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The Polish Gymnasium

  • In 1921 Macierz Szkolna (Alma Mater), a cultural association, was established.
  • On the initiative of the Macierz Szkolna association, a school for Polish youth was established. It was funded by the Polish society.
  • It was the only Polish gymnasium in the Free City of Gdańsk.
  • The school operated in the years 1922-1939.
  • Some students did not speak fluent Polish, therefore learning Polish was especially important.
  • Jan Augustyński became the school headmaster. A lot of the teachers were active in the field of journalism. Education at the Polish Gymnasium was offered at a high level.
  • Two painters, Bolesław Cybis and Jan Zamoyski, painted a fresco on the auditorium ceiling. It was entitled The Polish Sky. During the war, the Nazis destroyed the fresco and covered the ceiling with plaster.
  • After the war, the building accommodated various education institutions, including the first cinema in Gdańsk.
  • At present, the building is the property of the Marshal Office of the Pomorskie Province.
  • In the years 2017-2018, the fresco was reconstructed. The auditorium where it is possible to admire the fresco on the ceiling is open for visitors.

Memories and stories told by the inhabitants

  • The school offered a flat for its employees, where a Polish writer, Stanisława Przybyszewska, once used to live with her husband, who was a teacher of the Polish Gymnasium. After her husband’s death, Przybyszewska moved to a wooden shed located at the school courtyard. Despite a lot of effort, she did not get a job at school. To get some money, she had to pawn her possessions at a nearby pawnshop.
  • After the war, the building was converted into a cinema, where it was possible to watch such movies as Zakazane piosenki (Forbidden Songs). The boys from the neighbourhood used to sell cigarettes and chewing gum in front of the cinema.

Contemporary photographs

⯆ The building of the former Polish Gymnasium.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Contemporary photographs. The building of the Polish Gymnasium. The photograph presents the front of a two-storey brick building and its entrance. On the right, there is a tree without leaves. There is a stone commemoration plaque on the right to the entrance (however, the text is illegible).

⯆ After the war there was a cinema here.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Contemporary photographs. The building of the former Polish Gymnasium. The photograph presents the right wing of the school building constructed from bricks. There are windows on each floor, the attic and the basement. In the background some trees can be observed.

⯆ A stone commemorating Stanisława Przybyszewska, a Polish writer.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Contemporary photographs. The stone commemorating Stanisława Przybyszewska. The photograph presents a big grey stone on the grass. There are some trees in the background. There is a large metal plaque attached to the stone with an embossed inscription: “Stanisława Przybyszewska, an outstanding Polish writer (1901-1935), lived and worked here during the years 1923-1935.”

⯆ The Polish Sky fresco reconstructed on the ceiling of the auditorium at the former Polish Gymnasium.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Contemporary photographs. “The Polish Sky” fresco reconstructed on the ceiling of the auditorium at the former Polish Gymnasium. The surface of the fresco is 100 square meters and it is located on the ceiling. It features a fragment of the sky that could be observed over Poland. Thanks to the analysis of the shape and the position of the Milky Way in the fresco, it has been possible to state that the picture presents the sky in August 1937. In the centre of the fresco we can see Mater Polonia, surrounded by personifications of industry, commerce and agriculture and also some districts of major Polish cities.

⯆ A plaque commemorating the founders, teachers and students of the Polish Gymnasium.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Contemporary photographs. A plaque commemorating the founders, teachers and students of the Polish Gymnasium. The photograph presents a black stone plaque with a golden inscription. It is attached on the right side of the entrance to the building of the Polish Gymnasium. The inscriptions says: “To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Gymnasium in Gdańsk – to honour its founders, teachers and students who fought for the Polish cause in the former Free City. The Municipal National Council 1957.”

Archive photographs

⯆ A post-war photograph of the former Polish Gymnasium.

Gdańsk. The Polish Gymnasium. Archive photographs. A post-war photograph of the former Polish Gymnasium. The black-and-white picture presents the entrance to the building and its right wing. The building is made of bricks. On the left side of the entrance, at the levels of the first and the second floors, there are two emblems attached to the wall: one presents Gdańsk coat of arms and the other - the school badge. There are trees on the right and on the left of the picture.
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