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It inspires, attracts, and captivates in countless ways. It has an impact, evokes associations, and gives hope. For a hundred years, it has seized its opportunity, opening up new possibilities for us. It was and remains a symbol, an icon, a role model, yet that isn't enough. And it boldly adds: "I am a dream!"
You're reading about Gdynia for a reason. The reason isn't the sea, the port, or the beach. Nor is it a festival, an exhibition, or a match. Not a single seal, herring, or, even less so, a single wild boar. Although, considering the size of our city and its close connection with nature, this wouldn't be surprising. The occasion for speaking out is a birthday – a centenary that won't go unnoticed, just as Gdynia didn't enter history unnoticed. A city anniversary, a community celebration, community pride, Poland's success.
If the primers had written "G for Gdynia," not even a faint murmur of surprise would have passed through our city. Just another step towards greatness – magnificent, more magnificent… Gdynia! Known for almost eight centuries, and for the last hundred years participating in a great history. A village that became a summer resort; a resort transformed into a port city; the maritime capital of Poland, its most striking showcase. Open to the world, yet focused on the country that counted so much on it. A winner thanks to its Baltic location, strong thanks to the community of people who have come for decades to build it. As well as those who were born and lived here. Harmonious, happy, stable, but also facing challenges, amid difficulties and uncertainty – appropriate to the times. Gdynia has captured them and us, and by transforming itself, it has created/created a new, civic community, focused on its city. One could say: a proud, prouder… Gdynia resident; proud, prouder... Gdynian. And so it has been for generations, and for over a century.
Achieving success in the difficult realities of the Second Polish Republic, reborn after the partitions, was no easy feat. New national borders and the loss of Gdańsk necessitated the construction of a new Polish port. Its location in Gdynia proved to be an opportunity with local, regional, and national dimensions. In practice, only here was contact with the wider world possible – through exploration and economic exploitation of the sea, ocean trade, and passenger traffic. The visionary vision of the authorities, the aspirations of the government, and the ambitions of society (skillfully aroused) co-created a maritime Poland. Active, visible, yet also somewhat overrated. This direction also created Gdynia. It changed the course of our history, becoming a symbol of the country's modernization and its modernity. Gdynia justified the means.
As a symbol, it suffered a particularly devastating blow during World War II. It irrevocably lost some of its inhabitants, deliberately murdered by the Germans; over half the remaining population was expelled, the city was renamed Gotenhafen ("Gothic Port") and transformed into a German naval base. After this painful chapter in history, pre-war residents returned, and with the entrepreneurship and organization characteristic of Gdynia, the reconstruction of the port and city began. This was followed by a period of Gdynia's dependence on hostile state authorities, constrained by the will of the Soviet Union. The "gateway to the world" was closed... Despite this, Gdynia remained its vibrant individuality for decades. It was steadfast and rebellious, drawing strength from the community of its inhabitants, uniting the pre- and post-war generations. It showed how to live with one's head held high. And how to fight, sacrificing blood on several occasions—as in December 1970. Those events have remained elements of collective memory, contributing to Gdynia's extraordinary identity.
Once "our gateway," "the pride of Poland," our "New York," our "California," and these were just some of the terms used to describe Gdynia back then. Simultaneously, it merged with "Chinatown," "Beijing," and "Mexico," as makeshift housing estates for the poorest. From a city under construction, composed of stark contrasts, it became every inch a metropolis. A city, one hundred percent. Gdynia—authentic and inimitable. One whose citizens, with exceptional agreement, agree that they are happy here, and their city is the best place to live. What better way to advertise one's place on earth than the love emanating from its inhabitants...?
Gdynia! May your birthday, this special occasion, be an opportunity for shared celebration, generous thanksgiving, and appropriate honors, as well as for reflection. On the history of the place you have embraced within your districts. On the strength of the community that courageously built its city here and inextricably linked its fate with it. May you yourself continually develop and change, resonate and create, and, remembering your extraordinary past, as is tradition, look to the future.