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A post-war chapter in the history of architecture and development of the port of Gdynia

Abstract

The port of Gdynia, considered one of the largest civil construction projects of the 20th century in Europe, was built at an express pace for only a dozen or so years from the mid-1920s to the end of the 1930s. Unusual solutions from the construction period in the port engineering category, as well as outstanding architectural works The industrial area quickly became architectural symbols of economic growth and the general rebirth of Poland after 1918. In April 1945, the Poles took over the property of the port after the war found a picture of the ruins and destruction of the port, mainly the result of deliberate plantings carried out on the orders of Adolf Hitler in the last 10 days before the capitulation of the Germans. The devastation of individual elements of the port infrastructure and buildings was assessed at the level from 25% to 100%. Post-war reconstruction of the port from damage, in the years 1945-1947 not only the losses were inventoried, but also significant decisions were made as to whether the building was to be rebuilt or a new investment was planned in its place. Studies on this subject show that the investment reconstruction of the port did not continue the boldly outlined pre-war development plans, but from the point of view of its architecture, a new page in its history definitely opened up for this team.

Keywords:

modernism, Port of Gdynia, 1945-1989, rebuilt after war damage

Details

Issue
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025): MEMG
Section
Research Articles
Published
2025-11-30
References

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The journal operates under an open-access model. All content is freely available without technical or financial restrictions. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium, provided that the original author(s), source, and license are properly credited.

Authors

Anna Orchowska

Gdańsk Tech https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9930-3655 ##linkOpensInNewTab##

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