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GDAŃSK
Including
SOPOT & GDYNIA
August - November 2012
The Forest
Opera
Sopot’s great open-air
stage is back
Sopot spas
Pamper yourself
on the coast
N°38 - 5zł
(w tym 8% VAT)
gdansk.inyourpocket.com
ISSN 1640-3592
CONTENTS
3
Contents
Arrival & Transport
10
The Basics
16
Gdańsk History
18
Tri-city Culture & Events
19
Gdańsk Hotels
26
Gdańsk Restaurants
34
Gdańsk Cafés
48
There’s nothing wrong with making your visit to the
Tri-Cities a relaxing one, and the best place to make
that happen is Sopot. The city has a long history of
pampering visitors, and today boasts an array of spas and
treatments to help you erase the daily grind. Find out more
on
page 104.
Gdańsk Nightlife
50
Gdańsk Sightseeing
58
Johannes Hevelius
68
Gdańsk Oliwa
70
Sopot
Sopot History
World War II
72
82
Sopot Hotels
83
Stutthof
76
Sopot Restaurants
86
Solidarity
78
Sopot Nightlife
96
Sopot Sightseeing
102
Sopot Spa
104
Gdynia
Gdynia History
106
Gdynia Hotels
107
Gdynia Restaurants
110
Gdynia Cafes
112
Gdynia Nightlife
118
Gdynia Sightseeing
120
Leisure
124
Shopping
128
Directory
135
Frombork
136
Kashubia
138
Sopot’s famed Opera Lesna, a unique open-air theatre in
the forest, finally reopens after being closed for a lengthy
2.5 years of renovations. Read about the venue’s new look
and its curious history (ever heard of the Intervision Song
Contest?) on
page 6.
Photo: Fotobank.PL/UMS
Malbork
140
Maps & Index
145-154
gdansk.inyourpocket.com
August - November 2012
FOREWORD
4
Share the experience
Get in touch with the In Your Pocket team and other
readers on any of the major social platforms. Let us know
your thoughts on places you loved and hated, the cities
you’ve visited and the people you’ve met. And pick up
some exclusive prizes and discounts along the way.
With the massive Euro 2012 football tournament that was
co-hosted by Poland at the beginning of the summer now
officially over, the tri-cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot
– which hosted a number of matches at the shiny PGE
Arena and celebrated heavily with visiting fans – are still
in a festive tourist-friendly mood after welcoming so many
newcomers to the Baltic coast.
But now the focus has turned from football to all the
changes happening along the coast, beginning with
the reopening of the famed Opera Leśna (Forest
Opera) outside Sopot. This unique open-air theatre
nestled in the middle of a serene forest was closed
for major renovations, including the addition of
5,000 seats and an image projection system. The
result? An already amazing venue is now better than
ever, with modern upgrades making it a must-see
experience.
We’re also proud to tout the benefits of visiting Sopot’s
spas, which have a long history in the city. Originally
founded by a doctor in Napoleon’s army, the spas today
are modern but still rely on the ancient healing waters
of the St. Wojciech spring. The waters that originally
made Sopot famous are once more being used in
the hydrotherapy pools, and visitors can choose from
a comprehensive list of treatments for long days of
pampering.
But if the real reason you’ve come to the Tri-Cities is to
experience the famed nightlight – this popular resort area
is synonymous with a good time, just ask anyone in Poland
– then check out our nightlife sections to help you plan the
perfect combination of bars and clubs to visit. We’re fans
of Piwarnia Warka in Gdynia when it comes to tying one on
with Polish beer and snacks, while Gdansk’s Buffet Club
lets visitors party in the derelict remains of the former
Lenin Shipyards (it’s a bear to find, but endlessly rewarding
when you do).
As always we sincerely hope you enjoy your time in Gdansk
and the guide we have put together. Be sure to like us on
Facebook (facebook.com/gdanskinyourpocket) and follow
us on Twitter (Twitter.com/gdanskiyp) for all the latest
on what’s happening in the tri-cities, and you can leave
comments about all the venues listed here (and more) on
our website at inyourpocket.com/Poland/gdansk. And
of course we welcome your direct feedback at editor_
poland@inyourpocket.com
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OPERA LEŚNA
6
One of the country’s most famous stages and without
question its most wonderfully located is Sopot’s Opera
Leśna (Forest Opera), a magical open-air theatre nestled in
the middle of a serene hilly forest in the western district of
the city. With a history stretching back over 100 years the
theatre has seen everything from German opera to Whitney
Houston performances while it gained worldwide fame during
communist times as the venue of the Soviet Bloc’s answer
to the Eurovision Song Contest. A rebuilding programme in
the years 2009-12 now sees it marry its unique location with
21st century facilities and one of the best sound and vision
systems in Europe.
choir of up to 500 singers. The stage sets and decoration
were wonderful and attracted audiences of up to 8,000
people (half of whom were seated) and the inter-war years
were truly a golden period for both the Opera and the city.
Th ose fa miliar wi th G u n ter G ras s’ m ost fa m ous b ook
The Tin
Drum
may recall a visit to the Zoppot Opera by the story’s
hero Oskar Matzerath to watch
Der fliegende Hollander
during this period.
Golden periods, by their very nature, have to end though and
the outbreak of WWII gradually saw the number and quality
of performances decline, although the crowds continued to
come helped in no small part by the fact that Zoppot was
a centre for soldiers on leave or rehabilitating from wounds
suffered on the front.
The Forest Opera, which saw itself being re-branded as the
Sopot Art Opera after modernisation (we still prefer to use
its old and more descriptive name), is today one of the city’s
major attractions. But what’s the story behind it?
History
Well back in 1909 Paul Walther-Schaffer, bandmaster su-
preme at the music theatre in Gdansk’s Coal Market, took
a walk Sopot (German Zoppot) way and stumbled across a
big clearing hemmed in by steep hills and old trees. ‘Wow,
great place to hold a concert’, he no doubt thought. Mayor
o f Zoppot, M a x Wol d ma n, a gre e d a n d i t wasn’ t l on g b e fore a
b uil di n g p ermi t was c on fi rm e d. Desi gn e d by th e ban d master,
and supervised by Gdansk (Danzig) architect Paul Püchmüller,
construction proceeded at lightning speed, and the finished
work was unveiled four months later.
With the end of WWII and many of the key players in the life
of the Forest Opera gone forever from the city (now renamed
Sopot) plus no doubt the reticence of the local population to
see Wagner performed again, the Forest Opera was largely
unused aside from the occasional local, largely small-scale
theatre performances.
It wasn’t until the early 1960s and the creation of the Sopot
Festival that new life was breathed into the venue. The
festival, created by Wladyslaw Szpilman - best known as the
protagonist in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust epic, The Pianist,
had taken place in the Gdansk shipyards from its inception
in 1961. The unsuitability of the shipyards for this role soon
saw the idea mooted to move the festival to the Forest
Opera and in 1964 a huge 90m roof weighing 2.5 tonnes
and covering 4,750m2 was constructed in various parts of
Poland and shipped and assembled over the redeveloped
stage and audience. The first performance of Moniuszko’s
“Halka” attracted huge crowds drawn as much to see the
new theatre as by the performance. But it was the Sopot
Festival that was to make the city and the Forest Opera
famous once more.
The Sopot Festival
& The Intervision Song Contest
Courtesy of Sopot Museum
Opening night, August 11, 1909, saw ‘The Night Camp in
Granada’ performed, and during the interwar years the opera
gained a reputation for top entertainment. As mentioned
elsewhere in this guide Zoppot in the late 19th century and
the first half of the 20th century was an extremely popular
and upmarket summer and spa destination not just for the
people of Danzig but for people from all over Germany and
Poland. The fact that Kaiser Wilhelm had a number of sum-
mer residences in the area, including 2 in Zoppot itself where
he entertained European royalty before WWI only confirms
that this was a place to see and be seen in. Following WWI the
Forest Opera grew in popularity thanks, in part, to a festival
in 1921 held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ludwig
Beethoven’s birth. The decision to stage Wagner’s opera
‘Siegfried’ the following year proved to be a key moment in
the history of the Forest Opera as German critics raved at
the quality of the performance and the venue so much that
it was decided to organise Wagner festivals here every year.
Wagner’s ‘Valkyrie’ premiered here in 1924 and the quality
of the performances and the performers Zoppot was now
able to attract spread its fame well beyond the borders of the
Free City of Danzig which it now found itself part of. The city
gained itself a reputation as a second Bayreuth (Waldoper
Zoppot - the Bayreuth of the North) as apart from the odd
exception, only Wagner operas were performed featuring a
fot. Zbigniew Kosycarz/KFP
The original idea of the festival was to attract artists, not
just from Poland and Eastern Europe but from all over the
world, to come to Sopot to perform Polish songs. The idea
to perform only Polish songs was dismissed and artists from
all over the world were attracted to perform in pursuit of the
festival’s major prize. Despite what you might imagine, it
was western performers who did best in these early years
reflected by the fact that 9 of the first 13 winners of the
festival’s top prize came from countries such as the US, UK,
Switzerland, Canada and Greece.
Gdańsk
In Your Pocket
gdansk.inyourpocket.com
OPERA LESNA
8
It was in the years 1977-80 that probably make for the most
fascinating in the long history of the Forest Opera. With
the Soviet Union and its satellites outside of the European
Broadcasting Union and therefore unable to take part in the
popular Eurovision Song Contest, it was decided to create a
rival competition and so the song festival saw itself re-invented
as the Intervision Song Contest (Interwizja). Artists from all over
the Soviet Bloc competed but it wasn’t exclusively for Eastern
European countries as the participation of countries such as
Cuba and Finland (winners in 1980) demonstrated. Alongside
the competition the biggest draw was the appearance of big
names from the west during the interval that drew the crowds
to the Forest Opera and to their television sets (the contest was
broadcast across the whole of Eastern Europe) and big names
of the time such as Demis Roussos and Boney M performed.
Returning to Sopot in 2006 Roussos recalled performing at
Sopot was one of the most enjoyable moments of his career
as much for the hospitality he enjoyed from his Polish hosts as
for the chance to perform in front of a huge television audience.
about Interwizja, highlights a number of examples where
the festival’s participants took the opportunity to mock
their leaders including one where the Polish TV host, Jacek
Bromski, j oke d th at M os c ow m ust b e asl e ep wh e n h is call to
collect their votes was met by an unanswered phone, much
to the enjoyment of the Polish audience.
The rise of Solidarity in 1980 and the unstable political situ-
ation at the time saw the end of Interwizja and there were no
festivals held between 1981 and 1983. The Sopot Festival
returned under the guise of the Sopot Music Festival Grand
Prix in 1984 and over the next 15 years it continued under
various names with the post 1989 period seeing it become
an opportunity for Poles to see stars from the west perform
to appreciative new audiences. The prize was dropped
completely for a number of years from 1999 to 2004 as the
Festival saw acts who would previously have performed in the
interval take over the show and artists such Lionel Ritchie,
Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams and Ricky Martin all appeared.
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=
Japanese
=
Chinese
=
Vietnamese
=
Indian
=
Thai
As you might imagine, with unrest with their communist
leaders in Warsaw and Moscow reaching a pinnacle during
this period, the Poles took great enjoyment at making their
feelings felt. The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, in an piece written
In the years before the Forest Opera was closed for redevelop-
ment the festival was given a new lease of life as the country’s
largest independent TV channel TVN took over the organisa-
tion but with new venues and festivals being launched around
the country and major international stars now appearing
regularly throughout Poland, the festival lost a lot of its magic.
The Pianist - Wladyslaw Szpilman
For many Poles though the Sopot Festival is still a traditional
part of the summer season and while there is now more
competition, not least from Sopot’s own Ergo Arena which
saw Lady Gaga appear in 2011 and neighbouring Gdynia’s
hugely successful Heineken Festival , the hope is that the
re-developed venue will also give the festival a new impetus
and return it to being the country’s premier music event.
Born in Sosnowiec, Upper
Silesia, in 1911, Wladyslaw
Szpilman studied the piano in
Berlin before embarking on a
successful career as a com-
poser and concert pianist for
Polish National Radio. By the
time German bombs fell on
Warsaw, he had achieved the
status of a musical celebrity.
To d a y
The Forest Opera today finds itself once again as a top-class
venue for concerts, theatre and opera. The 74 million redevelop-
ment managed to maintain the wonderful setting and layout while
bringing the venue into the 21st century with modern seating, ex-
cellent facilities for performers and directors and a state of the art
sound and lighting system. The centrepiece of this development
is the installation of a system allowing images to be projected
onto a special screen included in the new roof construction which
is suspended 32 metres above the audience. Seating has been
increased to over 5,000 places and the redevelopment not only
allows for audiences to enjoy performances for 2 months more
each year than previously but it also allows for performances to
be staged more often as the building and dismantling of sets can
be done much quicker than before. The Forest Opera is now far
more suitable for the needs of the disabled after the redesign
increased places from 4(!) to 100 with the installation of a lift and
a specially developed viewing platform.
Sushi & Sashimi
InAzia inspires
Imprisoned inside what was
to become the largest ghetto
in Europe when the Nazis
occupied Warsaw, Szpilman
continued to scrape out a living as a musician in ghetto
cafes before he and his family were rounded up during
a ‘selection’ in August 1942. Szpilman managed to
escape the transportations to Treblinka death camp
when he was hauled out of a cattle truck by a policeman
who recognized him as the famous pianist; the rest of
his family was not so lucky. Szpilman slaved away in a
labour camp be fore escaping and hiding in various loca-
tions around Warsaw. The dying days of the war saw him
living in increasing despair, weakened by star vation and
ill health, and he was only saved from certain death when
a Nazi officer discovered him scavenging in the ruins and
fed and watered him. In a surreal twist of irony, Szpilman
resumed his career as a successful composer after the
war - even founding the Sopot Song Festival in 1961,
while his German guardian angel died in the captivity of
a Soviet labour camp. Szpilman’s book, originally titled
‘Death of a City’ was published shortly after the war but
censored by the communists and was soon forgotten.
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I t was onl y wh en h is son, An d r zej, dis c overe d h is fath er’s
dusty manuscripts that the book was re-published in
1998. In 2002, Roman Polański brought it to the screen
as The Pianist, which won three Oscars and was nomi-
nated for four others, including Best Picture. Szpilman
passed away in Warsaw on July 6th, 2000.
Fotobank.PL/UMS
In Your Pocket would like to recognise the information
gathered from BART Sopot and a fascinating piece by
the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in producing this feature.
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