Polish Learning Community and Resources

Liberty Square - one of the symbols of Lodz [Source: Wikimedia Commons]  

Some history 

Today I’d like to tell you a little bit about a city which, unfortunately, is very often overlooked by tourists (both local and foreign) but is very well worth visiting! I’m talking about Łódź (good luck with the pronunciation!) – the fourth biggest city in Poland. It is located more-or-less in the centre of the country, around 120 km south-west from Warsaw (just a little bit more than 1,5 h by bus or train!). What makes the city unique (probably the same reason why some tourists don’t consider visiting it) is that its history has been very different to, for example, Cracow or Wroclaw. Lodz developed from a small settlement founded in 14th century, becoming a town in 15th century. In the 1820’s the area was designated an industrial zone and Lodz started developing rapidly, attracting hundreds of immigrants (who made it one of the most densely populated cities before WWI). The immigrants made it a truly multicultural city – in mid-19th century almost 80% of the inhabitants were German, while in the first decades of 20th century roughly half of the population was Polish, around 35% Jewish, 15% German and over 1% Russian – due to the presence of these four nations Lodz gained one of its nicknames – the city of four cultures (miasto czterech kultur). The urban planning of 19th century has also given Lodz city centre a structure very different from most other Polish cities – linear street grid where the streets intersect each other at the straight angle with the main artery in the very centre – Piotrkowska street (to which I’ll get back in a while). The city’s most iconic buildings were built exactly in that period financed by industrialists of German and Jewish origin. Factories, workers’ houses, palaces, elegant tenement houses built during the city’s golden era can be still admired today and will satisfy the tastes of all sorts of architecture lovers – from art nouveau, through the distinct red-brick industrial complexes, to old labourers’ houses that have fallen in disrepair, to the newest, cutting-edge architectural experiments of last two decades. Once prosperous, Lodz’s development started stalling in early 20th century and it never regained its former glory – what was once called “Polish Manchester” (due to its industrial history) has now become forgotten... 

Piotrkowska Street in 1900 [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Today 

Nowadays, after many decades of neglect, Lodz is living its new life – in the last decade or two many of the old buildings have been renovated, the streets have been improved and the city’s become more open to visitors and foreign investors. The city’s main artery – Piotrkowska street in its pedestrian part is bustling with life at all times of the day, seven days a week. It’s really hard to believe that ten years ago in the evening many bars and restaurants were closed during the week, to only open in the weekends. Many of the red-brick factory buildings have been renovated and repurposed – the most notable examples are Manufaktura shopping mall (you can’t miss it!) and OFF Piotrkowska – a yard towards the end of the pedestrian part of the city’s artery full of restaurants and bars – a very popular nightlife spot (again, ten years ago in that place there was only one bar, a club and a fast food stall, today it’s literally packed with venues). That’s all to say that nowadays the city is living its new life, ready to welcome anyone. 

Jewish Cemetery [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Places to see 

When visiting Lodz you’ll most definitely walk down the pedestrian part of Piotrkowska street (one of the longest commercial streets in the world!) – while it’s known for its nightlife (plenty of bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants to choose from) make sure you don’t visit it only in the evening – during the day you can admire some of the most beautiful tenement houses (there are dozens!). While walking down Piotrkowska you may also stumble upon Lodz’s walk of fame – stars with the names of Polish actors and directors, and statues representing famous inhabitants of the city. Not far away from Piotrkowska there’s Manufaktura shopping complex – if you’re not into shopping malls you should pay a visit anyway, it was built in repurposed old factory buildings, making it a very unique place. The complex houses an excellent contemporary art museum – another must-see. The factories that are now Manufaktura were built by a Jewish industrialist – Izrael Poznański – his residence is righ next to the shopping complex and it’s a beautiful 19th century palace – it houses the city history mueum, which means you can go inside and admire the interiors. Another iconic red brick industrial complex is called Księży Młyn, where you can see the old factory buildings with an artificial lake, a palace (with breathtaking interiors) – one industrialist’s wedding gift to his daughter and former workers’ residences – remember that even nowadays there are people living in these houses, so be careful when taking photos! As I’ve mentioned before, Lodz is the city of four cultures which finds a reflection in its spiritual life – besides catholic and protestant churches, Lodz has two beautiful Russian Orthodox churches and two synagogues (only these survived from over 250 that existed here before the war). Another must-see is the Jewish cemetery – one of the biggest in Europe, it has some very unique graves, including the biggest Jewish grave in the world. This is just a brief overview – there’s so much more to see in Lodz, particularly its museums and architecture. When visiting, don’t forget to check the local events online – Light Move Festival, Four Cultures Festival, Fashion Week, Comic Books and Games Convent and many, many more are famous all over Poland and abroad!