Prussian-Poland Tour

September 2019

A 14-day adventure by Pat Read more

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- Sep 11, 2019, 9:30am
- ☀️ 55 °F
- Altitude: 820 ft
- Poland Pomerania Stężyca Szymbark 54.218351, 18.10110154°13’6” N 18°6’4” E
Day 4
St. Theresa, Szymbark Poland
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
First stop, St. Teresa's Catholic Church. Apparently Chris had ancestors connected with this place when it was a Lutheran Church. Many of the Lutheran church buildings were turned over to the Catholic church after World War II when the land became part of Poland and Germans left the area.Read more
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- Sep 11, 2019, 10:30am
- ☀️ 59 °F
- Altitude: 472 ft
- Poland Pomerania Kościerzyna Wdzydze Kiszewskie Jezioro Gotuń 54.010834, 17.94451954°0’39” N 17°56’40” E
Day 4
Kashubian Ethnographic Park, Wdzydze
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/attractions…
Some 16km south of Kościerzyna, Wdzydze Kiszewskie is a tiny village with a big attraction, namely the Kashubian Ethnographic Park, an open-air museum (skansen) displaying the typical rural architecture of Kashubia. Established in 1906 by the local schoolmaster, this was Poland’s first open-air museum of traditional architecture.
Many have followed in its wake. Pleasantly positioned on the lakeside, it now contains a score of buildings rescued from central and southern Kashubia, including cottages, barns, a school, a windmill and an 18th-century church used for Sunday Mass. Some of the interiors boast authentic furnishings, implements and decorations, showing how the Kashubians lived a century or two ago.Read more
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- Sep 11, 2019, 12:09pm
- ☀️ 63 °F
- Altitude: 597 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gmina Stężyca Jezioro Lubowisko 54.206027, 17.95930854°12’22” N 17°57’34” E
Day 4
Abandoned church in Strezyka
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
We made a stop at an abandoned church that must have been connected with another of Chris' ancestors
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- Sep 11, 2019, 4:30pm
- ☀️ 66 °F
- Altitude: 561 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gmina Chmielno Jezioro Białe 54.329754, 18.10057354°19’47” N 18°6’2” E
Day 4
Chmielno Kashubian Ceramics Museum
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
This was one of my favorite stops. I almost bought a few items to bring home to my friends but didn't think I could get them home safely.

Kashubian Ceramics Museum - Chmielno
The Necel family have been making things from Kashubian clay for generations. Originally from Kościerzyna, Franciszek Necel (1869-1935) moved to Chmielno in 1897 and opened a small pottery, combining original Kashubian ceramic design with his own manufacturing techniques. The current workshop, run by Franciszek's grandson's nephew, Karol Elas Necel, also features the small Museum of Kashubian Ceramics and a shop. The museum was opened in 1993 and contains a collection of local ceramics as well as a short history of the pottery.Read more
Traveler nice ceramics.
1/22/20Reply
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- Sep 11, 2019, 4:30pm
- ☀️ 66 °F
- Altitude: 719 ft
- Poland Pomerania Kartuzy 54.333279, 18.1993554°19’60” N 18°11’58” E
Day 4
Kartuzy
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
Our last stop for the day was Kartuzy where we walked thru the city, visited the St. Kazimierz Church and had dinner.

Kartuzy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartuzy
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- Sep 11, 2019, 8:30pm
- 🌙 59 °F
- Altitude: 236 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gdańsk Aniołki 54.358044, 18.62144754°21’29” N 18°37’17” E
Day 4
Amber Hotel, Gdansk
September 11, 2019 in Poland ⋅ 🌙 59 °F
And we headed back to the hotel for the night
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- Sep 12, 2019, 9:17am
- ⛅ 61 °F
- Altitude: 13 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gdańsk Stare Miasto Ostrów II 54.360801, 18.64883354°21’39” N 18°38’56” E
Day 5
Solidarity Center & Monument to Fallen
September 12, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Clipped from: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/gdansk/attr…

Opened in 2014, and housed in a truly awful example of 21st-century architecture (its rusty steel plates were designed to evoke ships under construction), this exhibition has quickly become one of Gdańsk's unmissable museums. Audio guides clamped to ears, visitors wander through seven halls examining Poland's postwar fight for freedom, from the Gdańsk shipyard strikes of the 1970s to the round-table negotiations of the late 1980s and beyond. The displays blend state-of-the-art multimedia with real artefacts. Allow at least two hours.
Each hall is lettered and the exhibition runs chronologically from A to G. Hall A takes you to the 1970s shipyard, with yellow docker helmets lining the ceiling and a battered electric truck, the type Lech Wałȩsa once worked on as an electrician. Film footage includes the negotiations between dockers and the communist regime and the signing of the 1980 agreements (the oversized comedy pen Wałȩsa used to sign is sadly missing but you can buy a replica in the museum shop).
Hall B is all communist-era interiors, a fascinating retro experience that takes you to a prison cell, interrogation room and typical family living room. Solidarity and martial law are the themes of halls C and D, while hall E is a mock-up of the famous round table complete with TV cameras and name badges. An interesting section on the various revolutions across Eastern Europe follows in hall F, while hall G is a spartan affair dedicated to Pope John Paul II.

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Monument in Gdańsk
Just in front of the former shipyard gates, the striking Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers commemorates those killed in the riots of 1970. Unveiled on 16 December 1980, 10 years after the massacre, the monument is a set of three 42m-tall steel crosses, with a series of bronze bas-reliefs in their bases. The first monument in a communist country to commemorate the regime’s victims, it became an instant symbol and remains so today.Read more
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- Sep 12, 2019, 10:15am
- ⛅ 63 °F
- Altitude: 69 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gdańsk Środmieście Gdansk Ferry Port 54.35463, 18.65212454°21’17” N 18°39’8” E
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Day 5
St. Bridget's
September 12, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
Clipped from: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/gdansk/attr…
Founded over 700 years ago, St Bridget’s was reduced to medieval brick dust in 1945, and until 1970 only the outer walls were left standing. Very little of the prewar furnishings survived, but if you’ve taken a fancy to amber you’re sure to appreciate the spectacular 174cm-high amber monstrance depicting the tree of life and the monumental high altar. This recent construction is the highlight of the interior and contains a record-breaking 6500kg of polished prehistoric tree resin.
Lech Wałęsa attended Mass here when he was an unknown electrician in the nearby shipyard. With the wave of strikes in 1980 the church became a strong supporter of the dockyard workers, and its priest, Henryk Jankowski, took every opportunity to express their views in his sermons. The church remains a record of the Solidarity period, with several contemporary works related to the trade union and to modern Polish history in general. You’ll find the tombstone of murdered priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, the Katyń epitaph, a collection of crosses from the 1980 and '88 strikes, and a door covered with bas-reliefs of scenes from Solidarity’s history – all in the right-hand (northern) aisle.Read more
Traveler Wow!!
1/15/20Reply
Traveler never saw an altar like this...
1/22/20Reply
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- Sep 12, 2019, 10:37am
- ⛅ 64 °F
- Altitude: 33 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gdańsk Środmieście Gdansk Ferry Port 54.35399, 18.65080954°21’14” N 18°39’3” E
Day 5
St. Catharine's Church
September 12, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Clipped from: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/gdansk/attr…
The largest monument of the Old Town is St Catherine’s Church, Gdańsk's oldest, which was begun in the 1220s. It was the parish church for the entire town until St Mary’s was completed. As is common, the church evolved over centuries and only reached its final shape in the mid-15th century (save for the baroque top to the tower, added in 1634).
A major fire in May 2006 caused the roof to collapse and resulted in considerable damage to the interior. Much was restored, but the walls remain unrendered and work seems to have stalled for the time being – it will obviously be many years before this wonderful church is fully restored. There's a small exhibition on the fire, including dramatic TV news footage and photos.Read more
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- Sep 12, 2019, 10:39am
- ⛅ 73 °F
- Altitude: 46 ft
- Poland Pomerania Gdańsk Środmieście Gdansk Ferry Port 54.352943, 18.65143254°21’11” N 18°39’5” E
Day 5
Gdansk Old Town
September 12, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F
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