Gdańsk (; ) is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Founded by the Polish ruler Mieszko I in the 10th century, the city was for a long time part of Piast state either directly or as a fief. In 1308 the city became part of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights until 1454. Thereafter it became part of Poland again, although with increasing autonomy. A vital naval city for Polish grain trade, it attracted people from all over the European continent. The city was taken over by Prussia during the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 and subsequently lost its importance as a trading port. Briefly becoming a free city during Napoleonic Wars, it was again Prussian after Napoleon's defeat, and later became part of the newly created German Empire.
After World War I the Free City of Danzig was created, a city-state under the supervision of the League of Nations. The German attack on the Polish military depot at Westerplatte marks the start of World War II and the city was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939. Local Jews were systematically murdered in the Holocaust while Poles and Kashubians also faced persecution. After World War II the city became part of Poland and the city's German inhabitants, that had constituted the vast majority of the city's mixed population before the war (according to the official census of 1923 3.7 percent of city population was Polish 13,656 out of 366,730 citizens of the Free City), either fled or were expelled. During post-1945 era, the city was rebuilt from war damage, and vast shipyards were constructed. The centre of Solidarity strikes in the 1980s, after abolishment of communism in 1989 its population faced poverty and large unemployment with most of the ship building industry closed down.
History
Early times
The area around the Vistula delta was inhabited by populations belonging to the various archaeological cultures of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Settlements existed in the area for several centuries BC.
Foundation in early Polish state
Most likely Mieszko I of Poland founded the town in the 980s, thereby connecting the Polish state ruled by the Piast dynasty with the trade routes of the Baltic Sea. The earliest traces of medieval settlement were discovered in an area now occupied by the town hall of the Main Town, on top of archaeological remains from the Roman Iron Age. The oldest constructions of this settlement were built, according to dendrochronology, with timber from trees cut in 930. The immediate western vicinity of the town hall has, however, so far not been surveyed, thus it can not be excluded that the settlement extended further to the west. Dendrodates exclusively refer to the 10th century, no constructions from the 11th century were found. The very beginning of Gdańsk is related to the fall of Truso in the second half of the 10th century - the Viking Age Emporium situated on eastern side of the Vistula delta. Only after this town declined, it was eclipsed as a trade centre by nearby Gdańsk.
In the area south of the current St. Nicholas church, settlement started some years later. The oldest constructions there were dated by finds of pottery to either the second half of the 10th century or the turn of the 10th to the 11th century. The first written record thought to refer to Gdańsk is the vita of Saint Adalbert: Written in 999, it describes how in 997 Saint Adalbert of Prague baptized the inhabitants of urbs Gyddannyzc, "which separated the great realm of the duke from the sea." No further written sources exist for the 10th and 11th centuries.
In the area of the current Great Mill the oldest settlement layers were dated by finds of pottery to the 11th century or the turn of the 12th. Though the area between St. Nicholas Church and the Great Mill has not yet been sufficiently surveyed, it has been suggested by Paner that in the course of the 11th century the settlement just south of St. Nicholas was expanded to the northwest to reach the vicinity of the Great Mill and, possibly, the area around St. Catherine church. In the northern vicinity of St. Nicholas, in the area of the current market hall, settlement then started probably in the 12th century. , archaeologists have not been able to find traces of fortifications around the before mentioned settlement(s).