September 23, 2024
Day 84: Sightseeing Gdansk
Walking Tour of the "New" Old Town
Yesterday afternoon we got a feeling for where to go today. The most interesting area in the current old town is centered around the “Street of Kings”, the main thorough fair running from the Golden Gate to the Green Gate. Then a nice pedestrian promenade on both sides of the city harbor.
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At 1100 we join a “free” walking tour of the old town. We look for the yellow umbrella that indicates the guide. There are any other tour groups also congregating, so there is some confusion at first. As in other cities, the tour is not really free, but you tip at the end based on what you thought it was worth.
The guide gives us a good historical perspective of Gdansk. At the Golden Gate are three old city gates, each from a different era. The Golden gate is the newest and clearly built to impress the visitors.
We walk down Kings Street, to the old City Hall with its beautiful tower, past Neptune’s fountain, to the Street of the Beer Brewers. Then, onto the street where amber is sold, and to the water front to see the Gdansk’s iconic wooden crane building sits. The crane was operated by four large treadmills that held two people each. It could lift two tons and was used to put masts on ships.
We arrive at St. Mary's church in time to "see the show" of the astronomical clock.
The clock was constructed between 1464–1470 by Hans Duringer. Its complex dials show the time and date, phases of the moon, the position of the Mon and Sun in relation to the zodiac sings, and the calendar of saints. Adam and Eve ring the bell on the hour, and at noon a procession appears that features Adam and Eve alongside the Three Kings, the Apostles, and Death.
Standing 14 metres (46ft) high, upon completion the clock was the largest in the world, and it may remain the largest wooden astronomical clock. During WWII in 1944, the clock was dismantled and hidden outside og Gdansk.
We end the tour at the old post office where Federal Post workers were instructed to resist the German invaders for 6 hours at the beginning of the Second World War. They held it for 18 hours, promised reinforcements never came and they were either killed in battle or shot later as “illegal combatants”.
The history of Gdansk is complicated. For the longest time the population was mainly German, even though it was part of Poland off and on. When the Nazis in Germany became more and more powerful the people in Gdansk wanted to be part of the Third Reich. Hitler used that as a pretext to “liberate” them and started the war with Poland and so WW2.
Patrick seems to make a faux-pass when he asks the guide why we are seeing hardly any Ukranian flags in Poland. The guide gets very defensive, says that Poland has done more than most other countries to help Ukraine. Still she does not answer the question. In the Baltic States there we blue and yellow flags everywhere, even after almost two years. In Poland there are very few.
After the tour we walk back through many of the streets shown on the tour. It's time for lunch and walking along the river we stop an American restaurant for a huge burger, then we return to our apartment.
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