![Dzielnice Gdansk Wrzeszcz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Dzielnice_Gdansk_Wrzeszcz.svg)
Wrzeszcz (pronounced , german: Langfuhr; csb, Wrzészcz) is one of the boroughs of the Northern
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
city of
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 ...
. With a population of more than 65,000 in an area of (population density 6,622), Wrzeszcz is the most populous part of Gdańsk.
History
The current name Wrzeszcz comes from the old name of the area – ''Wrzost'', which derives from ''wrzos'', a Polish and csb, wrzos word for
heather. The area of modern Wrzeszcz used to be forest and fields of heather.
Historical sources mention ''Vriezst'' in 1263 AD and Vriest 1283 as a place of a mill and by the end of the 13th century the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Monks of
Oliwa
Oliwa ( la, Oliva; csb, Òlëwa; german: Oliva) is a northern district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, ...
owned four or five water mills on the Strieß (
Strzyża
Strzyza (german: Strieß; csb, Strzëżô) is an administrative district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland, named after a creek. It is a part of the Wrzeszcz borough. Most of it is covered by small family houses.
As part of the Crown of the Kingdo ...
), the creek running through Wrzeszcz. Vriest is Low German as well as Dutch language word meaning ''frost''.
In 1412 AD, this suburban village was granted to Danzig city councillor
Gerd von der Beke Gerd or GERD may refer to:
* Gerd (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname
* Gerd (moon), a moon of Saturn
* Gerd Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica
* Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a chronic symptom of mucosal damage ...
, an ally of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. The place was known as Langfuhr in the German language.
Early area landowners included the
Bischof family, who held the increasingly residential settlement in the late-16th century and early-17th century, and the
Köhne family, which started acquiring possessions in the Langfuhr area in 1616 AD. Danzig patrician Zacharias Zappio acquired most of the land between today's ''Slowackiego'' and ''Do Studzienki'' streets and built a palace there. When King
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...
visited the palace in 1677 AD, the little valley where the palace was located was renamed Königstal (Dolina Krolewska), or King's Valley, to commemorate the occasion. Strictly speaking, in the 17th century the name Langfuhr referred only to a small market square, 130 m by 35 m, on what today is known as .
![Brosen GdanskUniversityOfTechnology](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Brosen_GdanskUniversityOfTechnology.jpg)
Between 1767 and 1770, Danzig
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
Daniel Gralath made a personal project of turning the two kilometers of old road between Langfuhr and Danzig proper into the four-lane, tree-lined Grand Avenue, as it was then renamed. Each lane of the avenue was lined by 350 trees imported from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, and the entire cost of the project was the immense sum (for the time) of 100,000 guilders.
In the 18th century, residential construction aimed at the wealthy city folk took precedence. The erected residences were mostly classical style with beautiful gardens and the obligatory tree-lined driveways. By 1804, Langfuhr had about 900 residents, most of them working in breweries, distilleries, retailers, and factories making a kind of ash used to bleach cloth.
On 6 December 1807, under French occupation, the Danzig-Prussian convention made the town part of the
Napoleonic Free City of Danzig. After the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
of 1814–1815, Danzig was reincorporated into
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
.
From the mid-19th century onwards, Langfuhr grew to become a fashionable and wealthy borough with beautifully decorated city villas for wealthier residents and even spacious accommodation for local labourers. In 1872, Langfuhr was joined to Danzig by a horse-drawn
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
along the Grand Avenue.
![Ju f13 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Ju_f13_02.jpg)
In 1904, the
Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig Grand Hall was built, soon followed by the city hospital, which is now the medical academy. Until 1919 Langfuhr was the garrison of the 1st Life Hussar Regiment (since 1901 Brigade) with large barracks built in the 1890s. In 1910 the first airfield of Danzig was established on the hussar's parade ground. After World War I
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German general field marshal ('' Generalfeldmarschall'') of Jewish heritage who oversaw the development of the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany fo ...
's "
Danziger Luftpost GmbH
Danziger, being related to Danzig (Gdańsk, Poland), may refer to:
Danzig/Gdansk, Poland
* Danziger bay, southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea
* ''Danziger Deutsch'', Danzig German, Northeastern German dialects spoken in Gdańsk, Poland
* ''Danzi ...
" (Danzig Airmail) and the "
Lloyd Ostflug" were located at Langfuhr.
Effects of World War II
After
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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the town became part of Poland according to the
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
and renamed to the Polish ''Wrzeszcz''. Its German inhabitants either fled before the advancing Red Army or were
expelled. The renaming was based on medieval records but caused the protests of the arriving Polish settlers as it was regarded unpronounceable and has a similarity to the Polish term ''"wrzeszczec"'' (bellow).
Present
![Gw 2003 oiz ubt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Gw_2003_oiz_ubt.jpeg)
The airport was replaced by the
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport ( pl, Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy, formerly pl, Port Lotniczy Gdańsk-Rębiechowo, german: Flughafen Danzig Lech Walesa) is an international airport located northwest of Gdańsk, Poland, not far from ...
in 1974 and large housing complexes have been built on the former airport area.
The borough is now developing rapidly. A great deal of commercial activity (particularly banking and shopping) now takes place in Wrzeszcz. A number of international firms such as
Citibank
Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
,
ING Bank
The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banki ...
,
Fortis Bank, and Shell have chosen to locate their offices there rather than in the Gdańsk city center, large shopping centers such as Galeria Bałtycka and Centrum Handlowe Manhattan are opening along Grunwaldzka Street, and extensive military properties have been sold to housing developers.
Notable residents
*
Eddi Arent
Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...
(1925–2013), actor
*
Hermann Balck
Georg Otto Hermann Balck (7 December 1893 – 29 November 1982) was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe.
Early career
Balck was born in ...
(1893–1982), general
*
Alfred Dannebaum
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of the Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was aw ...
(1918–1999), Nazi Germany officer
*
Siegfried Freytag
Siegfried Freytag (10 November 1919 – 2 June 2003) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and wing commander. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 102 aerial victories of which 49 victories were claimed over the Eastern Front. Among his ...
(1919–2003),
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
pilot
*
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was born in the Free City of Da ...
(1927–2015), author
*
Ulrich Kessler __NOTOC__
Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler (3 November 1894 – 27 March 1983) was a German general (General der Flieger) in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi Germany to recogni ...
(1894–1983), Luftwaffe general
*
Leopold Koss
Leopold George Koss (born Leopold Kon; October 2, 1920 – September 11, 2012) was an American physician, pathologist, and professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has been called "one of the founding fathers for the field of cytopa ...
(1920–2012), cytopathologist
*
Gerda Steinhoff
Gerda Steinhoff (29 January 1922 – 4 July 1946) was a ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) Nazi concentration camps, Nazi concentration camp overseer following the 1939 German invasion of Poland.
SS career
Steinhoff was born in Wrzeszcz, Danzig-Langfuhr ...
(1922–1946), Nazi SS concentration camp overseer hung for war crimes
*
Joachim von Tresckow __NOTOC__
Joachim von Tresckow (20 June 1894 – 3 November 1958) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Awards and decorations
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross o ...
(1894–1958),
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
general
*
Wolfgang Völz
Wolfgang Otto Völz (16 August 1930 – 2 May 2018) was a German actor. He is known for his roles in theatre plays, TV shows, feature films (especially German films based on Edgar Wallace works) and taped radio shows. He was also a very prolif ...
(1930–2018), actor
Points of interest
*
Gdańsk University of Technology
The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, former ''GUT''; pl, Politechnika Gdańska) is a technical university in the Wrzeszcz borough of Gdańsk, and one of the oldest universities in Poland. It has eight faculties and with 41 fi ...
(Politechnika Gdańska)
*
Gdańsk Medical University
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 ...
*
Baltic Opera Baltic State Opera
Foyer
Baltic Opera (formerly Baltic State Opera) is an opera company located in Gdańsk, Poland.
History
It began in February 1949 as the Music and Drama Studio (in Polish: Studio Muzyczno-Dramatyczne) set up by Iwo Gall. In ...
*
Gdańsk Wrzeszcz railway station
*
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type, movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its ki ...
monument, founded 22 June 1890 at Gutenberghai
*
* Garden city
Nowe Szkoty
References
External links
{{coord, 54, 23, N, 18, 37, E, display=title, region:PL_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Districts of Gdańsk