Free City of Danzig Historical Zone (Branch of the Society of Friends of Gdansk)

What to expect

The Free City of Danzig Historical Zone (Strefa Historyczna Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) is a museum of the Free City of Danzig built from keepsakes rather than a grand narrative: a collection of objects from the years when Gdansk was a Free City, run by history enthusiasts from the Society of Friends of Gdansk (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Gdańska), of which it is a branch. It is at Długi Targ 25/27, right next to the Green Gate, and its exhibits cover the period from 1920 on.

According to the regional portal pomorskie.travel, the exhibition has grown to almost one and a half thousand items. It stands out for a large collection of Gdansk bottles, for both spirits and beer, and a collection of models of Gdansk trams; a separate room is devoted to the Poles of Gdansk. The site archideon.pl lists the identity papers of Free City citizens and stamps of the Danzig post among the keepsakes.

Polish Wikipedia adds that the exhibition is rounded out by old documentary films showing Gdansk and by the original Free City anthem of the 1930s, “Für Danzig” by Paul Enderling, which is played in the rooms. The museum also holds history lessons and themed events; as an example it gives live cooking from old recipes in the “Gdańska książka kucharska” (Gdansk Cookbook).

Who it suits: anyone curious about Gdansk in the Free City years told through concrete objects: bottles, tram models, identity papers and stamps. Also collectors of such small items, and teachers looking for a history lesson outside school.

Who should think twice: those looking for art. Here you see historical keepsakes, while the neighbouring Green Gate shows temporary exhibitions of old and modern art. Wheelchair users and anyone who finds stairs hard should call before visiting: the museum publishes no accessibility information at all.

How long: the museum does not say how long a visit takes. Plan the Zone as part of a walk along Długi Targ: the Green Gate next door opens earlier, and for the Crane (Żuraw) its museum gives an average of an hour for a visit, so the three are easy to fit into one route.

Tips

• Enter from Pończoszników. The official address is Długi Targ 25/27, but according to Polish Wikipedia you enter the building from ul. Pończoszników, to the left of the Green Gate. Look for the door there.
• The Green Gate first. Museum hours: Mon: closed, Tue-Sun: 12:00-17:00. The Zone opens later than the Green Gate next door, so in the morning start with the gate and go into the Zone once it has opened.
• Longer in summer. The hours in the practical box are the winter-season hours; in the summer season the museum closes later. The museum does not say when either season starts or ends, so in spring and autumn call before your visit.
• Prices only from the museum. The museum publishes no ticket prices on its website. Ask about them before your visit at the office of the Society of Friends of Gdansk.
• Questions go to the Society. On its contact page the museum gives the phone number and e-mail address of the Society of Friends of Gdansk office (both in the practical box). Ask there about prices, season dates and access for people with disabilities; teachers can also ask about history lessons for school classes.

Getting there

• Address: ul. Długi Targ 25/27, 80-838 Gdańsk; the entrance is from ul. Pończoszników, to the left of the Green Gate.
• Tram: according to the ZTM Gdańsk timetable, the stops closest to the museum are “Chmielna 01” (about 316 m) and “Chmielna 02” (about 333 m), served by lines 8 and 9.
• Bus: the “Chmielna 03” stop (about 290 m) is served by lines 112, 138, 178 and 186, and the “Targ Chlebowy 01” (about 305 m) and “Żuraw 01” (about 314 m) stops by line 100.

Nearby

The Zone is easy to combine with three museums of the Main Town (straight-line distances):

• Green Gate (Zielona Brama), Długi Targ 24 - about 30 m. Built in 1564-1568, the gate closes off Długi Targ on the Motława side, and today, as a branch of the National Museum in Gdansk, it shows temporary exhibitions of old and modern art.
• Main Town Hall, ul. Długa 46/47 - about 200 m. The Town Hall was the seat of the city authorities from the mid-14th century until 1921, so its history reaches the start of the period whose keepsakes the Zone collects.
• Gdansk Crane (Żuraw), ul. Szeroka 67/68 - about 280 m. The exhibition in this port crane, built in 1442-1444, tells of the port of Gdansk in its 17th-century “golden age”, and the museum gives an average of an hour for a visit: a much older chapter of the city’s history than the one in the Zone.

Background

The site on Długi Targ is not the first. The museum opened in June 2009 on ul. Piwna: Polish Wikipedia gives the date of the official opening as 27 June 2009 and the address as Piwna 19, while the museum writes of Piwna 19/21. According to the museum, the first site was in three rooms of a former leather-goods workshop, and among its more than five hundred exhibits was a safe weighing over a tonne made by the firm of Emil Krause.

After three years the museum moved to Długi Targ 25/27; Wikipedia gives the date of the move as 1 December 2012. In 2018 the city portal gdansk.pl wrote of it as the Free City Museum (Muzeum Wolnego Miasta), “formerly the Free City of Danzig Historical Zone”, and today the museum presents itself on its website as Muzeum Strefa Historyczna Wolne Miasto Gdańsk.