You can’t miss Gdansk, when you are visiting Poland, you can’t miss the Shipyard, when you are visiting Gdansk!!!
Not politicians, not military, not intellectuals or artists, but ordinary workers from the Gdansk shipyard in the 70s of the XX century began a courageous fight for my and your freedom.
Big history happened here and it’s not important place only for us Poles.
We are all beneficients of peaceful changes from communism to democracy which started here in 1970 and ended in collapsing of communism in Poland in 1989. It caused a chain reaction in many other Soviet-controlled countries, for example in East Germany, where it ultimately resulted in the demise of the Berlin Wall.
The historic Gdansk Shipyard, as any proud resident of the city will explain, was a begining of all of it. Solidarity (polish Solidarnosc), the famous workers’ movement and trade union that changed the World uniting citizens in peaceful fight for freedom and human rights during Cold War, was born here.
At that time Solidarity was commanded by Lech Wałęsa – currently one of the most famous Poles, who was awarded in 1983 the Nobel Peace Prize for his activities at the forefront of Solidarity.
I can’t find the words how much we liked European Solidarity Centre – a museum which was built on the terrain of Gdansk Shipyard to commemorate the revolution of Solidarity and the fall of communism in Europe.
The ESC is a state-of-the-art cultural institution that honours this civic success. It’s a museum, but it’s also an educational, research and academic centre, an archive and a library. It tells the story how – step by step – communism collapsed in Poland and how it opened the gate to freedom for many other countries.
This place is crucial to the origins of democratic transformations in Europe. Don’t miss it during your visit in Poland.
TIPS AND HINTS
1. Plan your visit with a guide.
On the museum’s website you will find a list of recommended and licensed guides. We used the services of Ms. Elzbieta Trella. It was so amazing to have Ms. Elzbieta with us, that we can’t imagine to visit any other museum without a guide. Having a good guide with you can upgrade your experience with any museum to the highest level! I trully recommend her and I’m sure she will make yout visit unforgettable as well.
Elzbieta Trella, etrella@wp.pl, +48 501 893 260, languages – Polish, English, Spanish
2. Book at least 2-3 hours for sightseeing.
2 hours it’s absolute minimum and believe me that you will not have enough.
3. Don’t plan to visit another museum on the same day.
Visiting ESC you will learn many new things, you will leave the place full of emotions and topics to discuss. Give youself time to digest all of it. I believe that jumping during one day from one museum to the other is too much. We did like this and we were regreting. Once again it turned out that less is more.
4. Remeber about visiting the roof!
The observation deck is located on the ESC rooftop. The view from the deck covers the area of the former Gdansk Shipyard, the Old Town as well as the Main City of Gdansk. The admission is free. The deck is accessible through the spring, summer, and autumn, on winter when the weather conditions are propitious. If you have a binoculars or telescope, bring them with you.
5. Eat the cake in the museum cafe 😉
My boyfriend (Spaniard) always tells me, that what never disappoints him in Polish cuisine are desserts. That is so true! After the visit in ESC, stop in the cafe located on the ground floor and enjoy amazing cheese cake. Yummy!
INFO CORNER:
Time: June 2018
Type: Activity
Web: https://www.ecs.gda.pl
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ecsgdansk
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