gdansk, poland 2009

Gdansk, Poland

October 2009

Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers

Located next to the shipyards where the Solidarity movement started in 1980. Here in 1970 the workers striked to protest the Communist government hiking up prices on everyday goods. The memorial remembers the 44 people who were killed when the police opened fire.

The former gate to the shipyards. Here the anti-Communist Solidarity movement was born as Polish shipyard workers, led by Lech Walesa, went on strike in 1980.

Monument inside the shipyard

The strikers’ 21 Points – their demands of the Communist government

Pieces of the Berlin Wall and the Gdansk shipyard wall built by police during the strike

Uphagen House – a typical medieval merchant’s home. Built deep and narrow, because homes were taxed based on their street frontage.

Medieval Gdansk

As a member of the Hanseatic League, with a government run by the merchants, Gdansk grew rich on a wide-reaching network of trade

Artus Court – meeting hall for the various business guilds of Gdansk

Granary Island – still in ruins from WW2

Motlawa River, looking towards the Maritime Museum

Office of Lech Walesa – leader of Solidarity and Poland’s first president after the fall of Communism

A 15th century crane, once used for loading ships.

St. Nicholas Church’s Baroque interior

St. Mary’s Church –Largest brick church in the world

Graves in the floor of St. Mary’s

Amber for sale

75% of the world’s amber is mined in Northern Poland

Resort town of Sopot – 20 minutes by commuter train from Gdansk

An art nouveau lighthouse on the Baltic Sea

Sopot’s Pier

The Baltic Sea!

A last blustery autumn evening in Gdansk