Bydgoszcz

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Bydgoszcz
Flag of Bydgoszcz
Flag
Coat of arms of Bydgoszcz
Coat of arms
Bydgoszcz (Poland)
Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz
Coordinates: 53°07′N 18°00′E / 53.117, 18
Country Poland
Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Powiat city county
Gmina Bydgoszcz
Established before 1238
City Rights 1346/1349
Government
 - President (Mayor) Konstanty Dombrowicz
Area
 - City 174.57 km² (67.4 sq mi)
Elevation 60 m (197 ft)
Population (2006)
 - City 363,468
 - Density 2,098/km² (5,433.8/sq mi)
 - Metro 460,499
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 85-001 to 85-915
Area code(s) +48 52
Car Plates CB
Website: www.bydgoszcz.en

Bydgoszcz (['bidgɔʂtʂ] ; Latin: Bydgostia, German: , Lithuanian: Bydgoščius;) is a city in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 369,151 (2004), agglomeration more than 400 000, which makes it the 8th biggest city in Poland. It has been the capital of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1947-1998) and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1945-1947). Since 1999 it is also the seat of Bydgoszcz County.

Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń with Toruń, only 45 km away, and over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of the Casimir the Great university, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory as well as a Collegium Medicum. Bydgoszcz has a famous Concert Hall (Filharmonia Pomorska), opera house Opera Nova, From the Bydgoszcz International Ignacy Paderewski Airport there are flights to Warsaw, London and Dublin as well charter flights to Antalya and Tunis. Thank to its location between Vistula and Odra water system on the Bydgoszcz channel the city is an important link in a water system connected via Noteć, Warta, Odra, Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam.

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Originally a fishing settlement called Bydgozcya[citation needed] ("Bydgostia" in Latin), the city became a stronghold for the Vistula trade routes. In the 13th century it was the site of a castellany, first mentioned in 1238. The city was occupied by the Teutonic Knights from 1331-1337, and later by King Casimir III of Poland, who granted the city municipal rights on 19 April 1346. The city increasingly saw an influx of Jews after that date.

In the 15th-16th centuries Bydgoszcz was a significant site for corn trading. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz was signed in the city in 1657.

Bydgoszcz followed the history of Greater Poland until 1772, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland and incorporated into the Netze District and, later, West Prussia. During this time, a canal was built from Bydgoszcz to Nakło which connected the north-flowing Vistula River via the Brda to the west-flowing Noteć, which in turn flowed to the Oder via the Warta.

In 1807 Bydgoszcz became part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it returned to Prussian rule as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań and capital of Bromberg district. After 1871 the city was part of the German Empire's Province of Posen. After World War I and the Great Poland Uprising, Bydgoszcz was annexed to Poland in 1919. It shifted in 1938 to the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

From 1939-45 during World War II, Bydgoszcz was overrun by Nazi Germany and annexed to the Reichsgau Wartheland. On September 3 1939, shortly after the war started, the Bromberg Bloody Sunday incident occurred in which numerous Poles and Germans were killed; the incident was used by Nazi propaganda for retaliation against Poles after Bydgoszcz was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 9. The city's Jewish citizens were repressed, as thousands of people were sent to concentration camps and/or executed. Bydgoszcz (Fordon) was the site of Bromberg-Ost, a female subcamp of Stutthof. The subcamp staffed several female SS guards (Aufseherin) and was commanded by the Oberaufseherin Johanna Wisotzki and a male commandant. A deportation camp was situated in Smukała village, now part of Bydgoszcz. According to Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN, 37,000 citizens of the city died during the war.[1]

In 1945 Bydgoszcz was liberated and annexed again to Poland.

In 1981 Solidarity's activists were violently suppressed in Bydgoszcz.

River Brda at night
River Brda at night

Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz

Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz

  • PKS Bydgoszcz - operates inter-city and international bus routes

  • Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego (Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum) is a municipally-owned museum. Apart from a large collection of Leon Wyczółkowski's works, it houses permanent as well as temporary exhibitions of art.

It occupies several buildings: - Main building (Gdańska 4 St.) - The White Granary (Mennica St.)

  • Filharmonia Pomorska im. Ignacego Paderewskiego (Ignacy Paderewski's Concert Hall) - thanks to superbly designed acoustic qualities of the main concert hall, it is one of the best classical music concert halls in Europe.

  • Concerts of popular music in Bydgoszcz are usually held in Filharmonia Pomorska, Łuczniczka, Zawisza and Polonia stadiums as well as open plains of Myslecinek's Rozopole on the outskirts of the city.

Opera Nova
Opera Nova
  • Teatr Polski im. Hieronima Konieczki (Hieronim Konieczka's Polish Theatre) - despite its name, theatre offers a wide variety of shows both of national and foreign origin. It also regularly plays hosts to a large number of touring shows. Once a year, in autumn, "Festiwal Prapremier" is organized: the most renowned Polish theatres stage their latest premieres.
  • Opera Nova (The Nova Opera)

Łuczniczka.
Łuczniczka.

River Brda.
River Brda.

Members of Polish Sejm 2007-2011 elected from Bydgoszcz constituency:

Members of Polish Senate 2007-2011 elected from Bydgoszcz constituency:

Hotel "Pod Orłem".
Hotel "Pod Orłem".

It is also said that Pan Twardowski spent some time in the city of Bydgoszcz, where, in his memory, a figure was recently mounted in a window of a tenement, overseeing the Old Town. At 1:13 p.m. and 9:13 p.m. the window opens and Pan Twardowski appears, to the accompaniment of weird music and devilish laughter. He takes a bow, waves his hand, and then disappears. This little show gathers crowds of amused spectators.

Bydgoszcz Twin Cities sign on the Theatre Square
Bydgoszcz Twin Cities sign on the Theatre Square

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Coordinates: 53°13′N, 18°00′E

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