Łódź

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Coordinates: 51°45′N, 19°28′E

Łódź
Piotrkowska Street
Piotrkowska Street
Flag of Łódź
Flag		 Coat of arms of Łódź
Coat of arms
Motto: Ex navicula navis (From a boat, a ship)
Łódź (Poland)
Łódź
Łódź
Coordinates: 51°47′N 19°28′E / 51.783, 19.467
Country Flag of Poland Poland
Voivodeship Łódź
County city county
City Rights 1423
Government
 - Mayor Jerzy Kropiwnicki
Area
 - City 293.25 km² (113.2 sq mi)
Elevation 162-278 m (-750 ft)
Population (2006)
 - City 764,168
 - Density 2,605.9/km² (6,749.1/sq mi)
 - Metro 1,428,600
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 90-001 to 94-413
Area code(s) +48 42
Car plates EL
Website: http://www.uml.lodz.pl
Izrael Poznanski's Palace
Izrael Poznanski's Palace
Alexander Nevsky Orthodox church
Alexander Nevsky Orthodox church
Holocaust monument in Łódź, located at Radegast train station, from which the city's Jewish population was transported to death camps
Holocaust monument in Łódź, located at Radegast train station, from which the city's Jewish population was transported to death camps

Łódź [wut​͡ɕ] (Image:Ltspkr.png listen) (pronounced "wootch") is Poland's second largest city (population 767,628 in 2006). It is located in the centre of the country and serves as the capital of the Łódź Voivodeship. The coat of arms is canting, i.e. it contains a boat, alluding to the city's name which literally means "a boat".

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Agricultural Łódź

Sigillum opidi Lodzia 1577
Sigillum opidi Lodzia 1577

Łódź first appears in the written record in a 1332 document giving the village of Łodzia to the bishops of Włocławek. In 1423 King Władysław Jagiełło granted city rights to the village of Łódź. From then until the 18th century the town remained a small settlement on a trade route between Masovia and Silesia. In the 16th century the town had fewer than 800 inhabitants, mostly working on the nearby grain farms.

With the second partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź became part of the Kingdom of Prussia's province of South Prussia, and was known in German as Lodsch. In 1798 the Prussians nationalized the town, and it lost its status as a town of the bishops of Kuyavia. In 1806 Łódź joined the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 became part of Congress Poland, a client state of the Russian Empire.

[edit] Industrial Growth

In 1820 Stanisław Staszic began a movement to turn the small town into a modern industrial centre. A constant influx of workers, businessmen and craftsmen from all over Europe transformed Łódź into the main textile production centre of the Russian Empire. The first cotton mill opened in 1825, and 14 years later the first steam-powered factory in both Poland and Russia commenced operations. The immigrants came to the Promised Land (Polish Ziemia obiecana, the city's nickname) from all over Europe. Mostly they arrived from Southern Germany and Bohemia, but also from countries as far as Portugal, England, France and Ireland. However, three groups dominated the city's population and contributed the most to the city's development: Poles, Germans and Jews.

In 1850, Russia abolished the customs barrier between Congress Poland and Russia proper; industry in Łódź could now develop freely with a huge Russian market not far away. Soon the city became the second-largest city of Congress Poland. In 1865 the first railroad line opened (to Koluszki, branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway) opened, and soon the city had rail links with Warsaw and Białystok.

Scheibler's textile factory (1896)
Scheibler's textile factory (1896)

In the 1823–1873 period, the city's population doubled every ten years. The years 1870–1890 marked the period of most intense industrial development in the city's history. Łódź soon became a major centre of the socialist movement. In 1892 a huge strike paralyzed most of the factories. During the 1905 Revolution, inwhat became known as the June Days or Łódź insurrection, Tsarist police killed more than 300 workers. Despite the air of impending crisis preceding World War I, the city grew constantly until 1914. By that year it had become one of the most densely-populated industrial cities in the world —13,280 inhabitants per square kilometer (34,395/sq mi). A major battle was fought near the city in late 1914, and as a result the city came under German occupation, but with Polish independence restored in November 1918 the local population liberated the city and disarmed the German troops. In the aftermath of World War I, Łódź lost approximately 40% of its inhabitants, mostly owing to draft, diseases and because a huge part of the German population moved to Germany.

In 1922, Łódź became the capital of the Łódź Voivodeship, but the period of rapid growth had ceased. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Customs War with Germany closed western markets to Polish textiles while the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the Civil War in Russia (1918–1922) put an end to the most profitable trade with the East. The city became a scene of a series of huge workers' protests and riots in the interbellum. On 13 September 1925 a new airport, Lublinek Airport, started operations near the city of Łódź. In the interwar years Łódź continued to be a diverse city, with the 1931 census showing that the total population of 604,470 included 315,622 (52.21%) Poles, 202,497 (33.49%) Jews and 86,351 (14.28%) Germans (determination based on the declaration of language used).

[edit] World War II

A wooden bridge connecting two sections of the Łódź Ghetto over a city street
A wooden bridge connecting two sections of the Łódź Ghetto over a city street

During the Invasion of Poland the Polish forces of the Łódź Army of General Juliusz Rómmel defended Łódź against initial German attacks. However, the Wehrmacht captured the city on September 8. Despite plans for the city to become a Polish enclave, attached to the General Government, the Nazi hierarchy respected the wishes of the local governor of Reichsgau Wartheland, Arthur Greiser, and of many of the ethnic Germans living in the city, and annexed it to the Reich in November 1939. The city received the new name of Litzmannstadt after the German general Karl Litzmann, who captured the city during World War I. Nevertheless, many Łódź Germans refused to sign Volksliste and become Volksdeutsche, instead being deported to the General Government.

Original cattle trucks used to deport prisoners to extermination camps at Radegast station.
Original cattle trucks used to deport prisoners to extermination camps at Radegast station.

Soon the Nazi authorities set up the Łódź Ghetto in the city and populated it with more than 200,000 Jews from the Łódź area. Only about 900 people survived the liquidation of the ghetto in August 1944. Several concentration camps and death camps arose in the city's vicinity for the non-Jewish inhabitants of the regions, among them the infamous Radogoszcz prison and several minor camps for the Roma people and for Polish children.

Red Army enters the city (1945)
Red Army enters the city (1945)

.

By the end of World War II, Łódź had lost approximately 420,000 of its pre-war inhabitants: 300,000 Polish Jews and approximately 120,000 other Poles. In January 1945 most of the German population fled the city for fear of the Red Army. The city also suffered tremendous losses due to the German policy of requisition of all factories and machines and transporting them to Germany. Thus despite relatively small losses due to aerial bombardment and the fighting, Łódź had lost most of its infrastructure.

The Soviet Red Army entered the city on January 18, 1945. According to Marshal Katukov, whose forces participated in the operation, the Germans retreated so suddenly that they had no time to evacuate or destroy the Łódź factories, as they did in other cities.[1] In time, Łódź became part of the People's Republic of Poland.


Prior to World War II, the Jewish population of Łódź numbered about 233,000, accounting for one-third of the city’s population. The community was wiped out in the Holocaust.[2]

[edit] After 1945

In early 1945, Łódź had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. However the number began to grow as refugees from Warsaw and territories annexed by the Soviet Union immigrated. Until 1948 the city served as a de facto capital of Poland, since events during and after the Warsaw uprising had thoroughly destroyed Warsaw, and most of the government and country administration resided in Łódź. Some planned moving the capital there permanently, however this idea did not gain popular support and in 1948 the reconstruction of Warsaw began. Under the Polish Communist regime many of the industrialist families lost their wealth when the authorities nationalised private companies. Once again the city became a major centre of industry. After the period of economic transition during the 1990s most enterprises were again privatised.

[edit] Historical population

1793: 190 1806: 767 1830: 4,300 1850: 15,800 1880: 77,600 1905: 343,900 1925: 538,600 1990: 850,000 2003: 781,900 2005: 767,628

[edit] Łódź in literature and cinema

Two major novels depict the development of industrial Łódź. Władysław Reymont's Ziemia Obiecana (The Promised Land) (1898) and Israel Joshua Singer's Di Brider Ashkenazi (The Brothers Ashkenazi) (1937). Reymont's novel was made into a film by Andrzej Wajda in 1975: see The Promised Land. Łódź is the first city destroyed by a nuclear attack from the USSR in John Birmingham's Axis of Time trilogy. Łódź also plays a major part in the WorldWar and Colonization sagas by Harry Turtledove. Scenes of David Lynch's 2006 film Inland Empire were shot in Łódź.

[edit] Tourism

Piotrkowska Street
Piotrkowska Street

Many tourists in Łódź visit Piotrkowska Street, which stretches north to south for a little over five kilometres, making it the longest commercial street in the world. Recently renovated, it has many beautiful buildings dating back to the 19th century, in the Art Nouveau architectural style. Although Łódź does not have any hills nor any large body of water, one can still get close to nature in one of the city's many parks, most notably Łagiewniki (the largest city park in Europe), Zdrowie, and Poniatowski. Łódź Zoo, and Łódź Botanical Gardens also offer pleasant opportunities for leisure. Łódź has one of the best museums of modern art in Poland, Muzeum Sztuki on Więckowskiego Street, which displays art by all important contemporary Polish artists. Despite insufficient exhibition space (many very impressive paintings and sculptures lie in storage in the basement), there are plans to move the museum to a larger space in the near future.

Old postindustrial buildings are now being restored, among them a factory built by Izrael Poznanski, one of Europe's largest textile factories.

[edit] Economy

Liberty Square (Plac Wolności)
Liberty Square (Plac Wolności)

Before 1990, Łódź's economy focused on the textile industry, which in the nineteenth century had developed in the city owing to the favourable chemical composition of its water. As a result, Łódź grew from a population of 13,000 in 1840 to over 500,000 in 1913. By just before World War I Łódź had become one of the most densely populated industrial cities in the world, with 13,280 inhabitants per square kilometer (34,395/sq mi). The textile industry declined dramatically in 1990 and 1991, and no major textile company survives in Łódź today. However, countless small companies still provide a significant output of textiles, mostly for export to Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

The city benefits from its central location in Poland. A number of firms have located their logistics centers nearby. Two planned motorways, A1 spanning the country from north to south, and A2 doing the same from east to west, will intersect just to the northeast of the city. When these motorways are completed around 2010, the advantages due to the city's central location will increase even further. Work has also began on upgrading the rail connection to Warsaw, which at present is completely inadequate as it takes almost 2 hours to make the 137 km (85 mi) journey by train. In the next few years much of the track will be modified to handle trains moving at 160 km/h (99 mph), cutting the travel time to about 75 minutes.

[edit] Education

See also: Education in Łódź

Currently Łódź hosts three major state-owned universities and a number of smaller schools of higher education. The tertiary institutes with the most students in Łódź include:

[edit] The Łódź Film School

Piotrkowska Street
Piotrkowska Street
Main article: National Film School in Łódź

The Leon Schiller's National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera w Łodzi) is the most notable academy for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators and TV staff in Poland. It was founded on March 8, 1948 and was initially planned to be moved to Warsaw as soon as the city was rebuilt following the Warsaw Uprising. However, in the end the school remained in Łódź and today is one of the best-known institutions of higher education in that town.

At the end of the Second World War Łódź remained the only large Polish town besides Kraków which war had not destroyed. The creation of the National Film School gave the town a role of greater importance from a cultural viewpoint, which before the war had belonged exclusively to Warsaw and Kraków. Early students of the School include the directors Andrzej Munk, Andrzej Wajda, Kazimierz Karabasz (one of the founders of the so called Black Series of Polish Documentary) and Janusz Morgenstern, who at the end of the Fifties became famous as one of the founders of the Polish Film School of Cinematography.

Immediately after the war, Jerzy Bossak, Wanda Jakubowska, Stanisław Wohl, Antoni Bohdziewicz and Jerzy Toeplitz worked as the first teachers. The internationally renowned film director Roman Polański was among the many talented students who attended the School in the 1950's. Łódź's cinematic involvement and its Hollywood-style star walk on Piotrkowska Street have earned it the nickname "Holly-Łódź". The school is also associated with the Camerimage Film Festival, which occurs annually in late November and early December. Founded in Toruń in 1993, the festival was specifically organised to focus on the art of cinematography and is well-attended every year by world-renowned cinematographers, many of whom also participate in seminars, workshops, retrospectives and Q&A sessions. Because of both subject matter and attendee composition, it is considered a key event for industry exhibitors, who often make European debuts of their products here.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Łódź constituency

Technical University rector's office (formerly Reinhold Richter's residence, built 1904)
Technical University rector's office (formerly Reinhold Richter's residence, built 1904)

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Łódź constituency:

Members of Parliament (Senat) elected from Łódź constituency:

  • Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, PO
  • Maciej Grubski, PO

[edit] Mayor

  • Waldemar Bohdanowicz, Solidarity (November 1989–1990) - appointed by Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki.
  • Grzegorz Palka (1990–1994)
  • Marek Czekalski, Freedom Union (1994–1998)
  • Tadeusz Matusiak, SLD (1998–2001)
  • Krzysztof Panas, SLD (2001–2002)
  • Krzysztof Jagiełło, SLD (2002)
  • Jerzy Kropiwnicki, Christian-National Union (ZChN) (2002—)

[edit] Sister city

Stuttgart, Flag of GermanyGermany

[edit] Sports

[edit] Notable residents

[edit] Projects of development

[edit] References

  1. ^ Blobaum, Robert. "On Strike on Łódź. "Rewolucja: Russian Poland, 1904-1907". Cornell University Press, 1995. p. 75.
  2. ^ Weiner, Rebecca. The Virtual Jewish History Tour. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved on January 15, 2008.

[edit] Bibliography

  • "A Stairwell in Lodz," Constance Cappel, 2004, Xlibris, (in English).
  • "Lodz – The Last Ghetto in Poland," Michal Unger, Yad Vashem, 600 pages (in Hebrew)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


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Principal cities of Poland Flag of Poland

Warsaw • Kraków • Łódź • Wrocław • Poznań • Gdańsk • Szczecin • Bydgoszcz • Lublin • Katowice • Białystok • Gdynia •
Częstochowa • Radom • Sosnowiec • Kielce • Toruń • Olsztyn • Rzeszów • Opole • Gorzów Wielkopolski • Zielona Góra

 Poland administrative divisions since 1999
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Counties of Łódź Voivodeship

City counties: Łódź (capital) • Piotrków Trybunalski • Skierniewice

Land counties: Bełchatów • Brzeziny • Kutno • Łask • Łęczyca • Łódź East • Łowicz • Opoczno • Pabianice • Pajęczno • Piotrków • Poddębice • Radomsko • Rawa • Sieradz • Skierniewice • Tomaszów Mazowiecki • Wieluń • Wieruszów • Zduńska Wola • Zgierz
v • d • e
Łódź East County

Urban-rural gminas: Gmina Koluszki • Gmina Rzgów • Gmina Tuszyn  Rural gminas: Gmina Andrespol • Gmina Brójce • Gmina Nowosolna

Seat (not part of the county): Łódź