In impressive photographs, the extensive aerial photo exhibition documents the Hanseatic city of Gdansk before the destruction of the Second World War.
The exhibition offers a glimpse back into the period between the two world wars, when the Hanseatic city was part of the Free City of Danzig, which was under the jurisdiction of the League of Nations. The outstanding aerial photographs from 1929 are part of a collection of around 4,500 negatives acquired by the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe from the Hansa Luftbild company in the 1960s. Danzig is represented in this collection with 228 photographs. The traveling exhibition shows a selection of the most interesting motifs on 30 panels. The exhibition is complemented by the illustrated book of the same name, “Danzig im Luftbild der Zwischenkriegszeit” (Gdansk in Aerial Photographs from the Interwar Period), which is available in German, Polish, and English.
The special character of aerial photographs gives the viewer an excellent overview of larger urban areas. The pictures document the most important districts and suburbs. The incorporated towns and new settlements can also be seen. There are impressive photographs of Gdańsk's Rechtstadt district with the Long Market, the Long Bridge, and the dominant St. Mary's Church, as well as the Old Town, the warehouse island, the shipyard areas, and the beach resorts
The special character of aerial photographs gives the viewer an excellent overview of larger urban areas. The pictures document the most important districts and suburbs. The incorporated towns and new settlements can also be seen. There are impressive photographs of Gdańsk's Rechtstadt district with the Long Market, the Long Bridge, and the dominant St. Mary's Church, as well as the Old Town, the warehouse island, the shipyard areas, and the beach resorts
Gdańsk Old Town from the southwest, 1926; Image archive, Inv. No. 58211. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Sopot spa resort with pier, 1929; image archive, inv. no. 58329. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Old Town of Gdańsk with St. Mary's Church, 1929; Image archive, Inv. No. 58130. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The exhibition and illustrated book are the result of a German-Polish collaboration involving the Herder Institute, the VIA NOVA publishing house in Wrocław, the Gdańsk City Council, and the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs. After an initial presentation of the exhibition in 2010 at the Long Market in Gdańsk, the traveling exhibition was shown at several locations in Germany and Austria – again under the patronage of the Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz.
Gdańsk in aerial photographs in the interwar years. Poster for the presentation of the exhibition at the Herder Institute in 2012/2013. Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Free access - no reuse
Gdańsk Old Town from the southwest, 1926; Image archive, Inv. No. 58211. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Sopot spa resort with pier, 1929; image archive, inv. no. 58329. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Old Town of Gdańsk with St. Mary's Church, 1929; Image archive, Inv. No. 58130. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Gdańsk in aerial photographs in the interwar years. Poster for the presentation of the exhibition at the Herder Institute in 2012/2013. Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Free access - no reuse
Aerial view of Gdańsk Old Town from the interwar period. Detail from the poster for the exhibition. Sammlung Hansa-Luftbild / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
