Logo Polskiego Radia

World Gdansk Reunion opens in Baltic city

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 25.07.2014 11:15
The Baltic city of Gdańsk has opened its gates to past and present citizens for the World Gdańsk Reunion.

A
A ferris wheel forms the backdrop of the Gdańsk skyline, 24.07.2014 The wheel has a diameter of 55 metres, making it the largest such mobile structure of its kind in Europe. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa

The event brings together hundreds of people from Poland and many other countries, including Germany, Lithuania, Great Britain, the United States, New Zealand and Ukraine.

Among those present are former president Lech Wałęsa, former prime minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, the Olympic yachting champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz, and the actress Beata Poźniak, now residing in the US.

The event has also attracted several descendants of famous citizens of the Gdansk of the past, such as Carl Groddeck, the city’s mayor in the 18th century and Otto Kulcke, the founder of the organ in the city’s St. Mary’s Basilica.

The idea of the reunion, the fourth since 2002, is to foster the traditions of Gdansk as an open, modern and hospitable city and to strengthen the sense of local identity among its former residents, particularly those dispersed around the world.

The programme of the three-day event includes the congress on the history and cultural heritage of Gdansk, including theme-based tours along the Route to Freedom (charting the city’s history from the defence against the Germans in September 1939 to the birth of Solidarity in 1980), the Amber Route, as well as exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances, films and other attractions. (mk/jb)

tags:
Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us