Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog
Expressionistic and representative art
Gary Kirkpatrick 
Poznan has some excellent murals. The largest and most fabulous is in the Śródka district, one of the oldest towns in Poland, now a district of Poznan near Cathedral Island.
Torun is small and thus easy to walk. It is full of remarkable architecture, with many restaurants, bars and cafes to add to your enjoyment. The buildings range from the brick structures daring from the 14th century Teutonic Knights to the Gothic to Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The town was not damaged in WW2, so the buildings are not newly rebuilt.
Toruń is another of several Polish city members of the Hanseatic League. The prosperity led to the three main styles, Gothic (dating from 1200’s) in brick, Mannerism and Baroque. The city walls and the now ruined castle are from the Gothic period.
The Cathedral of SS. John the Evangelist and John the Baptist (14th century) has some wonderful sculptures and paintings from the era, including a Moses and St. Mary Magdalene. The multiple altars are ourstanding.
Copernicus was born here and, if you will allow just this one pun, the city revolves around him. There are two museums that deal with him at least in title, this statue in front of city hall, and lots of reproductions of famous portraits.
While you wander about you are tempted by the lody – ice cream – which is very popular in this comparatively warm weather, with temperatures as high as 28c, 80f in generally partly cloud skies. Donuts are elaborately presented, a variety of calorie rich cakes. The city is most famous for its gingerbread, which fortunately for my waist line I do not like. There is very good cappuccino, espresso and macchiato (small cappuccino) — be careful about the latter as there is a small macchiato espresso and a the very large latte macchiato. There are waffles with real whipped cream and cherry jam. Gone are the pretzels, hard and soft, found in Cracow and the multitude of fruit stands and street markets from everywhere we have been. Remaining is the ever-present beer, with wine still an expensive alternative, and I hope you do not like sugar-free colas as they are harder to find if not impossible. Pierogies are everywhere in Poland so here as well, but I could not find latke, potato pancakes. Since our 1998 visit the Italians and Turks have moved in, so pizza and donor kebab are popular, as well as hamburgers even.
With our flat located within blocks of the Rynek (central square) we had the shortest possible commute. This turned out to be not the case in our next destination, the historical city of Poznan. On the other hand, we had two flights of these stairs:
I have long been an admirer of Lech Walesa. He was the head of Solidarity, having come to that position by way of his willingness to speak up for his fellow workers and take the jail time, periods of unemployment and other consequences. He was a father and a husband, so his actions were not easy for him nor for his wife and family. They helped develop Solidarity into a political movement with 9.5 million members at its peak, after having become the first non-government controlled trade union in the Soviet bloc. Solidarity helped bring down not only the Polish communist regime but helped bring about the fall of the Soviet Union. Lech maintains an office at the Solidarity Museum and at 72 still comes to work there.
It is impolite to stair! Our place for a few days in Torun. It’s two flights up, a piece of cake for us without baggage, a puffer with my 20 kilos. The exterior and staircase both need renovation, but the flat is beautifully done with some odd things left out, such as towel racks, soap holders for the shower, soup spoon and coffee maker of some sort — we travel with a hand-held cloth filter, having run across this more than once. And really crappy kitchen knives, also a common problem, and one for which we prepare.
Gdansk has numerous impressive gates allowing entrance into the old town. The first two you see here are about 50 meters apart, in between there is another old structure that houses the amber museum, amber having been a major trade item in earlier times.
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate in the style of Dutch Mannerism (1612–14) replaced a 13th-century gothic gate, called the Brama Długouliczna (Long Street Gate). It is located on ulica Długa, the main street, which you see framed through its arch. Along with Brama Wyżynna, just 50 meters away, and Wieża Więzienna , it was part of the old city fortifications. It sits next to the late-gothic building of the Brotherhood of St.George.
Inscribed in Latin: Pax (Peace), Libertas (Freedom), Fortuna (Wealth) and Fama (Fame). On the east side they are Concordia (Agreement), Justitia (Justice), Pietas (Piety) and Prudentia (Prudency). The Latin inscription: Concordia res publicæ parvæ crescunt – discordia magnæ concidunt (“In agreement small republics grow, because of disagreement great republics fall”).
Largely destroyed by Soviet shelling, beautifully rebuilt in 1957.
Upland Gate– Brama Wyzynna
The Brama Wyzynna, or Upland Gate, was erected in the 16th century as part of the city’s fortification wall. As such it was once joined to an earthen wall of equal height.There are three coats of arms. In the center is that of Poland, on the right Gdansk, and the left is Royal Prussia. Below in Latin it says, “‘Justice and piety are the foundations of all states.” Chlebnicka Gate
Chlebnicka Gate
They built this brick Gothic style gate in 1450 at the end of Chlebnicka Street, facing the Motlawa River. On that side of the gate there is a shield with two crosses but no crown. This was the first symbol of Gdansk. It is not displayed elsewhere in the city. On the street side you see a stylized lily, this the gate is also called the Lily Gate. There are various varieties of lilies in Gdansk.
Mariacka Gate
Mariacka Street has both the tall tower of Mariacka Church but also Mariacka Gate which connects to the Old Town. It was built in 1485 with the two towers with typical small windows. In this photo you can also see the cobble stone streets which are throughout the old town.
Green Gate
The Royal Route, which the king would pursue on city visits, passed through the Golden Gate, the Upland Gate, and this one. The Green Gate was built as the official royal residence while in Gdansk, which no king ever used, considering its location too close to street traffic, noise and the citizenry. It was inspired by Antwerp’s City Hall. The Amsterdam architect Regnier built it in 1568-71. Today the Green Gate houses the National Museum.
Other gates
The Krowia Gate, Straganiarska Gate, Swietojanska Gate, Zulawska Gate, and the famous Gdansk Crane and the Nizinna Gate
Teutonic Knights built Malbork Castle in the 13th century. At that time Malbork was in Prussia, shifting in and out of Polish control, changing into Polish control in 1945. It is the largest castle in the world by the land area it covers and when built the largest brick castle in the world. Sitting along the Nogat River, it has been a Polish royal palace, later to become a Nazi fortification in the waning days of the Third Reich, subjecting it to Russian bombardment. Heavily damaged and afterwards faithfully restored, today you see a structure in fine condition and a great place to wander around, through narrow passages and steep winding staircases.
I’ve included some of the interesting artwork you find there. The walls were beautifully painted, judging by the remains. There are many interesting statutes and a few paintings.
The castle also has a mill. Here is a pen and ink of the mechanism:
Ivanka in Orange
Digital painting, prints only
June 28, 2018
Yesterday we took a walking tour offered by the tourist bureau. There are two, and we chose the Solidarity tour, which covers the period starting in 1945. She made no comments about the present disturbing situation in Poland, although it was clear she is not a supporter of the current authoritarians in power.
Gdansk is the home of Solidarity, the first non-governmental trade union in the former Soviet bloc. It became a political movement, reaching a peak of over 9 million members. Today there remain some 400,000. It’s full name is Independent Self-governing Labor Union.
In its effort to crush Solidarity, the government imposed martial law in 1981, imprisoning thousands including Lech Walesa. This brought financial support from Pope John Paul 2nd, from Krakow, and the US government and the AFL- CIO. The list of demands made in 1978 was precipitated by female dock workers, our guide recounted, who pressed for additional concessions from the government beyond allowing the formation of a non-government union, including the elimination of censorship. On the 31st of August 1980, the government agreed to the demands and Solidarity was formed from over twenty labor committees.
Another demand was a monument to victims of Communist suppression, the first such in a Communist country. Thirty people died when a 1970 protest was met with machine gun fire
A combination of bad working conditions, massive increases in food prices, shortages and other economic failures led to workers’ decision to take on the Communist government. The government was backed by the Soviet Union, massively residing on its border, with post war repressions in the Czech Republic and Hungary vividly recalled. The Soviet Union took 45% of Polish territory following the Yalta conference, a fact which must have been still fresh in the minds of organizers. That territory remains part of Russia.
The movement was closely tied to Roman Catholic social policies promoting the common good. Jean Paul II’s photos remains on the entrance to the Solidarity Museum and the shipyard, next to the list of demands.
Our guide lived through many years of repression. I think she said that her family came from the eastern side of Poland that is now part of Russia. Along with hundreds of thousands, they left when the Russians took control. The Russian soldiers treated the Poles and particularly Polish women as they did Germans in the immediate post war period. Brutality and rape were common, thus contributing to this exodus.
She recalls rationing for just about everything — meat, potatoes, shoes to give just a few examples. Her shoes were wearing out during that period. The two stood in line for shoes, after which they could examine the offerings. There were always just two styles. Often the shoes came with not two but three shoes in the box. Sometimes the shoe sizes did not match. People stood outdoors and traded with others whose sizes were also mismatched.
The government controlled all the sources of information. When the government did not like what was happening and it suited their purposes it would not mention the incident or give a false version.
The museum recounts the events that led to the expansion of the union to about 9 million, the attempts to counter its impact and the eventual downfall of the Polish government.
The relationship between the union and the Church greatly facilitated union efforts. In Sollicitudo rei socialis, Pope John Paul II preached solidarity with the poor and marginalized. Wałęsa was publicly Catholic piety, said, “The Holy Father, through his meetings, demonstrated how numerous we were. He told us not to be afraid.” This sounds like natural reasoning and not an account of divine intervention, but be that as it may, the movement was successful in large measure.
The priest Jerzy Popiełuszko was very active with the union, celebrated masses during strikes. The Communist regime is blamed for his murder.
