A Dutch City in Poland? | The Forgotten Dutch History of Gdańsk/Danswijk (1358-2023)

Gdańsk, also known by its German name of Danzig, is a picturesque city on Poland’s Baltic coast. Visitors might feel a strong Low Countries vibe from its tall, narrow buildings with sleek facades lining the canals, looking more like Amsterdam or Antwerpen than Warsaw or Szczecin. Already since the Middle Ages, this city has had connections with what is today Belgium and the Netherlands, manifesting in various parts of its culture, architecture, and history as we will find out more about in this video. From the Hanseatic League and Flemish architects and painters, to the merchants of the Dutch Republic and Mennonites fleeing religious persecution to set up their own communities of Olędrzy, the history of Gdańsk has, in part, been shaped by people from the Low Countries.

Music Used:
Constancy Part III – Kevin MacLeod
Sunday Dub – Kevin MacLeod

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[wawrzynieckorzen]

The reconstructed buildings are not "communist blocks with historical facades" - during afterwar reconstruction the interiors were just adapted to mid-XX century standards: with modern plumbing, electricity and bringing more light into apartments. Similar thing was done in Warsaw Old Town - after reconstruction the standard of living for local inhabitants have significantly risen.

Anyway - great material!

[pawekokot]

Gdansk is similar to Amsterdam, because in the Middle Ages and early modern times there were many Dutch merchants (and also architects) who imported mainly grain and wood from Poland. Gdańsk was like a version of Polish Hong Kong with great autonomy and a large stock exchange. The city was multicultural, where lived Poles, Germans, Dutch, Lithuanians, Scots and Swedes

[times]

In the south of Poland, there is a small town of Wilamowice where there are still traces of Flemish settlement, although the beginnings of this phenomenon date back to the times of the Mongol invasion of Poland and Hungary (XIII). If I'm not mistaken, an ethnic group called the Vilamovians still lives there today and speaks a dialect derived from Flemish.

[olekbojanowski]

Man you made my day. I am from Gdansk and seeing a video about its history on one of my favourite channels was the best thing that happened to me today.

[Bruintjebeer]

I'm 67 but learned a lot today. Thank you for the video. It is a nice history lesson.

[gilianstaelen]

Watching this while travelling through Poland as Flemish from Bruges hits different.

[ohajohaha]

Well, it's easy to forget that you're not in Eastern Europe when seeing cities in Poland because it's in Central Europe.

[michaelmazowiecki]

Gdansk/Danish was one of the leading Hanseatic port cities and in common with other Hansa towns, shows a commonality of architecture, city laws and regulations of the time.

[pigeonman]

There's a Polish sea shanty about the Battle of Oliwa and Arend Dickman it's called "Szanta Oliwska"

[champagne.future]

What a wild ride that city has been on

[hilding]

Part of Hanse Trade League for centuries, really nice video. Thank you.

[OaxBratt]

🎶Don’t be fooled by the gates I have wrought, I’m stil, I’m still Abram van den Blocke
I used to build in Flanders, now build in Gdańsk, but I still know where I came from 🎵
That’s for the 0.001% of us that are both J-Lo and Dutch history fans

[SamBroadway]

I don't think I have ever, not a single time thought about the history of Danzig. But, this was very interesting. Sticking to a lifelong principle of learning something new everyday this video has fulfilled my mission for another day of success.

[Rdafagh]

A monumental city. For centuries it has divided the countries of Central Europe, but the truth is that, bit by bit, it belongs to each of us. Let's be glad that we live in times when crossing borders and enjoying the charms of Gdansk is not a problem for any of us.

[turek]

The first mention of Gdańsk comes from the Life of Saint Wojciech, written in Latin in 999. It describes Bishop Wojciech's visit to this area in the spring of 997, and this date is often conventionally accepted as the beginning of the city's history. - it was and is PL city if you want talk about history of place tell all of it not only part

[mavadelo]

Always appreciate how you refuse to anglicize names and places. I had no idea that Gdansk was pronounced like that. Looked it up and lo and behold.. you are basically spot on. tbf I always pronounced it as "kedangsk", very surprised it has an ai sound in there. Great video as always Hilbert.
12:35 indeed a bit hard but once you see it you can't unsee it. I looked an thought "Well dang... they ARE Red White and Blue!"

[Iris_and_or_George]

Intersting video thank you! An unrelated question, are you Dutch? As in Dutch is your first language? Because if so, congratulations on the English accent! I usually hear it instantly but, with you only when pronouncing Dutch names as you should.

[jerzyk]

If I am not mistaken, the Mennonites were forbidden to settle within the city walls. The Mennonites church still exists in Gdansk, but it is situated just outside the historic city walls and the moat. Their main territory of the settlement was, as we call it today, Zulawy Wislane, the area between Gdansk and Zalew Wislany.

[stanisawmiosz]

After 1772 partition of Poland Gdansk still was in Polish hands. Only in 1793 second partition Gdansk became Prussian city

[galahad-history]

Thank you for covering this interesting topic! Small note: Poland is in the most central geographical part of Europe (tbh the central point of Europe is literally in Poland).