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Łódź () is Poland's second largest city (population 776,297 in 2004). It is located in the centre of the country and serves as the capital of the Łódź Voivodship. In Polish, the word also means "boat", which hence appears on the coat of arms (cf. Torino).

History

Agricultural Łódź

Łódź first appears in the written record in a document giving the village of Łodzia to the bishops of Włocławek in 1332. 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 came under Prussian administration under its new Prussian name of Lodsch. In 1798 the Prussians nationalized the town and it lost its status as a town of the bishops of Kuyavia. In 1806 it joined the Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland.

Industrial Łódź

In 1820 Stanisław Staszic started a movement to turn the small town into a modern centre of industry. A constant influx of workers, businessmen and craftsmen from all over the continent turned Łódź into the main textile production centre of the whole 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. 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 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 people per square kilometre).

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 the fact that after 1918 a huge part of the German population moved to Germany.

After 1918

Polish 1931 census
City of Łódź - population (according to language criterion)

Total 604,470

  • Poles 315,622 (52.21%)
  • Jews 202,497 (33.49%)
  • Germans 86,351 (14.28%)
In 1922 Łódź became the capital of the Łódź Voivodship, 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.

World War II

During the Polish September Campaign 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. 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.

By the end of World War II Łódź had lost approximately 420,000 of its pre-war inhabitants: 300,000 Jews and approximately 120,000 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*. In time, Łódź became part of the People's Republic of Poland.

Having liberated the area for Nazi Germany, the Red Army soldiers often treated the territory not as that of a Polish ally, but as that of a defeted enemy. There were many incidents of rapes, plunder and devastation in the areaAbout the scale of danger that women in villages were faced with, informs a note by Łódź official from July 1945, who wrote that in village of Mały Olechów Soviet soldiers have completely robbed Polish citizens, after which they "raped Polish women". To help locals, militia was sent from city and regional headquarters Krzysztof Lesiakowski ""TROFIEJNY" PRZEMARSZ" IPN Bulletin Nr 7 - 08.2001 Wprost", Nr 1104 (25 stycznia 2004), last accessed on 10 July 2006. In addition to the crimes against civilians, soon after the Soviets installed their own authorities, several fake trials characterised by brutal methods were made against former Polish resistance members in the region loyal to the Polish government in exileDuring the trials, confessions were forced by beating and other methods usually disallowed in any lawfull country, fake evidence was prapred, and the trials lasted only a few hours, any doubts were resolved in disadvantage to the accused.The judges were often without any education or experience in law. Press published sentences earlier then the judges. Exhibition "The Soldiers of Warszyc" made by local center of IPN Institute in Lodz[http://www.ipn.gov.pl/bep_wystawy_lodz_warszyc.html" target="_blank" >*

After 1945

In early 1945, Łódź had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. However, soon the number began to grow, and refugees from Warsaw and from 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 even planned moving the capital there permanently, but this idea did not gain support, and in 1948 the reconstruction of Warsaw started.

After World War II, under the Polish Communist regime, many industrialist families lost their fortunes when the authorities nationalised all private companies. Once again, the city became a major centre of industry.

After the period of economic transition in the country during the 1990s, most enterprises were again privatised.

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

Tourism

Tourists in Łódź gravitate to Piotrkowska Street, which stretches north to south for a little over four 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 architectural style of the Secession. Well worth visiting from late Spring to early Autumn, strolling from one pub to another on Piotrkowska Street allows one to immerse oneself in the friendly atmosphere of this unique Polish city.

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 ul. Gdańska, 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), what is on display is well worth seeing, and there are plans to move the museum to a larger space in the near future.

Economy

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 people per sq km. 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 journey by train. In the next few years much of the track will be modified to handle trains moving at 160 km/h, cutting the travel time to about 75 minutes. Some time in the future a true high speed line will also be built between the two cities. When these infrastructure projects are completed, Łódź and Warsaw have a good chance to develop into a single metropolitan area.

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:

The Łódź Film School

'Main article: National Film School in Łódź National Film School in Łódź is a place worth visiting for cinema-lovers. The school has served as an important education centre for the greatest Polish film-makers and as a pivotal cultural centre for the entire country.

At the end of the Second World War Łódź remained the only large Polish town besides Kraków that 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, together with Jerzy Wójcik, Witold Sobociński, Mieczysław Jahoda, Wiesław Zdort and Adam Holender.

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.

Famous people from Łódź

Well-known people born or working in Łódź include:

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Łódź".

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