Danzig

Danzig (Polish Gdansk), an important seaport and capital of West Prussia, and fortress of the first rank, is situated on the left bank of the western branch of the Vistula, 284 miles NE. of Berlin by rail, and about 4 miles from the river's mouth in the shallow Gulf of Danzig, an inlet of the Baltic. Danzig was an important town in the 10th century, and its possession was contended for by Danes, Pomeranians, Prussians, Brandenburgers, Poles, and the Teutonic Knights, the last of whom held it from 1308 to 1454, when it became a free city under Poland. In 1793 it fell to Prussia, in whose hands, except during the years 1807-1814, when it existed as a separate dukedom under Napoleonic rule, it has since continued. It is surrounded by a wall with twenty bastions, and by wet ditches, and possesses works for laying the surrounding country under water on three sides; its works are strengthened by outlying forts, and a chain of batteries extends to the mouth of the river. The city is traversed by the Motlau and Radaune, tributaries of the Vistula, the former of which has been deepened to 15 feet, and admits vessels up to the Speicherinsel, an island forming one of the quarters of the town, retained for the storage of grain. The principal port, however, is at the mouth of the Vistula, below the sand-bars across it. Many of the streets are narrow and crooked, but the Langgasse, intersecting it from east to west, presents a most picturesque appearance, with its lofty gable houses of the 16th and 17th centuries; and there are good suburbs to the west, with wide thoroughfares. Among the most noteworthy buildings are the large church of St Mary (1343-1502), with a noble 'Last Judgment,' painted probably by Memling, and a finely-carved altar of wood; the church of St Catharine (1326-30); the fine old Gothic town-hall; the old exchange; and the Franciscan monastery, now used as a museum and school. Danzig was at one time a prominent member of the Hanseatic League, and is still one of the chief commercial cities of northern Europe. Of the seaward trade in 1884, nearly £2,850,000 represented the imports (chiefly herrings, cotton, iron, drugs, coal, coffee, and hides), and £3,162,000 the exports (sugar, wheat, timber, spirits, &c.). The river and railway trade is also important. The manufactures include beer, spirits (Danzig Goldwasser), sugar, tobacco, flour, iron-wares, machinery, amber, gold and silver ornaments; and there are also an imperial dockyard employing 1580 men, and an artillery arsenal with over 800 workmen. The town has a library of 100,000 volumes, and is well supplied with hospitals, asylums, schools, museums, &c. Pop. (1880) 108,551; (1890) 120,338, of whom 90,000 were Protestants.