Capital of a Pomerelian Duchy (1215–1271)

In the 12th century, Poland managed to take control over Pomerelia

Pomerelia

Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...

, yet soon after Poland itself was divided into several autonomous provinces formally under the overlordship of the High-Duke of Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

. Therefore, the Pomerelian duchies remained under the control of stewards, of the Samborides

Samborides

The Samborides or House of Sobiesław were a ruling dynasty in the historic region of Pomerania. They were first documented about 1155 as governors in the eastern Pomerelian lands serving the royal Piast dynasty of Poland, and from 1227 ruled as autonomous princes until 1294, at which time the...

 dynasty, appointed by Polish Dukes (usually those of Wielkopolska), although like other Polish provinces during the period of feudal partitions of Poland it increased its regional autonomy. Gdańsk was the main stronghold of Samborides, serving as residence of Mestwin I (1207–1220) Swantopolk II (1215–1266) and Mestwin II (1271–1294).

Ca. 1235 the settlement had some 2,000 inhabitants and was granted Lübeck city rights by Swantopolk II. Merchants from the Hanseatic

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

 cities of Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

 and Bremen began to settle in greater numbers. Officially chartered as a city in 1224, it rose to become one of the more important trading and fishing ports along the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

 coast.

In 1282/1294 Mestwin II, the last duke of Pomerelia, ceded all his lands including Gdańsk to Duke of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) Przemysł II. Przemysł's official title as a result became "dux Polonie et Pomoranie". After Przemysł's assassination in 1296, the city was temporary ruled by the kings of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 and Poland, Wenceslaus II and his son Wenceslaus III

Wenceslaus III of Bohemia

Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....

.

Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (1308–1454)

At the beginning of the 14th century, the region was plunged into war involving Poland and the Margraviate of Brandenburg

Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

. Because King Władysław I of Poland's troops were unable to relieve Gdańsk from a siege by Brandenburg, the city's Pomeranian judge, Bogusza, appealed to the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

 of the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia

Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights

The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....

 for assistance. The Knights expelled the Brandenburgers in 1308, but did not relinquish the city to Poland. The townspeople rebelled in an uprising bloodily repressed by the Knights. The royal garrison was attacked and expelled and the suburban populace was slaughtered, with the suburbs subsequently destroyed. Gdańsk's colony of German merchants and artisans was specifically attacked because they competed with the Knights' town of Elbing (Elbląg

Elblag

Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...

), a nearby Prussian Hanseatic city. Polish reports spread by Władysław claimed that 10,000 inhabitants were slain in the city, although that number has also been considered greater than the city's population at the time.

The Knights then captured the rest of Pomerelia from Brandenburg's troops. In September 1309, Margrave Waldemar

Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal

Waldemar of Brandenburg was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, the last from the Ascanian House.-Life:He was a son of Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal and Constance, daughter of Przemysł I of Greater Poland...

 of Brandenburg-Stendal

Stendal

Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...

 sold his claim to the territory to the Teutonic Order for 10,000 marks, thereby connecting the Order's territory with that of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. Danzig was incorporated into the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights

Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights

The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....

. Previously allies against the Baltic tribe of the Old Prussians

Old Prussians

The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...

, Poland and the Teutonic Order engaged in a series of Polish-Teutonic Wars after the capture of Pomerelia.

Development of the city initially stagnated after its capture by the Teutonic Knights. The new rulers tried to reduce the economic significance of Danzig by abolishing the local government and the privileges of the Lübeck traders. This was exemplified by the fact that the Danzig city council, including Arnold Hecht and Conrad Letzkau

Conrad Letzkau

Conrad Letzkau was a Councilman and later a Mayor of Danzig who, together with Arnold Hecht, was assassinated by the Teutonic Knights.-Origins:...

, was removed and beheaded in 1411. Later they had to accept the fact that Danzig defended its independence and was the largest and most important seaport of the region after overtaking Elbing. Subsequently Danzig flourished, benefiting from major investment and economic prosperity in the Teutonic Prussia and Poland, which stimulated trade along the Vistula. The city had become a full member of the Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

 by 1361, but its merchants remained resentful at the barriers to the trade up the Vistula river to Poland, along with the lack of political rights in a state ruled in the interest of the Order's religiously-motivated knight-monks.

The takeover of Danzig by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław and Casimir the Great

Casimir III of Poland

Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

, which led to a series of bloody wars and legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333. Peace was established in the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343; although the Polish kings were able to retain the title "Duke of Pomerania" and were recognized as titular overlords of the crusaders, the Knights retained control of Danzig.

As part of the Kingdom of Poland (1454/66–1793)

In 1440, Danzig joined the nearby Hanseatic cities of Elbing

Elblag

Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...

 (Elbląg) and Thorn

Torun

Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

 (Toruń) to form the Prussian Confederation

Prussian Confederation

The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...

, which in February 1454 seceded from the Teutonic Order's rule. They also sought protection from King Casimir IV of Poland. To govern themselves, the city of Danzig drafted a set of laws.

On the 10th of February 1454, a delegation of Prussian Confederation

Prussian Confederation

The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...

 submitted a petition to the Polish king asking him to regain power over Prussia as the rightful ruler. An "Act of Incorporation of Royal Prussia" was signed in Cracow (6 March 1454), recognizing Pomerelia

Pomerelia

Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...

 as part of the Polish Kingdom. The resulting Thirteen Years' War ended in 1466 with the Order's defeat. With the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), Pomerelia

Pomerelia

Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...

 and the rest of the area became a province of Poland called Royal Prussia

Royal Prussia

Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...

.
The 15th and 16th centuries brought changes to the city's cultural heritage. They could be seen in the arts and language, as well as Danzig's contributions to the world of science. In 1471, a refurbished sailing ship under the native Danzig captain Paul Beneke brought the famous altar painting titled Jüngstes Gericht (Last Judgement) by artist Hans Memling

Hans Memling

Hans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...

 to Danzig. Around 1480–1490, tablets were installed at St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church, Gdansk

St. Mary's Church or, properly, Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic church in Gdańsk, Poland, which is the largest brick church in the world. It was begun in 1379. St. Mary's Church (Polish: Bazylika Mariacka, German: Marienkirche) or, properly, Basilica of...

, depicting the Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...

 in Middle Low German

Middle Low German

Middle Low German is a language that is the descendant of Old Saxon and is the ancestor of modern Low German. It served as the international lingua franca of the Hanseatic League...

.

In 1520 Lutheran Scriptures were printed, in 1522 the first Lutheran liturgy was held by the local cleric Jakob Hegge and the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 was soon supported by the local populace. In 1523 some iconoclastic riots occurred and the towncouncil was deposed. This revolt was quelled in 1524 by Polish troops and the leaders were executed or imprisoned, some of them released and exiled to the Protestant Duchy of Prussia on request of Albert of Prussia. While the city ordinance of 1526 penalized the Lutheran liturgy under death penalty, the burghers were still influenced by reformatory ideas. In 1557 the Lutheran Eucharist was permitted and both religious orientations were tolerated.
Georg Joachim Rheticus

Georg Joachim Rheticus

Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus , was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his trigonometric tables and as Nicolaus Copernicus's sole pupil...

 visited the mayor of Danzig in 1539, while he was working with Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....

 in nearby Frauenburg

Frombork

Frombork is a town in northern Poland, on the Vistula Lagoon, in Braniewo County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It had a population of 2,528 as of 2005....

 (Frombork). The mayor of Danzig gave Rheticus financial assistance for the publication of the Narratio Prima

Narratio Prima

De libris revolutionum Copernici narratio prima, usually referred to as Narratio Prima , is an abstract of Nicolaus Copernicus' heliocentric theory, written by Georg Joachim Rheticus in 1540. It is an introduction to Copernicus's major work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, published in 1543,...

, published by the Danzig printer Franz Rhode

Franz Rhode

Franz Rhode was a German printer of the 16th century.Having been active in Marburg between 1529 and 1534, he went to Hamburg in 1536 to print Latin works of the theologist Urbanus Rhegius from Celle...

 in 1540 and to this day considered the best introduction to the Copernican theory. While in Danzig, Rheticus, who was also a cartographer and navigational instrument maker, interviewed Danzig sailors as to their navigational needs. He presented the Tabula chorographica auff Preusse to Duke Albert of Prussia in 1541.
In 1566, the official language of the city's governing institutions was changed from Middle Low German

Middle Low German

Middle Low German is a language that is the descendant of Old Saxon and is the ancestor of modern Low German. It served as the international lingua franca of the Hanseatic League...

, which had been used throughout the Hanseatic cities, to standard German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, used in most German courts. Polish language

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

 was taught in local Academic Gymnasium (Grammar School or High School) from 1589.

In the Danzig rebellion

Danzig rebellion

The rebellion of the city of Danzig in 1570s against the election and rule of Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory began on 12 December 1575 and ended on 16 December 1577...

 and the ensuing Siege of Danzig (1577)

Siege of Danzig (1577)

The Siege of the city of Danzig in 1577 by king Stephen Báthory of Poland ended militarily inconclusive.The conflict begun as the city of Danzig, along with the Polish episcopate and a portion of the Polish szlachta, did not recognize the election of Bathory to the Polish throne and instead...

, the city resisted against King Stephen Batory for six months before the conflict was settled.

In 1606 a distillery named Der Lachs (German for "the Salmon") was founded, which produced one of Danzig's most famous products, a liqueur named Danziger Goldwasser

Goldwasser

Danziger Goldwasser ), with Goldwasser as the registered tradename, is a strong root and herbal liqueur which has been produced since at least 1598 in Danzig ....

.

The Danzig printer Andreas Hünefeld(t) (Hunsfeldus) (1606–1652) printed a Danzig edition of the Rosicrucian

Rosicrucian

Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...

 Manifestos. Later on, he published the poems of Martin Opitz. Opitz had died in 1639 and his friend, Pastor Bartholomaeus Nigrinus

Bartholomaeus Nigrinus

Bartholomaeus Schwartz was pastor of the St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Danzig , Royal Prussia ....

 of Danzig, together with two associates edited the Opitz poems for the Hünefeld printing house.
Polish private schools were opened in addition to public schools who taught Polish during this period with 1370 Polish students in later half of 17th century.

From the 14th century until the mid-17th century Danzig experienced rapid growth, becoming by the 16th century the largest city on the Baltic seaboard, owing to its large trade with the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and its handling of most of Poland's seaborne trade, transported northward via the Vistula

Vistula

The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....

 River. The city's prosperity was severely restricted, however, by the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

 (1618–1648) and the Northern Wars

Northern Wars

Northern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...

 (1655–1660), and it suffered an epidemic of bubonic plague

Bubonic plague

Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...

 in 1709. In 1654, Charles X Gustav of Sweden

Charles X Gustav of Sweden

Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...

 invaded Poland; in 1655 he appeared outside the Danzig city walls, but refrained from laying siege. A Dutch fleet arrived on July 1656, reopening the vital trade with the Netherlands.

In 1650 87 percent of the populace were Lutheran, 6 percent Calvinists and about 7 percent Catholics, a number that would grow to more than 20 percent in 1800 due to the migration of Catholics from the vicinity. A large share of the Lutheran population used Polish as their language and Poles played an influential role in the Lutheran Church in Royal Prussia.

Danzig took part in all Hanseatic League conferences until the final one in 1669. By that time the United Provinces

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

 and other long-distance overseas commercial powers had surpassed the Baltic trade centres such as Danzig. In 1734, the city was briefly occupied by the Russians under Field Marshal Munnich

Münnich

Münnich is a German surname of:* Count , né Anton Günther , Oldenbourgian head-revee...

 after the prolonged Siege of Danzig during the War of the Polish Succession

War of the Polish Succession

The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...

. The city, which supported Stanisław Leszczyński, the losing candidate for the throne, was forced to pay reparations following the siege.

In 1743 the Danzig Research Society

Danzig Research Society

The Danzig Research Society was founded in 1743 in the city of Danzig . The Societas Physicae Experimentalis , later renamed to Naturforschende Gesellschaft , is thus considered as one of the oldest research societies in Central and Eastern Europe.Already in 1670, the physician Israel Conradi...

 was formed by Daniel Gralath

Daniel Gralath

Daniel Gralath was a German physicist and Bürgermeister of Danzig.Gralath was born in Danzig in Poland of a well-to-do trade family. He had studied law and philosophy in Halle, then in Leyden and Marburg from 1728 to 1734. Later he became Ratsherr and, in 1763, Bürgermeister of Danzig...

 and Gottfried Lengnich

Gottfried Lengnich

Gottfried Lengnich was a 18th century historian, lawyer and politician. He became known for writing the 9-volume History of Royal Prussia and for teaching Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland.- Life :...

.

In the Kingdom of Prussia (1793–1806)

During the First First Partition

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

 of Poland in 1772, the inhabitants of Danzig fought fiercely for it to remain a part of Poland, although the majority of Royal Prussia

Royal Prussia

Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...

 fell to the Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

. For several years Danzig was surrounded by Prussian territories. In 1793 it was captured by Prussian forces and incorporated into the Prussian Kingdom

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 as part of the province of West Prussia

West Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...

. According to Peter Oliver Loew

Peter Oliver Loew

Peter Oliver Loew is a German historian, translator and scholar, specializing in the History of Poland.- Biography :Loew was born in Frankfurt am Main and studied Eastern European history, Slavistics and economics at the University of Nuremberg, University of Freiburg and the Free University of...

 (2011) the common language in Danzig until the partition was German and the knowledge of German was the premise to become an integrated burgher, however, according to Maria Babnis (1989) the majority of the population in the city spoke both Polish and German and spoken language didn't determine national identity. After the partition the city's inhabitants demonstrated their resentment towards Prussia, with some, like Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...

's family, choosing emigration. An attempt of student uprising against Prussia led by Gottfried Benjamin Bartholdi was crushed quickly by the authorities in 1797. The migration processes that happened after Prussia took over the city diminished the usage of Polish language and structure of population.

Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic)

After the defeat of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

 created the semi-independent Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic)

The Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by Napoleon on September 9, 1807, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars following the capture of the city in the siege of Danzig in May...

 (1807–1814). Danzig reverted to Prussia after Napoleon's defeat in 1814. The city became the capital of Regierungsbezirk Danzig

Danzig (region)

Regierungsbezirk Danzig was a Regierungsbezirk, or administrative region, within the Prussian Province of West Prussia from 1815-1920. The regional capital was Danzig .-History:...

 within West Prussia in 1815.

In the Kingdom of Prussia (1815–1919)

In 1816 about 70 percent of the populace were Lutheran, 23.6 percent Catholics, the share of Catholics would grow to 33 percent in 1910.

With the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 and the steam engine trains, industrial machinery and Ferdinand Schichau

Ferdinand Schichau

Ferdinand Gottlob Schichau was a German mechanical engineer and businessman.- Biography :Schichau was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a smith and iron worker. He studied engineering in Berlin and visited the Rhineland and England. In 1837 he started his own company in Elbing...

's Schichau-Werke

Schichau-Werke

The Schichau-Werke was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, formerly part of the German Empire, and which is today the town of Elbląg in northern Poland. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig .-Early years:...

 company gained the upper hand for Elbing over Danzig. Schichau later constructed a large shipyard in Danzig as well, however.

From 1824 until 1878, East

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

 and West Prussia

West Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...

 were combined as a single province

Province of Prussia

The Province of Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1829-1878 created out of the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia....

 within the Prussian Kingdom. As a part of Prussia Danzig was a member of the Zollverein

Zollverein

thumb|upright=1.2|The German Zollverein 1834–1919blue = Prussia in 1834 grey= Included region until 1866yellow= Excluded after 1866red = Borders of the German Union of 1828 pink= Relevant others until 1834...

 and elected its representatives to the German National Assembly of 1848

Frankfurt Parliament

The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...

, but lay outside of the borders of the 1815–1866 German Confederation

German Confederation

The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...

.
In the second half of XIX century the growth of German population in the city was being slowly reversed, with more Poles settling in, mainly from Pomerania, and parts of local population discovering their Polish roots

In 1871 the city was included in the newly created German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

.
The Polish minority in the city started its activities in the late 1870s and 1880s with the creation of a Polish organisation Ogniwo and formation of a Polish bank Bank Bałtycki. In 1891 a Polish newspaper Gazeta Gdańska was printed out, and later two publishing houses and a printing press. Local Poles focused their cultural life in the vicinity of Church of Saint Anna.

In 1907 local Poles from the "Straż" movement, organised protests against Prussian policies of Germanization, including a ban on Polish language and expropriation of Polish home owners

Free City (1920–1939)

Following Germany's defeat in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Allied powers in the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

 (1919) decided to create the Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

 (under a commissioner appointed by the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

) covering the city itself, the seaport, and a substantial surrounding territory. The League of Nations rejected the citizens' petition to have their city officially named as the Free Hanseatic city of Danzig (Freie Hansestadt Danzig). The citizens of Danzig received a separate citizenship of the Free City and thus lost their former German citizenship.

According to the official census of 1923 3.7 percent of city population was Polish (13,656 out of 366,730 citizens of the Free City). However Polish estimates range up to around 22.000, or around 6% of the population, and increased to around 13% in the 1930s. In the elections to the Free City of Danzig's Parliament

Volkstag

The Volkstag was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939.-History:After World War I Danzig became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations....

 the results of Polish Parties declined from 6.08 percent of votes in 1919 to 3.15 in 1927 and 3.53 in 1935. According to Henryk Stępniak many Poles voted for the catholic Zentrumspartei instead and, based on these assumed voting patterns, he estimates the number of Poles in the city to be 25-30% of Catholics living within it or about 30-36 thousand people. In addition around 4,000 Polish nationals were registered in the city, bringing the total number of Polish population to 9,4-11% of people in this estimate. According to other estimates about 10 percent of the 130,000 Catholics were Polish. The Polish population faced discrimination and persecution in the Free City, which it tried to resist.

The strategic aim of Poland was to (re)gain free access to the open sea, and the territories assigned to Poland in the Treaty of Versailles provided a good opportunity to do so. However, during the Polish-Soviet War

Polish-Soviet War

The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...

, Danzig workers went on strike to block delivery of ammunition to the Polish army when the Soviet Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 tried to capture Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

. This move set both sides in the conflict that marks the history of the Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

.

A customs union

Customs union

A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...

 with Poland was created by the victorious allies of WWI, which gave the Danzig Westerplatte

Westerplatte

Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...

 port to the Second Polish Republic

Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

; it became the Polish military transit depot. The separation of the Danzig port, post office and customs office under the treaty was said to be justified by Poland's need for direct access to the Baltic Sea. Poland then stationed a small squad of troops at Westerplatte. Due to the massive resentment by the Danzigers and with large foreign investments, Poland began building a large military port in Gdynia

Gdynia

Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...

, just 25 km away from Danzig. Unlike Danzig, Gdynia was in the direct possession of Poland and soon became the so-called "Polish outside window".

Due to a Polish–German trade war between 1925–1934, Poland became focused on international trade; for example, a new railway line was built to connect Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

 with the coast and the new tariffs made it cheaper to send goods through Polish ports rather than German ones. Gdynia became the biggest port on the Baltic sea. Nevertheless, Poland resorted to economic sanctions during the Danzig-Polish conflicts and Danzig suffered greatly.

The Free City of Danzig issued its own stamps and currency (the Gulden

Danzig gulden

The Gulden was the currency of Free City of Danzig between 1923 and 1939. It was divided into 100 Pfennige.Until 1923, Danzig issued paper money denominated in Marks...

). Many examples of stamps and coins, bearing the legend Freie Stadt Danzig, survive in collections. There was a strong desire to rescind the Allied Powers' decision on the status of the city's 400,000 citizens which were predominantly German. This culminated in the election of a National Socialist government in Danzig's elections in May 1933.

The German incorporation of Danzig was a territorial claim that every government of the Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

 put on its agenda.

A German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact was signed and the Free City's government was ordered by the Nazis to stop making problems between Poland and Danzig. Poland and Danzig entered a brief period of good economic cooperation and prosperity. Nevertheless, a totalitarian society was being constructed in Germany, and especially members of the Polish or Jewish minority required stamina in the face of everyday acts of violence and persecution from the Nazis.

About 50 percent of members of the Jewish Community of Danzig

Jewish community of Danzig

The Jewish Community of Gdańsk dates back at least to the 15th century. For many centuries it was separated from the rest of the city. Under Polish rule, Jews acquired limited rights in the city in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the incorporation into Prussia the community largely assimilated...

 had left the city within a year after a Pogrom

Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...

 in October 1937, after the Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...

 riots in November 1938 the community decided to organize its emigration and in March 1939 a first transport to Mandate Palestine

Mandate Palestine

Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...

 started. By September 1939 barely 1,700 mostly elderly Jews remained. In early 1941 just 600 Jews were still living in Danzig who were later murdered in the Holocaust.
Out of the 2938 Jewish community

Kehilla (modern)

The Kehilla is the local Jewish communal structure that was reinstated in the early twentieth century as a modern, secular, and religious sequel of the Qahal in Central and Eastern Europe, more particularly in Poland's Second Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukrainian People's Republic,...

 in the city 1227 were able to escape from the Nazis before the outbreak of war

World War II (1939–1945)

Following the annexation

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and the Sudetenland

Sudetenland

Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...

, Germany in October 1938 urged the Danzig territory's cession to Germany. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 invaded Poland, initiating World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. On September 2, 1939 Germany officially annexed the Free City. The Nazi regime murdered the Polish postmen defending the Polish Post Office: this was one of the first war crimes during the war. Other Polish soldiers defending the Westerplatte

Westerplatte

Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...

 stronghold surrendered after seven days of fighting. The German commander returned the sword to the Polish commander for putting up a brave fight. On Sep 7th NSDAP organised night parade on Adolf-Hitlerstrasse to celebrate success. It was bombed by a single Polish hydroplane operating from Hela peninsula piloted by Jozef Rudzki and Zdzisław Juszczakiewicz. 6 bombs weight 12.5 kg were dropped from very low height.
In October 1939, Danzig, together with the rest of Polish Pomerania to the south and west, became the German Reichsgau

Reichsgau

A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...

(administrative district) of Danzig-West Prussia (Danzig–Westpreussen).

Poles, Kashubians, leading members of the Jewish community and the political opposition were sent to concentration camps, especially neighbouring Stutthof

Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...

 where 85,000 victims perished. Kashubian

Kashubians

Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....

 and Polish intelligentsia

Intelligentsia

The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...

 were killed in the Piaśnica mass murder site

Mass murders in Piaśnica

The mass murders in Piaśnica were a set of mass executions carried out by Germans, during World War II, between the fall of 1939 and spring of 1940 in Piasnica Wielka in the Darzlubska Wilderness near Wejherowo. Standard estimates put the number of victims at between twelve thousand and fourteen...

, which is estimated to have had 60,000 victims.

At the beginning of 1945, Germany started evacuating civilians from Danzig. Most Germans fled the city, many by seaborne evacuation

Operation Hannibal

Operation Hannibal was a German military operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May, 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary...

 to Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

. This happened in winter under the threat of bombs and in constant danger of submarines.

On March 30, 1945 the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 occupied a largely destroyed Danzig. The exact circumstances of the occupation remain a matter of dispute. While the traditional Polish historiography stressed the role of the German resistance, after 1990 reports about deliberate destructions and arsons by the Soviets were published. However, as Soviet sources about the events are inaccessible, the topic has not been conclusively clarified. In December 1945 the Soviet Consulate explained the existing "anti-Soviet feelings" with some "excesses" of the Red Army.

In June 1945 124,000 Germans and 8,000 Poles lived in the city, from 1945-1950 most Germans were expelled

Expulsion of Germans after World War II

The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...

.

Post-World War II

With the defeat of German state the planned genocide of Polish population classified by German authorities as "subhuman" was averted and Polish population returned to Gdańsk.
Already before the end of World War II, the Yalta Conference

Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...

 had agreed to place the city, under its original Polish name Gdańsk, under de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

administration of Poland, and this decision was confirmed at the Potsdam Conference

Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...

.

A Polish administration was set up in the devastated Gdańsk on 30 March 1945. New Polish residents were settled in Gdańsk, 3,200 in April and more than 4,000 in May and June 1945. As of 1948 more than two thirds of the 150,000 inhabitants came from Central Poland, about 15 to 18 percent from Polish-speaking areas east of the Curzon Line

Curzon Line

The Curzon Line was put forward by the Allied Supreme Council after World War I as a demarcation line between the Second Polish Republic and Bolshevik Russia and was supposed to serve as the basis for a future border. In the wake of World War I, which catalysed the Russian Revolution of 1917, the...

 that were annexed by the Soviet Union after WWII. Many local Kashubians also moved into the city. The deportation of the German populace started in July 1945, thus the pre-war populace soon became a small minority within post-war Gdańsk.

Between 1952 and the late 1960s Polish artisan

Artisan

An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...

s restored much of the old city's architecture, up to 90% destroyed in the war. Initially the reconstruction of parts of the inner city (Główne Miasto) was controversial. As a result of anti-German sentiments and the new settler's at least indifferent attitude towards the unknown, German city a modern architecture was preferred. The decision to reconstruct a traditional old town was politically motivated in order to symbolize the city’s "reunification" with Poland and limited to the area of the Główne Miasto. The Old town

Old Town (Gdańsk)

Old Town in Gdańsk refers to the part of the city north of the modern city center.Notable structures include:* Gdańsk Granaries* Gdańsk Mills* Gdańsk Town Hall* Monument of King Sobieski* Polish Post* several old buildings and churches...

 and other historical districts were, with the exception of some monumental buildings, built-up with modern architecture. The reconstruction is not tied to the city’s pre-war appearance, instead its purpose was to rebuild an idealized pre-1793 state. 19th and early 20th-century architecture, any traces of German tradition were ignored or regarded as "Prussian barbarism" worth of demolition while Flamish-Dutch, Italian and French influences were emphasized.
After 1990 this concept has been criticized e.g. by Donald Tusk

Donald Tusk

Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....

, who called the reconstruction "in the spirit of Communism" the city's second catastrophe of the 20th century.
All German names of streets, buildings, shipyards and districts, even names on tombstones, were changed to Polish names, such as Długi Targ for Langer Markt (Long Market), the city's main pedestrian center. The city districts were renamed, sometimes derived from medieval Polish records (Wrzeszcz

Wrzeszcz

Wrzeszcz is one of the boroughs of the Northern Polish city of Gdańsk. With a population of more than 65,000 in an area of 9.9 km² , Wrzeszcz is the most populous part of Gdańsk.- History :...

, Siedlce

Siedlce

Siedlce ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,392 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship ....

), sometimes translations of the German terms (Nowy Szkoty - Neu Schottland, Nowy Port

Nowy Port

-External links:*...

 - Neufahrwasser). In some cases the specifications of the Commission for the Determination of Place Names

Commission for the Determination of Place Names

The Commission for the Determination of Place Names was a commission of the Polish Department of Public Administration, founded in January 1946...

 were initially ignored and placenames originating in the homeregion of the settlers were used.

Gdańsk was the scene of anti-government demonstrations which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Władysław Gomułka in December 1970, and ten years later was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement, whose opposition to the government led to the end of communist party rule (1989) and the election as president of Poland of its leader Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...

. It remains today a major port and industrial city.

A list of the 173 mayors of the City of Gdańsk from 1347 to March 1945 was compiled by the current Gdańsk city government and can be found on their recent website with the invitation for the "First World Gdańsk Reunion", which took place in May 2002. This list demonstrates the violently shifting ethnicity of the city's inhabitants before and after the World Wars.

Timeline

Throughout its long history Gdańsk faced various periods of rule from different states before 1945,

• 997-1308: as part of Poland
• 1308-1454: as part of territory of Teutonic Order
• 1454-1466: Thirteen Years' War
• 1466-1793: as part of Poland
• 1793-1805: as part of Prussia
• 1807-1814: as free city
• 1815-1871: as part of Prussia
• 1871-1920: Imperial Germany
• 1920-1939: as a free city
• 1939-1945: Nazi Germany
• 1945: territory of Poland

Altogether combining the number of years until 2010, the city was under rule of Poland for 706 years, under the rule of Teutonic Order for 158 years, 125 years as part of Prussia and later Germany, 29 years of its history are marked by the status of a free city, and 6 years under the occupation of Nazi Germany until it was given to Poland in 1945.

Famous people born in the city

• List of people from Gdańsk
• List of people from Danzig
• List of mayors of Gdańsk
• List of mayors of Danzig

• Johannes Dantiscus, 1485, poet, church canon and bishop
• Bernhard von Reesen
  Bernhard von Reesen
  Bernhard von Riesen was a grain merchant born to a patrician family in Gdańsk , in Polish Royal Prussia.Riesen received an extensive education as was the custom of that time for men of his background. As did many other well-off business men and statesmen, at the age of thirty, Riesen commissioned...
  
  , 1490
• Albrecht Giese, 1524
• Johannes Hevelius
  Johannes Hevelius
  Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:*Encyplopedia Britannica * of the Royal Society was a councilor and mayor of Danzig , Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
  
  , 1611, astronomer
• Georg Daniel Schultz
  Georg Daniel Schultz
  Daniel Schultz the Younger was a famous painter of the Baroque era, born and active in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
  
  , 1615
• Andreas Schlüter
  Andreas Schlüter
  Andreas Schlüter was a German baroque sculptor and architect associated with the Petrine Baroque style of architecture and decoration.-Biography:...
  
  , 1660
• Jacob Theodor Klein
  Jacob Theodor Klein
  Jacob Theodor Klein nickname Plinius Gedanensium was a Royal Prussian jurist, historian, botanist, mathematician and diplomat in service of Polish King August II the Strong.-Life:...
  
  , 1685
• Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686–1736, physicist and engineer
• Daniel Gralath
  Daniel Gralath
  Daniel Gralath was a German physicist and Bürgermeister of Danzig.Gralath was born in Danzig in Poland of a well-to-do trade family. He had studied law and philosophy in Halle, then in Leyden and Marburg from 1728 to 1734. Later he became Ratsherr and, in 1763, Bürgermeister of Danzig...
  
  , 1708, physicist and Bürgermeister (mayor)
• Louise Adelgunde Gottsched, 1713, writer
• Daniel Chodowiecki
  Daniel Chodowiecki
  Daniel Niklaus Chodowiecki was a Polish - German painter and printmaker with Huguenot ancestry, who is most famous as an etcher...
  
  , 1726, painter
• Johann Wilhelm Archenholz, 1741
• Avraham Danzig
  Avraham Danzig
  Rabbi Avraham Danzig was a Posek and codifier, best known as the author of the works of Jewish law Chayei Adam and Chochmas Adam; he is sometimes referred to as "the Chayei Adam".-Biography:...
  
  , 1748, rabbi
• Georg Forster
  Georg Forster
  Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...
  
  , 1754
• Gottlieb Hufeland
  Gottlieb Hufeland
  Gottlieb Hufeland was a German economist and jurist.Born in Danzig , in the province of Royal Prussia, Hufeland was educated at the gymnasium of his native town, and completed his university studies at Leipzig and Göttingen. He graduated at Jena, and in 1788 was there appointed to an extraordinary...
  
  . 1760
• Johanna Schopenhauer
  Johanna Schopenhauer
  Johanna Schopenhauer, née Trosiener , was a German author. She is today known primarily for being the mother of Arthur Schopenhauer.- Biography :...
  
  , 1766
• Johannes Daniel Falk
  Johannes Daniel Falk
  Johannes Daniel Falk was a German poet.Falk was born in Danzig in the Polish province of Royal Prussia. In 1816 he wrote the German text O Du Fröhliche.. to the melody of one of the most popular Christmas songs, O Sanctissima. Falk was the founder of the Falk'sche Institute, a public education...
  
  , 1768
• Arthur Schopenhauer
  Arthur Schopenhauer
  Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
  
  , 1788
• Miltiades Caridis
  Miltiades Caridis
  Miltiades Caridis was a German-Greek conductor.Caridis was born in Gdańsk, then Free City of Danzig. His mother was a Danziger of German ethnicity, his father was a merchant from Greece. His family moved to Weimar Germany and he was raised in Dresden, but his family moved to Greece in 1938,...
  
   1923
• Günter Grass
  Günter Grass
  Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
  
  , b. 1927, writer and philosopher
• Paweł Huelle, b 1957, writer and journalist
• Donald Tusk
  Donald Tusk
  Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....
  
  , b. 1957, politician, journalist and historian, prime minister of Poland
• Dariusz Michalczewski
  Dariusz Michalczewski
  Dariusz Michalczewski is a retired Polish- German boxer and former Lineal, WBO, WBA, & IBF light heavyweight champion and WBO cruiserweight champion.-Early career:...
  
  , b. 1968, boxer

Famous people living or working in the city

• Edward O'Rourke
  Edward O'Rourke
  Edward O'Rourke, full name Eduard Alexander Ladislaus Graf O'Rourke was a Roman Catholic priest, bishop of Riga and the first head of the bishopric of the Free City of Danzig .-Early life:...
  
  , the first Catholic bishop of Danzig
• Lech Wałęsa
  Lech Wałęsa
  Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
  
  , b. 1943, trade unions activist, politician, president of Poland (1990–1995)
• Stanisław Pestka, b. 1929 in Rolbik
  Rolbik
  Rolbik is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brusy, within Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Brusy, north of Chojnice, and south-west of the regional capital Gdańsk....
  
   - Kashubian
  Kashubians
  Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
  
   poet
• Robert Gordon
  Robert Gordon
  Robert Gordon , a 17th century merchant and philanthropist, was born in Aberdeen. He was the only son of Arthur Gordon who married Isabella Menzies of Balgownie...
  
   b. 1668, d. 1731, Merchant and philanthropist Robert Gordon (Philanthropist), Robert Gordon's College

Further reading

• Prutz, Danzig, das nordische Venedig (Leipzig, 1868)
• Wistulanus, Geschichte der Stadt Danzig (Danzig, 1891)
• Puttner, Danzig (Danzig, 1899)
• (ed.) E. Cieślak, Historia Gdańska, vol. I–II, Gdańsk 1978
• E. Cieślak, C. Biernat, Dzieje Gdańska, Gdańsk 1969
• P. Simson, Geschichte der Stadt Danzig, vol. 1–4, Danzig 1913-18
• H. Samsonowicz, Badania nad kapitałem mieszczańskim Gdańska w II połowie VX wieku., Warszawa 1960
• Cz. Biernat, Statystyka obrotu towarowego Gdańska w latach 1651–1815., Warszawa 1962
• M. Bogucka, Gdańsk jako ośrodek produkcyjny w XIV–XVII wieku., Warszawa 1962
• M. Bogucka, Handel zagraniczny Gdańska w pierwszej połowie XVII wieku, Wrocław 1970
• H. Górnowicz, Z. Brocki, Nazwy miast Pomorza Gdańskiego, Wrocław 1978
• Gminy województwa gdańskiego, Gdańsk 1995
• Gerard Labuda (ed.), Historia Pomorza, vol. I–IV, Poznań 1969-2003
• L. Bądkowski, Pomorska myśl polityczna, Gdańsk 1990
• W. Odyniec, Dzieje Prus Królewskich (1454–1772). Zarys monograficzny, Warszawa 1972
• (ed.) W. Odyniec, Dzieje Pomorza Nadwiślańskiego od VII wieku do 1945 roku, Gdańsk 1978
• L. Bądkowski, W. Samp, Poczet książąt Pomorza Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 1974
• B. Śliwiński, Poczet książąt gdańskich, Gdańsk 1997
• Józef Spors, Podziały administracyjne Pomorza Gdańskiego i Sławieńsko-Słupskiego od XII do początków XIV w, Słupsk 1983
• M. Latoszek, Pomorze. Zagadnienia etniczno-regionalne, Gdańsk 1996
• Działacze polscy i przedstawiciele R.P. w Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku, Pomorze Gdańskie nr 9, Gdańsk 1974
• B. Bojarska, Eksterminacja inteligencji polskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim (wrzesień-grudzień 1939), Poznań 1972
• K. Ciechanowski, Ruch oporu na Pomorzu Gdańskim 1939–1945., Warszawa 1972
• Dziedzictwo kulturowe Pomorza nad Wisłą, Pomorze Gdańskie nr 20, Gdańsk 1997

External links

• 1598 map of Pomerania and Western Prussia with Dan(t)zig
• c.1630 map of Prussia with Dantzk
• Map c 1701 of Prussia — (Preussen mit Freie Stadt Danzig)
• Free City of Danzig stamps Information on Danzig (in German) History and people of the Hanseatic city (in German) A multicultural history of the Gdańsk Calvinists Bombing on Sep 7 1939