Gdansk is a city with a unique history, which has had a great impact on its contemporary landscape. For centuries it has been a melting pot where diverse cultures, peoples and traditions have formed a unique community.

Gdańsk is the Polish maritime capital with the population nearing half a million. It is a large centre of economic life, science, culture, and a popular tourist destination. Lying on the Bay of Gdańsk and the southern cost of the Baltic Sea the city is a thousand years old. With its Hanseatic tradition, it has for ages played a major role in the commercial relationships between Northern and Western Europe on the one hand, and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on the other hand. Today, Gdańsk is the capital of the Pomeranian province and an important administration centre.

In its „golden age” the city enjoyed the specific status of a municipal republic. It was also a melting pot of cultures and ethnical groups. The air of tolerance and the wealth built on trade made culture, science, and art flourish. Today, works by outstanding Gdańsk masters can be admired in museums, churches, and galleries. These collections, as well as the historic sites of enchanting beauty witness a thousand years of the city’s continued existence. The break-through events of the most recent turbulent period are documented in the multi-medial exhibition: „Roads to Freedom” arranged in the historic BHP HALL of the Gdańsk Shipyard. The exposition recalls the local struggle for freedom and justice, and the birth of the first Independent Trade Union, „Solidarity”. These developments triggered the avalanche that toppled communism in Europe.