in place of a 13th-century

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

gate, the ''Brama Długouliczna'' (Long Street Gate). It is located at one end of Ulica Długa (Long Lane), where, together with ''Brama Wyżynna'' (Highland Gate) and ''Wieża Więzienna'' (Prison Tower), it forms a part of the old city fortifications. Złota brama w Gdańsku 1687 r

It was designed by architect

Abraham van den Blocke Abraham van den Blocke (1572 – 31 January 1628) was an architect and sculptor. Life Van den Blocke was born in Königsberg (today Kaliningrad),

and was built by Jan Strakowski. The architectural style of the gate is Dutch mannerism. Next to it is the late-gothic building of the Brotherhood of St. George. Both sides of the gate have attiques, with figures symbolizing the qualities of the ideal citizen. They were designed in 1648 by

Jeremias Falck Jeremias Falck ( pl, Jeremiasz Falck; 1610–1677) was an engraver of the 17th century Baroque, born and active in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He signed most of his over 300 works as J. Falck, sculp., a few as ''Falck Polonus'' (Fal ...

("Polonus"), and reconstructed in 1878 due to the originals being damaged by weathering over time. From the West side they represent (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

): ''Pax'' (Peace), ''Libertas'' (Freedom), ''Fortuna'' (Wealth) and ''Fama'' (Fame). From the East (Long Lane) side they are ''Concordia'' (Agreement), ''Iustitia'' (Justice), ''Pietas'' (Piety) and ''Prudentia'' (Prudency). The Latin inscription on the gates reads: ''Concordia res publicæ parvæ crescunt – discordia magnæ concidunt'' ("In agreement small republics grow, because of disagreement great republics fall"). The gate was largely destroyed by Soviet shelling in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, but was rebuilt in 1957. Although most artifacts of Germanness were eradicated after the city became part of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

in 1945, an original German inscription on the gate was restored in the 1990s: ' ("They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces." – Psalm 122)

External links

17th-century establishments in Poland 1614 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Buildings and structures completed in 1614 Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Gates in Poland Mannerist architecture in Poland Objects of cultural heritage in Poland Tourist attractions in Gdańsk {{Gdańsk