Gdynia is a city in northern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and a
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
on the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the
12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...
after
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
.
Gdynia is part of a
conurbation
A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...
with the spa town of
Sopot
Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
, the city of Gdańsk, and
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
an communities, which together form a
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
called the
Tricity (''Trójmiasto'') with around one million inhabitants.
Historically and culturally part of
Kashubia
Kashubia or Cassubia ( or ; ; or ) is an ethnocultural region in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern Poland. It is inhabited by the Kashubian people, and many in the region have historically spoken the Kashubian langua ...
and
Eastern Pomerania
Eastern Pomerania can refer to distinct parts of Pomerania:
*The historical region of Farther Pomerania, which was the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania
*The historical region of Pomerelia including Gdańsk Pomerania, located ...
, Gdynia for centuries remained a small fishing village. By the 20th-century it attracted visitors as a seaside
resort town
A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...
. In 1926, Gdynia was granted city rights after which it enjoyed demographic and urban development, with a
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
cityscape. It became a major seaport city of Poland. In 1970,
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
in and around Gdynia contributed to the rise of the
Solidarity movement
Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
in nearby
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
.
The
port of Gdynia
Port of Gdynia is a Polish seaport located on the western shore of Gdańsk Bay, Baltic Sea, in Gdynia. Founded in 1926, in 2008 it ranked second in intermodal container
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a frei ...
is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and
ferries
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus.
...
travelling to
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
.
Gdynia's downtown, designated a
historical monument of Poland in 2015, is an example of building an integrated European community and includes
Functionalist architectural forms. It is also a candidate for the
UNESCO World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
.
Its axis is based around 10 Lutego Street and connects the
main train station with the Southern Pier. The city is also known for holding the annual
Gdynia Film Festival
The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland.
It has taken place every ...
. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked by readers of ''The News'' as Poland's best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of "general quality of life". In 2021, the city entered the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Creative Cities Network
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development
Urban means ...
and was named UNESCO
City of Film
UNESCO's City of Film project is part of the wider Creative Cities Network.
Film is one of seven creative fields in the Network, the others: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music.
Criteria
To be approved a ...
.
History
Early history
The area of the later city of Gdynia shared its history with
Pomerelia
Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland.
Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...
(Eastern Pomerania). In prehistoric times, it was the center of
Oksywie culture
The Oksywie culture (German ') was an archaeological culture that existed in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river from the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD. It is named after the village of Oksywie ...
; it was later populated by
Lechites
Lechites (, ), also known as the Lechitic tribes (, ), is a name given to certain West Slavs, West Slavic tribes who inhabited modern-day Poland and eastern Germany, and were speakers of the Lechitic languages. Distinct from the Czech–Slovak lan ...
with minor
Baltic Prussian influences. In the late 10th century, the region was united with the emerging state of Poland by its first historic ruler
Mieszko I
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...
. During the reign of
Bolesław II, the region seceded from Poland and became independent, to be reunited with Poland in 1116/1121 by
Bolesław III. In 1209, the present-day district of
Oksywie
Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries.
Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...
was first mentioned (''Oxhöft''). Following the fragmentation of Poland, the region became part of the Duchy of Pomerania (Eastern), which became separate from Poland in 1227, to be reunited in 1282. The first known mention of the name "Gdynia", as a
Pomeranian (
Kashubian) fishing village dates back to 1253. The first church on this part of the Baltic Sea coast was built there. In 1309–1310, the
Teutonic Order
The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...
invaded and annexed the region from Poland. In 1380, the owner of the village which became Gdynia, Peter from
Rusocin, gave the village to the
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
Order. In 1382, Gdynia became property of the Cistercian
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
in
Oliwa
Oliwa () (; ; ) is a northern district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Mat ...
. In 1454, King
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
signed the act of reincorporation of the region to the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
, and the
Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish-Teutonic wars, started. It ended in 1466, when the Teutonic Knights recognized the region as part of Poland. Administratively, Gdynia was located in the
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...
in the province of
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia (; or , ) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) became a province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed follow ...
in the
Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and later of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. The present-day neighbourhood of Kolibki was the location of the Kolibki estate, purchased by King
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...
in 1685.
In 1772, Gdynia was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
in the
First Partition of Poland
The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...
. Gdynia, under the Germanized name ''Gdingen'', was included within the newly formed province of
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...
and was expropriated from the Cistercian Order. In 1789, there were only 21 houses in Gdynia. Around that time Gdynia was so small that it was not marked on many maps of the period: it was about halfway from Oksywie and Mały Kack, now districts of Gdynia. In 1871, the village became part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. In the early 20th century Gdynia was not a poor fishing village as it is sometimes described; it had become a popular tourist spot with several guest houses, restaurants, cafés, several brick houses and a small harbour with a pier for small trading ships. The first
Kashubian mayor was Jan Radtke. It is estimated that around 1910 the population of Gdynia was 895 people.
Following
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and following the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, in 1920, Gdynia was re-integrated with the reborn Polish state. Simultaneously, the nearby city of Gdańsk (''Danzig'') and surrounding area was declared a
free city and put under the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
, though Poland was given economic liberties and requisitioned for matters of foreign representation.
Construction of the seaport
The decision to build a major seaport at Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in winter 1920,
in the midst of the
Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution.
After the collapse ...
(1919–1921).
[ Robert Michael Citino. ''The path to blitzkrieg: doctrine and training in the German Army, 1920–1939''. Lynne Rienner Publishers. 1999. p. 173.] The authorities and seaport workers of the
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
felt Poland's economic rights in the city were being misappropriated to help fight the war. German dockworkers went on strike, refusing to unload shipments of military supplies sent from the West to aid the Polish army,
and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.

Construction of Gdynia seaport started in 1921
but, because of financial difficulties, it was conducted slowly and with interruptions. It was accelerated after the
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
(Polish parliament) passed the ''Gdynia Seaport Construction Act'' on 23 September 1922. By 1923 a 550-metre pier, of a wooden tide breaker, and a small harbour had been constructed. Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter took place on 23 April 1923. The first major seagoing ship, the French Line steamer ''Kentucky'', arrived on 13 August 1923 after being diverted because of a strike at Gdansk.
To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction. By the end of 1925, they had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had ordered the trans-shipment equipment. The works were going more slowly than expected, however. They accelerated only after May 1926, because of an increase in Polish exports by sea, economic prosperity, the outbreak of the German–Polish trade war which reverted most Polish international trade to sea routes, and thanks to the personal engagement of
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski (30 December 1888, Kraków – 22 August 1974, Kraków) was a Polish politician and economist, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, government minister and manager of the Second Polish Republic.
Biography
He studied at the pr ...
, Polish Minister of Industry and Trade (also responsible for the construction of
Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy). By the end of 1930 docks, piers, breakwaters, and many auxiliary and industrial installations were constructed (such as depots, trans-shipment equipment, and a rice processing factory) or started (such as a large cold store).
Trans-shipments rose from 10,000 tons (1924) to 2,923,000 tons (1929). At this time Gdynia was the only transit and special seaport designed for coal exports.
In the years 1931–1939 Gdynia harbour was further extended to become a universal seaport. In 1938 Gdynia was the largest and most modern seaport on the Baltic Sea, as well as the tenth biggest in Europe. The trans-shipments rose to 8.7 million tons, which was 46% of Polish foreign trade. In 1938 the
Gdynia shipyard started to build its first full-sea ship, the ''
Olza''.
Construction of the city
The city was constructed later than the seaport. In 1925 a special committee was inaugurated to build the city; city expansion plans were designed and
city rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
were granted in 1926, and tax privileges were granted for investors in 1927. The city started to grow significantly after 1928.
A
new railway station and the Post Office were completed. The
State railways extended their lines, built bridges and also constructed a group of houses for their employees. Within a few years houses were built along some of road leading northward from the
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
to Gdynia and beyond. Public institutions and private employers helped their staff to build houses.
In 1933 a plan of development providing for a population of 250,000 was worked out by a special commission appointed by a government committee, in collaboration with the municipal authorities. By 1939 the population had grown to over 120,000.
File:Sąd rejonowy betonowe 06.jpg, Gdynia Courthouse by Zbigniew Karpiński, 1936
File:Gdynia Dowodztwo MW 2.jpg, Headquarters of the Polish Navy
The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
File:Gdynia urząd miasta UM.jpg, Piłsudski Avenue with modernist buildings
File:PlacKaszubski.PomnikAntoniAbrahamk.jpg, ''Plac Kaszubski'', one of the main squares in the city
File:Siedziba_Zakładu_Ubezpieczeń_i_PLO.jpg, ''PLO Building'' designed by Roman Piotrowski
File:Gdynia, Świętojańska 55 (1) - czupirek 2013.jpg, ''Krenski House'', detail, by Zbigniew Kupiec
Gdynia during World War II (1939–1945)

During the German
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, which started
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in September 1939, Gdynia was the site of
fierce Polish defense. On 13 September 1939, the Germans carried out first arrests of local Poles in the southern part of the city, while the Polish defense was still ongoing in the northern part.
On 14 September 1939, the Germans captured the entire city, and then
occupied it until 1945. On 15–16 September, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 7,000 Poles, while Polish soldiers still fought in nearby
Kępa Oksywska Kępa may refer to the following places in Poland:
*Kępa, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (south-west Poland)
*Kępa, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (north-central Poland)
*Kępa, Chełm County in Lublin Voivodeship (east Poland)
*Kępa, Lublin County ...
.
[ The German police surrounded the city and carried out mass searches of weapons.][ Arrested Poles were held and interrogated in churches, cinemas and halls, and then around 3,000 people were released until 18 September.][ The occupiers established several prisons and camps for Polish people, who were afterwards either deported to ]concentration camps
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...
or executed.[Wardzyńska, p. 106] Some Poles from Gdynia were executed by the Germans near Starogard Gdański
Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; formerly ) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County.
Founded in the Middle Ages, Starogard is a city with ...
in September 1939. In October and November 1939, the Germans carried out public executions of 52 Poles, including activists, bank directors and priests, in various parts of the city. In November 1939, the occupiers also murdered hundreds of Poles from Gdynia during the massacres in Piaśnica
The massacres in Piaśnica were a series of mass murders carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II, between the fall of 1939 and spring of 1940 in Piaśnica Wielka (Groß Piasnitz) in the Darzlubska Wilderness near Wejherowo. The exact n ...
committed nearby as part of the ''Intelligenzaktion
The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...
''. Among the victims were policemen, officials, civil defenders of Gdynia, judges, court employees, the director and employees of the National Bank of Poland
The Narodowy Bank Polski (; the National Bank of Poland), often abbreviated to NBP, is the central bank of Poland, founded in 1945. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the Polish złoty. The bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has bra ...
, merchants, priests, school principals, teachers, and students of local high schools. On the night of 10–11 November, the German security police carried out mass arrests of over 1,500 Poles in the Obłuże
Obłuże (; ) is a district of Gdynia, Poland, located in the northern part of the city.
History
Obłuże was once a possession of the Premonstratensian Monastery in Żukowo, administratively located in the Puck County in the Pomeranian Voivodesh ...
district, and then murdered 23 young men aged 16–20, in retaliation for breaking windows at the headquarters of the German security police.
On 11 November, a German gendarme shot and killed two Polish boys who were collecting Polish books from the street, which were thrown out of the windows by new German settlers in the Oksywie district. The Germans renamed the city to ''Gotenhafen'' after the Goths
The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
, an ancient Germanic tribe, who had lived in the area. 10 Poles from Gdynia were also murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...
in April–May 1940.
Some 50,000 Polish citizens were expelled to the General Government
The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
(German-occupied central Poland) to make space for new German settlers in accordance with the ''Lebensraum
(, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
'' policy. Local Kashubians
The Kashubians (; ; ), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is ...
who were suspected to support the Polish cause, particularly those with higher education, were also arrested and executed. The German gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
Albert Forster
Albert Maria Forster (26 July 1902 – 28 February 1952) was a German Nazi Party politician, member of the SS and war criminal. During the Second World War, under his administration as the ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Danzig ...
considered Kashubians of "low value" and did not support any attempts to create a Kashubian nationality. Despite such circumstances, local Poles, including Kashubians, organized Polish resistance groups, Kashubian Griffin (later Pomeranian Griffin
The Pomeranian Griffin secret military organization () was a Polish anti-Nazi resistance group active in Pomerania and East Prussia during World War II. A major Polish resistance organization in the Pomerania region, at its height in 1943 it migh ...
), the exiled "Związek Pomorski" in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and local units of the Home Army
The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
, Service for Poland's Victory
Service for Poland's Victory (; SZP), also translated as the Polish Victory Service, was the first Polish resistance movement in World War II. It was created by the order of general Juliusz Rómmel on 27 September 1939, when the siege of Warsaw, ...
and Gray Ranks
Grey Ranks () was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association () during World War II.
The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in Warsaw until 18 ...
. Activities included distribution of underground Polish press, smuggling data on German persecution of Poles and Jews to Western Europe, sabotage actions, espionage of the local German industry, and facilitating escapes of endangered Polish resistance members and British and French prisoners of war who fled from German POW camps via the city's port to neutral
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
cracked down on the Polish resistance several times, with the Poles either killed or deported to the Stutthof and Ravensbrück concentration camps. In 1943, local Poles managed to save some kidnapped Polish children from the Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.
The harbour was transformed into a German naval base. The shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
was expanded in 1940 and became a branch of the Kiel
Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
shipyard (''Deutsche Werke Kiel A.G.''). The city became an important base, due to its being relatively distant from the war theater, and many German large ships—battleship
A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
s and heavy cruiser
A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
s—were anchored there. During 1942, Dr Joseph Goebbels authorized relocation of to Gotenhafen Harbour as a stand-in for during filming of the German-produced movie ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'', directed by Herbert Selpin
Herbert Selpin (29 May 1904 – 1 August 1942) was a German film director, film editor, and screenwriter of light entertainment during the 1930s and 1940s.
He is known for his final film, the partly suppressed 1943 propaganda film ''Titanic'', ...
.
The Germans set up an ''Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...
''-operated penal camp in the Grabówek district, a transit camp for Allied marine POWs, a forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
subcamp of the Stalag XX-B POW camp for several hundred Allied POWs at the shipyard, and two subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...
, the first located in the Orłowo district in 1941–1942, the second, named ''Gotenhafen'', located at the shipyard in 1944–1945.
The seaport and the shipyard both witnessed several air raids by the Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
from 1943 onwards, but suffered little damage. Gdynia was used during winter 1944–45 to evacuate German troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...
s and refugees trapped by the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. Some of the ships were hit by torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
es from Soviet submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
s in the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
on the route west. The ship sank, taking about 9,400 people with her – the worst loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history. The seaport area was largely destroyed by withdrawing German troops and millions of encircled refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s in 1945 being bombarded by the Soviet military (90% of the buildings and equipment were destroyed) and the harbour entrance was blocked by the German battleship that had been brought to Gotenhafen for major repairs.
After World War II
On 28 March 1945, the city was captured by the Soviets and restored to Poland. The Soviets installed a communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism
The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...
in 1989. The post-war period saw an influx of settlers from Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
which was destroyed by Germany, and other parts of the country as well as Poles
Pole or poles may refer to:
People
*Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland
* Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist
...
from the cities of Wilno (now Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
) and Lwów (now Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
) from the Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland. Also Greeks
Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
, refugees of the Greek Civil War
During and after the Greek Civil War of 1946–1949, members and or supporters of the defeated Communist forces fled Greece as political refugees. The collapse of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) and subsequent evacuation of the Communist Party ...
, settled in the city. The port of Gdynia was one of the three Polish ports through which refugees of the Greek Civil War reached Poland.
On 17 December 1970, worker demonstrations took place at Gdynia Shipyard. Workers were fired upon by the police. Janek Wiśniewski
Zbigniew Eugeniusz Godlewski (3 August 195217 December 1970) was a Polish man shot dead by security forces during the 1970 Polish protests in the city of Gdynia. The event was popularized across the country in the poem and song, known by the nam ...
was one of 40 killed, and was commemorated in a song by Mieczysław Cholewa, ''Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni''. One of Gdynia's important streets is named after Janek Wiśniewski. The event was also portrayed in Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...
's movie ''Man of Iron
''Man of Iron'' () is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize workers' right to an independent union.
The film continues the story ...
''.
On 4 December 1999, a storm
''A Storm'', a 1922 pastel painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, shows lightning over a lake and the reflection of the Moon, while alluding to a feminine body shape. The medium is pastel on paper, mounted on illustration board.
The painting is part of a ...
destroyed a huge crane in a shipyard. In 2002, the city was awarded the Europe Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
for having made exceptional efforts to spread the ideal of European unity.
Geography
Climate
The climate of Gdynia is an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
owing to its position of the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
, which moderates the temperatures, compared to the interior of Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. The climate is mild and there is a somewhat uniform precipitation throughout the year. Autumns are significantly warmer than springs because of the warming influence of the Baltic Sea. Nights on average are warmer than in the interior of the country. Typical of Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
, there is little sunshine during late autumn, winter and early spring, but plenty during late spring and summer. Because of its northerly latitude, Gdynia has 17 hours of daylight in midsummer but only around 7 hours in midwinter.
The lowest pressure
Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...
in Poland was recorded in Gdynia - 960.2 hPa on 17 January 1931.
Districts
Gdynia is divided into smaller divisions: ''dzielnica
In the Polish system of local administration, a dzielnica (Polish plural ''dzielnice'') is an administrative subdivision or quarter of a city or town. A dzielnica may have its own elected council ('' rada dzielnicy'', or ''dzielnica council'') ...
s'' and ''osiedle
(Polish plural: ) is a term used in Poland to denote a designated subdivision or neighbourhood of a city or its , or of a town, with its own council and executive. Like the and sołectwo, an is an auxiliary unit (''jednostka pomocnicza'') of ...
s''. Gdynia's ''dzielnicas'' include: Babie Doły, Chwarzno-Wiczlino, Chylonia, Cisowa, Dąbrowa, Działki Leśne, Grabówek, Kamienna Góra, Karwiny, Leszczynki, Mały Kack, Obłuże
Obłuże (; ) is a district of Gdynia, Poland, located in the northern part of the city.
History
Obłuże was once a possession of the Premonstratensian Monastery in Żukowo, administratively located in the Puck County in the Pomeranian Voivodesh ...
, Oksywie
Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries.
Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...
, Orłowo, Pogórze, Pustki Cisowskie-Demptowo, Redłowo, Śródmieście, Wielki Kack, Witomino-Leśniczówka, Witomino-Radiostacja, Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana.
''Osiedles'': Bernadowo, Brzozowa Góra, Chwarzno, Dąbrówka, Demptowo, Dębowa Góra, Fikakowo, Gołębiewo, Kacze Buki, Kolibki, Kolonia Chwaszczyno, Kolonia Rybacka, Krykulec, Marszewo, Międzytorze, Niemotowo, Osada Kolejowa, Osada Rybacka, Osiedle Bernadowo, Port, Pustki Cisowskie, Tasza, Wiczlino, Wielka Rola, Witomino, Wysoka, Zielenisz.
Cityscape
Gdynia is a relatively modern city. Its architecture includes the 13th century St. Michael the Archangel's Church in Oksywie
Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries.
Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...
, the oldest building in Gdynia, and the 17th century neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
located on Folwarczna Street in Orłowo.
The surrounding hills and the coastline attract many nature lovers. A leisure pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
and a cliff-like coastline in Kępa Redłowska, as well as the surrounding Nature Reserve, are also popular locations. In the harbour, there are two anchored museum ship
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
s, the destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
and the tall ship
A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
'' Dar Pomorza''. A -long promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...
leads from the marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
in the city center, to the beach in Redłowo.
Most of Gdynia can be seen from Kamienna Góra ( asl) or the viewing point near Chwaszczyno. There are also two viewing towers, one at Góra Donas, the other at Kolibki.
In 2015 the Emigration Museum opened in the city. Other museums include the Gdynia Aquarium, Experyment Science Center, Abraham's house, Żeromski's house, Gdynia Automotive Museum, Naval Museum, and Gdynia City Museum.
Modernist Center
Gdynia holds many examples of early 20th-century architecture, especially monumentalism and early functionalism, and modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
. Historic Urban Layout of the City Center was drafted by Adam Kuncewicz and Roman Feliński
Roman Feliński (4 February 1886 – 22 March 1953) was a Polish architect. He authored the first Polish book on urban planning. He worked on development plans for Gdynia and Warsaw, and designed over 150 buildings, among others, the ''Magnus'' De ...
in 1926. The central axis of Gdynia is built around 10 Lutego Street, Kosciuszka Square and the Southern Pier. The structure of the city is designed to emphasize the connection of Gdynia and Poland with the Baltic Sea. Examples of modernist architecture are the buildings of the Bank of Poland and many tenement houses ('' kamienice''). Another good example of modernism is ''PLO Building'' situated at 10 Lutego Street.
The architecture of central Gdynia was inspired by the work of European architects such as Erich Mendelssohn and is sometimes compared to the White City of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. The center of Gdynia has become a symbol of modernity, but was included in the list of historical monuments of Poland and is a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
.
Culture
Gdynia hosts the Gdynia Film Festival
The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland.
It has taken place every ...
, the main Polish film festival. The International Random Film Festival was hosted in Gdynia in November 2014.
Since 2003 Gdynia has been hosting the Open'er Festival
The Open'er Festival is a music festival which takes place on the north coast of Poland, in Gdynia. It is one of the biggest annual music festivals in Poland. The first edition of the festival was organized in Warsaw in 2002 as ''Open Air Festi ...
, one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Europe. The festival welcomes many foreign hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
, rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
and electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
artists every year. In record-high 2018 it was attended by over 140,000 people, who enjoyed the lineup headlined by Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
, Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...
, and Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
.
Another important summer event in Gdynia is the Viva Beach Party, which is a large two-day techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
party made on Gdynia's Public Beach and a summer-welcoming concerts CudaWianki. Gdynia also hosts events for the annual Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival.
In the summer of 2014 Gdynia hosted Red Bull Air Race World Championship
The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a ...
.
Cultural references
In 2008, Gdynia made it onto the '' Monopoly Here and Now World Edition'' board after being voted by fans through the Internet. Gdynia occupies the space traditionally held by Mediterranean Avenue, being the lowest voted city to make it onto the Monopoly Here and Now board, but also the smallest city to make it in the game. All of the other cities are large and widely known ones, the second smallest being Riga. The unexpected success of Gdynia can be attributed to a mobilization of the town's population to vote for it on the Internet.
An abandoned factory district in Gdynia was the scene for the survival series ''Man vs Wild'', season 6, episode 12. The host, Bear Grylls
Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (; born 7 June 1974) is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former Special Air Service, SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable ...
, manages to escape the district after blowing up a door and crawling through miles of sewer.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional supervillain in the ''James Bond'' series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond. Blofel ...
, the supervillain in the James Bond novels, was born in Gdynia on 28 May 1908, according to '' Thunderball''.
Gdynia is sometimes called "Polish Roswell" due to the alleged UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...
crash on 21 January 1959.
Sports
Sport teams
* Arka Gdynia
Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a professional football club based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Ekstraklasa after winning the 2024–25 I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929.
History
The h ...
– men's football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team (Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
winner 1979 and 2017, Polish SuperCup
The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been p ...
winner in 2017 and in 2018. Currently plays in the first division of Polish football, the Ekstraklasa
(; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
)
* Bałtyk Gdynia
Bałtyk Gdynia is a Polish football club from Gdynia. The club is named after the Baltic Sea. They currently compete in the IV liga Pomerania, the fifth tier of Polish league competition.
History
The club was established in 1930 by football e ...
– men's football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team, currently playing in Polish 4th division
* Arka Gdynia (basketball) – men's basketball team (9 time Polish Basketball League
Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...
winner)
* Arka Gdynia (women's basketball) – women's basketball team (12-time Basket Liga Kobiet
Basket Liga Kobiet (BLK), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga Kobiet (OBLK) due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional women's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league p ...
champion)
* RC Arka Gdynia – rugby team (4-time Polish Champions)
* Seahawks Gdynia – American football team ( Polish American Football League) (4-time champion of Poland in 2012, 2014 and in 2015)
* Arka Gdynia (handball) – handball team which plays in Ekstraliga (First division of Polish handball)
International events
*2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth association football, football championship organised by UEFA for ...
*2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...
*2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships
The 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, originally scheduled for 29 March 2020 in Gdynia, Poland, was postponed until 17 October 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On , the mass participation race was cancelled, while the elite ...
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
Port of Gdynia
In 2007, 364,202 passengers, 17,025,000 tons of cargo and containers passed through the port. Regular car ferry service operates between Gdynia and Karlskrona, Sweden.
Public transport
Gdynia operates one of only three trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
systems in Poland, alongside Lublin
Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
and Tychy
Tychy (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bie ...
. Today there are 18 trolleybus lines in Gdynia with a total length of . The fleet is modern and consists of Solaris Trollino cars. There is also a historic line, connecting city centre with a district of Orłowo operated by five retro trolleybuses. In addition to that, Gdynia operates an extensive network of bus lines, connecting the city with the adjacent suburbs.
Airport
The conurbation's main airport, Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (, formerly , ) is an international airport located northwest of Gdańsk, Poland, not far from the city centres of the Tricity metropolitan area: Gdańsk (), Sopot () and Gdynia (). Since 2004, the airport has bee ...
, lays approximately south-west of central Gdynia, and has connections to approximately 55 destinations. It is the third largest airport in Poland. A second General Aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
terminal was scheduled to be opened by May 2012, which will increase the airport's capacity to 5mln passengers per year.
Another local airport, ( Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport) is situated partly in the village of Kosakowo, just to the north of the city, and partly in Gdynia. This has been a military airport since the World War II, but it has been decided in 2006 that the airport will be used to serve civilians. Work was well in progress and was due to be ready for 2012 when the project collapsed following a February 2014 EU decision regarding Gdynia city funding as constituting unfair competition to Gdańsk airport. In March 2014, the airport management company filed for bankruptcy, this being formally announced in May that year. The fate of some PLN 100 million of public funds from Gdynia remain unaccounted for with documents not being released, despite repeated requests for such from residents to the city president, Wojciech Szczurek.
Road transport
Trasa Kwiatkowskiego links Port of Gdynia
Port of Gdynia is a Polish seaport located on the western shore of Gdańsk Bay, Baltic Sea, in Gdynia. Founded in 1926, in 2008 it ranked second in intermodal container
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a frei ...
and the city with Obwodnica Trójmiejska
The Tricity Ring Road (Polish language, Polish:
''Obwodnica trójmiejska'', ''Obwodnica Trójmiasta'', ''Trasa Obwodowa Trójmiasta'') is a ring road in Poland bypassing the metropolitan area formed by the cities of Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk ...
, and therefore A1 motorway. National road 6 connects Tricity with Słupsk
Słupsk (; ; ) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifically in its part known in contemporary Poland as Central Pomerania ...
, Koszalin
Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...
and Szczecin agglomeration
The Szczecin metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration of the city of Szczecin and surrounding towns in the Poland, Polish-Germany, German border area.
The Larger Urban Zone defined by Eurostat includes 777,806 people living on 5249 km2 i ...
.
Railways
The principal station in Gdynia is Gdynia Główna railway station
Gdynia Główna railway station (Polish language, Polish for ''Gdynia main station'') is the main railway station serving the city of Gdynia in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It served 13,41 mln passengers in 2022, making it the busiest in t ...
, the busiest railway station in the Tricity and northern Poland and sixth busiest in Poland overall, serving 13,41 mln passengers in 2022. Gdynia has eleven railway stations. Local train services are provided by the 'Fast Urban Railway,' Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity)
PKP Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmieście Sp. z o.o. (); (SKM; which translates as 'Rapid Urban Rail'), is a public rapid transit and commuter rail system in Poland's Tricity area (Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia), in addition to servicing the Little ...
operating frequent trains covering the Tricity area including Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Sopot
Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
and Gdynia. Long-distance trains from Warsaw via Gdańsk terminate at Gdynia, and there are direct trains to Szczecin
Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...
, Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
, Katowice
Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...
, Lublin
Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
and other major cities. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route was undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to , modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern ETCS
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...
signalling system, which was completed in June 2015. In December 2014 new Alstom
Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...
high-speed trains were put into service between Gdynia, Warsaw and Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
reducing rail travel times to Gdynia by 2 hours.
Economy
Notable companies that have their headquarters or regional offices in Gdynia:
* PROKOM SA – the largest Polish I.T. company
* C. Hartwig Gdynia SA – one of the largest Polish freight forwarders
* Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...
– finance center
* Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...
– business data provider
* Vistal – bridge constructions, offshore and shipbuilding markets; partially located on old Stocznia Gdynia
Stocznia Gdynia was a shipyard located in the Port of Gdynia, Poland. It was founded in 1922. It has been in liquidation since 2009 and does not conduct production activities.
In 1970, workers of Gdynia Shipyard rose up against the ruling Poli ...
terrains
* Nauta
Nauta is a town in the northeastern part of Loreto Province in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, Amazon, roughly south of Iquitos, the provincial capital. Nauta is located on the north bank of the Marañón River, a major tributary of the Uppe ...
– ship repair yard; partially located on old Stocznia Gdynia terrains
* Crist – shipbuilding, offshore constructions, steel structures, sea engineering, civil engineering; located on old Stocznia Gdynia terrains
Former:
* Stocznia Gdynia
Stocznia Gdynia was a shipyard located in the Port of Gdynia, Poland. It was founded in 1922. It has been in liquidation since 2009 and does not conduct production activities.
In 1970, workers of Gdynia Shipyard rose up against the ruling Poli ...
– former largest Polish shipyard, now under bankruptcy procedures
* Nordea
Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a Nordic financial services group operating in northern Europe with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The Nordic countries are considered ...
– banks, sold and consolidated with PKO bank
Education
There are currently 8 universities
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
and institutions of higher education based in Gdynia. Many students from Gdynia also attend universities located in the Tricity.
* State-owned:
** Gdynia Maritime University
The Gdynia Maritime University (Polish: Uniwersytet Morski w Gdyni) is one of two colleges in Poland which specialises in educating highly qualified officers for the maritime industry, especially for the merchant navy.
History
The universit ...
** Polish Naval Academy
The "Battle of Westerplatte, Heroes of Westerplatte" Polish Naval Academy (PNA) is a naval university supervised by the Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, with a history, uninterrupted b ...
* Privately owned:
** WSB Merito Universities – WSB Merito University in Gdańsk, departments of Economics and Management
** Academy of International Economic and Political Relations
** University of Business and Administration in Gdynia
** Pomeranian Higher School of Humanities
** Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
– department in Gdynia
** Higher School of Social Communication
Notable people
* Stanisław Baranowski (1935–1978), glaciologist, undertook scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen and Antarctica
* Karol Olgierd Borchardt (1905–1986), writer and captain of the Polish Merchant Marine
* Krzysztof Charamsa (born 1972), former Catholic theologian and author
* Zbigniew Ciesielski
Zbigniew Ciesielski (Polish pronunciation: ; 1 October 1934 – 5 October 2020) was a Polish mathematician specializing in functional analysis and probability theory. He served as the President of the Polish Mathematical Society from 1981 to 1983 ...
(1934–2020), mathematician
* Adam Darski
Adam Nergal Darski (born Adam Michał Darski, 10 June 1977), often referred to by his stage name Nergal, is a Polish musician, best known as the frontman of the extreme metal band Behemoth (band), Behemoth.
Career
Nergal was born Adam Mi ...
(born 1977), musician and TV personality, frontman for the blackened death metal band Behemoth
Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...
* Wiesław Dawidowski (born 1964), Augustinian Catholic priest, doctor of theology and journalist
* Rafał de Weryha-Wysoczański (born 1975), art historian, genealogist and writer
* Jacek Fedorowicz (born 1937), satirist and actor
* Tova Friedman (born 1938), therapist, social worker, author and Holocaust survivor
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...
* Eugeniusz Geno Małkowski
Eugeniusz Geno Małkowski (; 5 September 1942 – 20 August 2016) was a Polish painter. Małkowski was a professor of contemporary art at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, founder of artistic groups and associations throughout Polan ...
(1942–2016), painter
* Gunnar Heinsohn
Gunnar Heinsohn (21 November 1943 – 16 February 2023) was a German author, sociologist and economist and professor emeritus at the University of Bremen where he had a chair in social pedagogy from 1984.
Heinsohn published on a wide array of ...
(born 1943), German author, sociologist and economist
* Klaus Hurrelmann (born 1944), Professor of Public Health and Education
* Hilary Jastak (1914–2000 in Gdynia), Catholic priest, Doctor of Theology, Chaplain of Solidarity movement, Major of Polish Armed Forces, Lieutenant Commander of the Polish Navy
* Jan Kaczkowski (1977–2016), Roman Catholic priest, doctor of theological sciences, bioethicist, vlogger, organizer, and director of the Puck Hospice
* Janusz Kaczmarek
Janusz Kazimierz Kaczmarek (born 25 December 1961 in Gdynia) is a Polish lawyer, prosecutor and politician. He was National Public Prosecutor from 31 October 2005 to 8 February 2007, and Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration ...
(born 1961), lawyer, prosecutor and politician
* Marcin Kupinski (born 1983), ballet dancer
* Tomasz Makowiecki
Tomasz Makowiecki (born 10 June 1983, in Gdynia) is a Polish musician, singer and songwriter.
History ''Idol'' and Makowiecki Band (2002–2005)
Makowiecki became popular in 2002 as one of the finalists in the first season of Polish TV series ' ...
(born 1983), musician, singer and songwriter
* Dorota Nieznalska
Dorota Alicja Nieznalska (born 19 September 1973) is a Polish visual artist and sculptor.
Nieznalska's controversial installation ''Pasja'' (2002), which included the placement of an image of the penis upon a metal Greek cross, resulted in a no ...
(born 1973), visual artist and sculptor
* Kazimierz Ostrowski (1917–1999 in Gdynia), painter
* Anna Przybylska (1978–2014), actress and model
* Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978), Polish-American rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
and educator
* Jerzy Rubach (born 1948), Polish and American linguist who specializes in phonology
* Arkadiusz Rybicki (1953–2010), politician, active in the Solidarity movement
* Joanna Senyszyn (born 1949), left-wing politician, vice-president of the Democratic Left Alliance Democratic Left Alliance may refer to:
* Democratic Left Alliance (Poland)
The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. It was formed on 9 July 1991 as ...
(SLD) and MEP
* Anna Siewierska
Anna Siewierska (born Gdynia, Poland, 25 December 1955, died Da Lat, Vietnam, 6 August 2011) was a Polish-born linguist who worked in Australia, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. She was professor of linguistics at Department of Li ...
(1955–2011), Polish-born linguist, specialist in language typology
* Wojciech Szczurek (born 1963), Mayor of the City of Gdynia since 1998
* Józef Unrug
Józef Unrug (; 7 October 1884 – 28 February 1973) was a German and Polish admiral who helped establish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander-in-chief. As a German P ...
(1884–1973), German-born Polish vice admiral who helped create the Polish navy
* Marian Zacharski (born 1951), Intelligence officer convicted of espionage
* Marek Żukowski
Marek Żukowski (born 11 December 1952) is a Polish theoretical physicist and lecturer at the University of Gdańsk. He specializes in quantum mechanics, his area of interest in particular concerns the Bell's theorem and quantum interferometry.
...
(born 1952), theoretical physicist, specializes in quantum mechanics
Sport
* Teresa Remiszewska
Teresa Remiszewska (born 19 June 1928 in Międzychód, Poland – died 2 March 2002 in Sopot) was a Polish sailor, yacht captain, sailing instructor and pioneer of women's solo sailing in Poland. She was also a journalist and jailed in late 1982 f ...
(1928–2002), Solo ocean yacht sailor
* Jörg Berger
Jörg Berger (13 October 1944 – 23 June 2010) was a German football manager and player, who last managed Arminia Bielefeld.
Career
As an active he played for 1.FC Lok Leipzig.
Coaching career
In 1970, Berger was forced to retire due to ...
(1944–2010), German soccer player, trainer
* Adelajda Mroske (1944–1975), speed skater, she competed in four events at the 1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...
* Ryszard Marczak (born 1945), former long-distance runner from Poland, competed in the marathon at the 1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
* Józef Błaszczyk
Józef Wojciech Błaszczyk (born 23 March 1947, in Gdynia) is a sailing (sport), sailor from Poland. Błaszczyk represented his country at the Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 Summer Olympics in Kiel. Błaszczyk took 8th place in the Sa ...
(born 1947), sailor who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...
* Andrzej Chudziński (1948–1995), swimmer, competed in three events at the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...
* Anna Sobczak (born 1967), fencer, competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1988
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
and 1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
* Tomasz Sokołowski (born 1970), footballer, over 350 pro games and 12 for Poland
* Jarosław Rodzewicz (born 1973), fencer, won a silver medal in the team foil event at the 1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
* Marcin Mięciel (born 1975), soccer player, over 500 pro games
* Michael Klim
Michael George Klim, OAM (born 13 August 1977) is an Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder of the 1990s and 2000s. He is known as the creator of straight-arm freestyle.
Early years
Klim was ...
(born 1977), Polish-born Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medallist and world champion
* Anna Rybicka (born 1977), fencer, she won a silver medal in the women's team foil event at the 2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
* Andrzej Bledzewski (born 1977), retired football goalkeeper, over 400 pro games
* Tomasz Dawidowski (born 1978), footballer, over 200 pro games and 10 for Poland
* Maciej Grabowski (born 1978), laser class sailor, competed in the 2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
and 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
* Adriana Dadci (born 1979), judoka, competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
* Stefan Liv
Stefan Daniel Patryk Liv (born Patryk Śliż; 21 December 1980 – 7 September 2011) was a Polish-born Swedish professional ice hockey player who played as a goaltender. Liv played professionally in Sweden, North America and Russia. Liv played n ...
(1980–2011), Polish-born Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender
* Monika Pyrek (born 1980), retired pole vaulter, competed at the 2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Anna Rogowska (born 1981), pole vaulter, the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
* Michał Zych (born 1982), ice dancer
* Karolina Chlewińska
Karolina Chlewińska (born 8 November 1983) is a Polish foil fencer, team silver medalist at the 2010 World Championships.
Chlewińska won a bronze medal at the 2003 Junior World Championships in Trapani. She competed in team foil at the 2008 ...
(born 1983), foil fencer, competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
* Igor Janik (born 1983), javelin thrower, competed in the 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (née Jans; born 24 September 1984) is a Polish former professional tennis player. On 16 August 2004, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 410. On 10 September 2012, she peaked at No. 28 in the doubles rankings. ...
(born 1984), retired tennis player, competed in the 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Piotr Hallmann (born 1987), mixed martial artist, second lieutenant in the Polish Navy
* Joanna Mitrosz (born 1988), rhythmic gymnast, competed at the 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Małgorzata Białecka
Małgorzata Białecka (born 2 April 1988 in Gdynia) is a Polish Windsurfing, windsurfer, In her career she won the Windsurfing World Championships in 2016. She competed at 2016 Olympic Games where she placed 14th.
Achievements
References (born 1988), windsurfer, competed at 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
* Olek Czyż (born 1990), professional basketball player, played for Poland
* Justyna Plutowska
Justyna Plutowska (born 27 June 1991) is a Polish ice dancer. With former partner Peter Gerber, she is the 2013 Finlandia Trophy bronze medalist and 2014 Bavarian Open champion.
Personal life
Justyna Plutowska was born 27 June 1991 in Gdynia, P ...
(born 1991), ice dancer
Fictional characters
* Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional supervillain in the ''James Bond'' series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond. Blofel ...
(born 28 May 1908 in Gdingen), fictional character and villain from the James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...
International relations
Consulates
There are 10 honorary consulates in Gdynia – Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
, Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
.
Twin towns – sister cities
Gdynia is twinned with:
* Aalborg
Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...
, Denmark
* Baranavichy
Baranavichy or Baranovichi is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Baranavichy District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817. ...
, Belarus
* Brooklyn (New York), United States
* Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, South Korea
* Côte d'Opale (communauté), France
* Haikou
Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...
, China
* Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...
, Sweden
* Kiel
Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
, Germany
* Klaipėda
Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...
, Lithuania
* Kotka
Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...
, Finland
* Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
, Norway
* Kunda (Viru-Nigula), Estonia
* Liepāja
Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...
, Latvia
* Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, England, United Kingdom
* Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, United States
Former twin towns:
* Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
, Russia (terminated in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
)
See also
* Gdynia trolleybus
* Ports of the Baltic Sea
The table below lists the most recent statistics for over 100 ports of the Baltic Sea, including Kattegat strait, which handle notable freight or passenger traffic.
Container traffic is given in terms of Twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo. For ...
* St. Anthony parish, Gdynia
* Wiczlino, Gdynia
Notes
References
Further reading
* (ed.) R. Wapiński, ''Dzieje Gdyni'', Gdańsk 1980
* (ed.). S. Gierszewski, ''Gdynia'', Gdańsk 1968
* ''Gdynia'', in: Pomorze Gdańskie, nr 5, Gdańsk 1968
* J. Borowik, ''Gdynia, port Rzeczypospolitej'', Toruń 1934
* B. Kasprowicz, ''Problemy ekonomiczne budowy i eksploatacji portu w Gdyni w latach 1920–1939'', Zapiski Historyczne, nr 1-3/1956
* M. Widernik, ''Główne problemy gospodarczo-społeczne miasta Gdyni w latach 1926–1939.'', Gdańsk 1970
* (ed.) A. Bukowski, ''Gdynia. Sylwetki ludzi, oświata i nauka, literatura i kultura'', Gdańsk 1979
* ''Gminy województwa gdańskiego'', Gdańsk 1995
* H. Górnowicz, Z. Brocki, ''Nazwy miast Pomorza Gdańskiego'', Wrocław 1978
* Gerard Labuda (ed.), ''Historia Pomorza'', vol. I-IV, Poznań 1969–2003
* (ed.) W. Odyniec, ''Dzieje Pomorza Nadwiślańskiego od VII wieku do 1945 roku'', Gdańsk 1978
* L. Bądkowski, ''Pomorska myśl polityczna'', Gdańsk 1990
* 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
* B. Bojarska, ''Eksterminacja inteligencji polskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim (wrzesień-grudzień 1939)'', Poznań 1972
* K. Ciechanowski, ''Ruch oporu na Pomorzu Gdańskim 1939–1945.'', Warsaw 1972
External links
Gdynia Port - Home for all Polish Ocean Liners
Gdynia city website
Virtual tour on Gdynia's coast
{{Authority control
Planned communities in Poland
Port cities and towns in Poland
Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea
1926 in Poland
City counties of Poland
Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship
Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland
UFO sightings in Poland
Intelligenzaktion massacre locations