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Bydgoszcz

  [bid-gawshch]
Bydgoszcz, Ger. Bromberg, city (1994 est. pop. 384,000), capital (with Toruń) of Kujawsko-Pomorskie prov., N central Poland, on the Brda River, a tributary of the Vistula. One of Poland's major inland ports, it stands on the Bydgoszcz Canal (built 1773-74), which links the Brda and Noteć rivers and is part of the Vistula-Oder waterway. The city is also an important railway junction. Its chief industries produce wood products, textiles, metal goods, and chemicals. Chartered in 1346, the city developed during the Middle Ages around the site of a prehistoric fort. In the 15th and 16th cent. it became an important commercial center. It passed to Prussia in 1772 and was returned to Poland in 1919. Occupied by German forces from 1939 to 1945, the city suffered heavy damage in World War II. The most notable surviving building is a 15th-century Gothic church.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Bydgoszcz

City (pop., 2000 est.: 384,500), northern Poland. Originally a commercial city of the Teutonic Order, it received town rights in 1346. It prospered as a grain and timber centre until it was devastated in the 17th-century Swedish wars. In the 18th century the Bydgoszcz Canal, which linked the basins of the Vistula and Oder rivers, made the city a major inland port. It fell under Prussian rule in 1772–1919. The Germans held it throughout World War II, but it was noted for its staunch resistance to the Nazi invasion of 1939. It remains important as a water transport route, connecting Upper Silesia with the Baltic ports.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Bydgoszcz

Bydgoszcz (Bromberg, Bydgostia) is a city in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 369,151 (2004), agglomeration more than 400 000, which makes it the 8th biggest city in Poland. It has been the co-capital with Toruń of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1947-1998) and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1945-1947). Since 1999 it is also the seat of Bydgoszcz County.

Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń with Toruń, only 45 km away, and over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of Casimir the Great University, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory as well as a Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Bydgoszcz has a famous Concert Hall (Filharmonia Pomorska), opera house Opera Nova, From the Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport there are flights to Warsaw, London, Dublin, Liverpool, Berlin, Katowice, Vienna, Copenhagen, Birmingham and Düsseldorf-Weeze as well charter flights to Antalya, Crete and Tunis. Thanks to its location between Vistula and Odra water system on the Bydgoszcz channel, the city is an important link in a water system connected via Noteć, Warta, Odra, Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam.

History

Originally a fishing settlement called Bydgozcya ("Bydgostia" in Latin), the city became a stronghold for the Vistula trade routes. In the 13th century it was the site of a castellany, first mentioned in 1238. The city was occupied by the Teutonic Knights from 1331–1337, and later by King Casimir III of Poland, who granted the city municipal rights on 19 April 1346. The city increasingly saw an influx of Jews after that date.

In the 15th-16th centuries Bydgoszcz was a significant site for corn trading. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz was signed in the city in 1657.

Bydgoszcz followed the history of Greater Poland until 1772, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland and incorporated into the Netze District and, later, West Prussia. During this time, a canal was built from Bydgoszcz to Nakło which connected the north-flowing Vistula River via the Brda to the west-flowing Noteć, which in turn flowed to the Oder via the Warta.

In 1807 Bydgoszcz became part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it returned to Prussian rule as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań (the Province of Posen after 1848) and the capital of the Bromberg region. After 1871 the city was part of the German Empire. After World War I and the Great Poland Uprising, Bydgoszcz was annexed to Poland in 1919. It shifted in 1938 to the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

From 1939-45 during World War II, Bydgoszcz was overrun by Nazi Germany and annexed to the Reichsgau Wartheland. On September 3 1939, shortly after the war started, the Bromberg Bloody Sunday incident occurred in which numerous Poles and Germans were killed; the incident was used by Nazi propaganda for retaliation against Poles after Bydgoszcz was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 9. The city's Jewish citizens were repressed, as thousands of people were sent to concentration camps and/or executed. Bydgoszcz was the site of Bromberg-Ost, a female subcamp of Stutthof. The subcamp staffed several female SS guards (Aufseherin) and was commanded by the Oberaufseherin Johanna Wisotzki and a male commandant. A deportation camp was situated in Smukała village, now part of Bydgoszcz. According to Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN, 37,000 citizens of the city died during the war.

In 1945 Bydgoszcz was liberated and annexed again to Poland.

In 1981 Solidarity's activists were violently suppressed in Bydgoszcz.

Economy

Major corporations

Education

Transport

Airports

Railways

Bydgoszcz is one of the biggest railroad junctions in Poland, with two important lines crossing there - the east-west connection from Toruń to Pila and the north-south line from Inowrocław to Gdańsk (see: Polish Coal Trunk-Line). There are also secondary-importance lines stemming from the city, to Szubin and to Chełmża.

Among rail stations located in the city, there are:

  • Bydgoszcz Główna - main railway station
  • Bydgoszcz Leśna
  • Bydgoszcz Wschód
  • Bydgoszcz Zachód
  • Bydgoszcz Łęgnowo
  • Bydgoszcz Bielawy
  • Bydgoszcz Osowa Góra

Bus stations

  • PKS Bydgoszcz - operates inter-city and international bus routes

Culture

Museums

  • Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego (Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum) is a municipally-owned museum. Apart from a large collection of Leon Wyczółkowski's works, it houses permanent as well as temporary exhibitions of art.

It occupies several buildings: - Main building (Gdańska 4 St.) - The White Granary (Mennica St.)

Classical music

  • Filharmonia Pomorska im. Ignacego Paderewskiego (Ignacy Paderewski's Concert Hall) - thanks to superbly designed acoustic qualities of the main concert hall, it is one of the best classical music concert halls in Europe.

Popular music

  • Concerts of popular music in Bydgoszcz are usually held in Filharmonia Pomorska, Łuczniczka, Zawisza and Polonia stadiums as well as open plains of Myslecinek's Rozopole on the outskirts of the city.

Alternative music festival "Low Fi" http://www.lowfi-festival.com

Theatre

  • Teatr Polski im. Hieronima Konieczki (Hieronim Konieczka's Polish Theatre) - despite its name, theatre offers a wide variety of shows both of national and foreign origin. It also regularly plays hosts to a large number of touring shows. Once a year, in autumn, "Festiwal Prapremier" is organized: the most renowned Polish theatres stage their latest premieres.
  • Opera Nova (The Nova Opera)

Sports

Sports clubs

Sports facilities

Sports events

Politics

Bydgoszcz constituency

Members of Polish Sejm 2007-2011 elected from Bydgoszcz constituency:

Members of Polish Senate 2007-2011 elected from Bydgoszcz constituency:

  • Zbigniew Pawłowicz, Civic Platform
  • Jan Rulewski, Civic Platform

People

Legends

It is also said that Pan Twardowski spent some time in the city of Bydgoszcz, where, in his memory, a figure was recently mounted in a window of a tenement, overseeing the Old Town. At 1:13 p.m. and 9:13 p.m. the window opens and Pan Twardowski appears, to the accompaniment of weird music and devilish laughter. He takes a bow, waves his hand, and then disappears. This little show gathers crowds of amused spectators.

Sister cities

See also

References

External links


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Last updated on Wednesday October 01, 2008 at 05:24:29 PDT (GMT -0700)
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