Bydgoszcz (former German name Bromberg) is a city in the Polish
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship at the confluence of the Brda and the
Vistula. The university town is characterized by a rich architectural
heritage, especially from the period around 1900, numerous green spaces
and a diverse cultural offering with a philharmonic hall, opera house
and museums.
Bydgoszcz is located on the Brda (Brahe) river,
which flows into the Vistula a good eight kilometers east of the city
center. The city is located in the Polish lowlands, so the surrounding
landscape is mostly flat.
Bydgoszcz was initially a fishing
village, which developed into a trading center for goods due to its
favorable location on trade routes. 1346 Bydgoszcz got from the Polish
King Casimir III. granted city rights to the Great. He is therefore
particularly revered in the city: a monument and the name of the
university are dedicated to him. From the 15th and 16th centuries
Bydgoszscz was above all an important trading center for wheat, numerous
historical granaries bear witness to this to this day. During the
Polish-Swedish wars of the 17th century, the city was captured and
destroyed by the Swedes several times.
In the course of the First
Partition of Poland in 1772, the city was annexed by Prussia. It was
given the German name Bromberg and remained - with the exception of the
Napoleonic period 1807-15 - Prussian until the end of the First World
War in 1918. The Bydgoszcz Canal was built during the reign of Frederick
the Great in 1772-75. It connects the Brda with the Netze and thus the
river system of the Vistula with that of the Oder. From 1815 Bromberg
was the administrative center of one of the two administrative districts
in the Prussian province of Posen. However, it remained a small town
until the mid-19th century.
The Prussian Eastern Railway opened
in 1851 and its main administration and repair shop were based in
Bromberg. In the decades that followed, the population multiplied.
Several parts of the city therefore date from the late 19th or early
20th century, which is reflected in entire streets in historicist or art
nouveau style. In the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries,
large quantities of pine wood were transported from the Polish forests
to the major cities of the German Empire via the Bydgoszcz Canal.
Although over 80% of Bromberg's population was German, the city was
assigned to re-established Poland in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. The
repair shop of the Polish State Railways (PKP) emerged from the former
repair shop of the Prussian Eastern Railway and from this in 2001
today's wagon construction company Pesa emerged, which is still one of
the largest and best-known employers in Bydgoszcz. In 1969 the
Pedagogical University of Bydgoszcz was founded, which was raised to a
university in 2005.
Bydgoszcz shares the role of capital in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship with its slightly smaller sister city
Toruń. While the organs of regional self-government (Sejmik and
Voivodeship Marshal) are based in Toruń, the voivode resides in
Bydgoszcz, who implements the laws on behalf of the central government
and heads the police and security authorities.
The Old Town - is the oldest part of Bydgoszcz, whose spatial
arrangement was already planned by King Casimir the Great in 1346. The
Old Town is primarily the Old Market Square with 19th-century
picturesque tenement houses and the surrounding streets, all in the
immediate vicinity of the Brda River. The most important and at the same
time the most original monuments of the Old Town are the Cathedral
(1502), the former Jesuit college, and today the town hall (1653), the
classicist building of the Provincial and Municipal Public Library
(1778), the neo-gothic market hall (1904 ), the majestic building of the
Provincial District Court (1906) and finally the tallest building in
Bydgoszcz, i.e. the neo-Gothic St. Andrzej Bobola with a 75-meter tower
(1903).
Mill Island - is one of the most unusual and captivating
places in Bydgoszcz. What makes Wyspa unique is its location in the
heart of the city, just a few steps from the Old Market Square. Starting
in the Middle Ages, the Island was an industrial center for the next few
centuries. It was on the Mill Island that the royal mint was located,
which functioned intermittently from 1594 to 1688. Currently, the Mill
Island is the living room of the city, a green oasis in the center of a
metropolis with almost half a million inhabitants. Most of the buildings
on the island date back to the 19th century. The White Granary is still
remembered in the 15th century. Water, footbridges, former mills (today
museums), red brick buildings reflecting in the Młynówka river (the
so-called Venice of Bydgoszcz), well-kept greenery - all this creates
the atmosphere of a river island in Bydgoszcz today.
Plac
Wolności - the former 17th-century garden of the Poor Clares, located at
Gdańska Street in Bydgoszcz, is a real salon of the city. Although it
was laid out in 1854, it gained a unique character at the beginning of
the 20th century with the construction of most of the buildings that are
still located on the square today. Wolności Square is primarily a
tasteful architecture of the turn of the century, we will find here
perfect modernism, neo-baroque, neo-gothic and finally modest Art
Nouveau. However, the most characteristic objects on the square are the
Church of St. st. of the Apostles Peter and Paul, erected in 1876 by the
Berlin architect Friedrich Adler, and the monument-fountain "Deluge"
from 1904, sculpted by Ferdynand Lepcke, the author of the famous
Bydgoszcz "Łuczniczka".
Bydgoszcz Cathedral - and more precisely,
the Church of St. st. Martin and Mikołaj is undoubtedly one of the most
beautiful and, above all, the oldest building in the city. Fara, as the
people of Bydgoszcz still call their cathedral, is a late-gothic
three-nave church erected between 1466 and 1502. One of the most
valuable monuments of the church is a late-gothic painting in the main
altar called the painting of Our Lady of Beautiful Love or Madonna with
a Rose. Inside the church, the eye is drawn to the beautiful, modernist
polychrome, whose extremely bright colors cover the entire interior of
the temple. The cathedral, picturesquely situated in the corner of the
Old Market Square and in the immediate vicinity of the Brda River, is
one of the most magnificent and most frequently photographed objects in
Bydgoszcz.
The Music District - is one of the most interesting
urban developments in the city, and at the same time one of the most
charming and peaceful corners of Bydgoszcz. The central point of the
district is the vast Park im. Jan Kochanowski, full of sculptures
depicting outstanding composers. It is surrounded by all those serving
culture, which resounds from the neoclassical building of the Pomeranian
Philharmonic and the neo-baroque building of the Academy of Music. The
Music District is also home to the Polish Theater with one of the city's
symbols, the sculpture "The Archer" by F. Lepcke (1910). In the vicinity
of the park there are several outstanding examples of Art Nouveau in the
form of excellent villas and tenement houses designed by outstanding
architects of the time.
Minor Basilica of St. Wincenty à Paulo -
erected between 1925 and 1939, it is the largest temple in Bydgoszcz,
and also one of the largest in Poland. The basilica is a monumental
building designed on the model of the Roman Pantheon by the Polish
architect Adam Ballenstaedt. The most characteristic element of the
neoclassical temple building is the reinforced concrete dome with a
diameter of 40 meters. The basilica is located in the immediate vicinity
of Sielanka, Bydgoszcz's garden city, i.e. a pre-war villa district full
of greenery designed in 1910 by the famous German architect Joseph
Stübben.
Mostowa Street - in Bydgoszcz, it is a busy route
connecting Śródmieście with the Old Town. The central point of the
street is the Bridge. J. Sulima-Kamińskiego, which offers a beautiful
view of the Brda River and numerous monuments of the city concentrated
around the river. The panorama on the eastern side of the bridge is
dominated by the buildings of three famous Bydgoszcz granaries
(18th/19th century), the official symbol of the city, currently the
Museum of Leon Wyczółkowski. In the foreground, in turn, the attention
of passers-by is drawn to a new symbol, the figure of a tightrope walker
deftly balancing on a rope - the sculpture of "Crossing the River". The
background of the sculpture are new granaries designed by well-known
Warsaw architects, the headquarters of BRE Bank, and at the same time a
perfect example of contemporary Polish architecture. The eastern side of
the bridge also includes 19th-century red brick buildings: Lloyd's
Palace (1886), the seminary building (1858) and the majestic building of
the Polish Post Office (1899) - one of the largest historic buildings of
this type in Poland.
The Church of the Poor Clares - actually the
Church of St. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commonly known as
the Church of the Poor Clares, is one of the most characteristic
buildings in Bydgoszcz. The single-nave Gothic-Renaissance temple was
erected between 1582 and 1618. Few elements have survived from the
original equipment of the church, because after the dissolution of the
Order of Saint Clare, which took care of the temple, the Prussians used
the church building, among others, for as a warehouse. Nevertheless, it
is worth looking inside the temple to see the 17th-century wooden
coffered ceiling, on which 112 flower rosettes were painted. From the
slender tower of the church, topped with a baroque cupola, the Bydgoszcz
bugle call by Konrad Pałubicki sounds three times a day.
"Hotel
pod Orłem" - an icon of Bydgoszcz architecture at the turn of the
century, was designed by the outstanding Bydgoszcz builder Józef
Święcicki, the author of over 60 excellent architectural projects in the
city. The construction of the hotel was completed in 1896. From the very
beginning, the building functioned as a hotel, originally run by Emil
Bernhardt. Among the guests of the hotel we will find such personalities
as Artur Rubinstein. The extremely rich façade of the building was
dressed in neo-baroque architectural dress.
Bydgoszcz Canal -
built in 1773-1774, it is part of the international E 70 waterway. It
connects the Vistula and the Oder through their tributaries: the Brda,
the Noteć and the Warta. The creation of the Canal contributed to the
dynamic development of the city, which thanks to modern hydrotechnical
devices, characteristic industrial, residential and recreational
buildings by the waterside, gained its elegance, riverside identity and
the rank of one of the main centers of inland transport. In the years
1908–1915, the so-called New Canal with unique Czyżkówko and Okole
locks, equipped with equalization tanks, allowing to save most of the
water. The old section of the Canal, with five locks and a beautiful
park, now serves mainly a recreational function. The Bydgoszcz Canal can
be compared to Flemish Venice - Dazzling places in Poland that look like
foreign ones.
Bydgoszcz is a city with a historical record, the specificity of
which is expressed primarily in the symbiosis of the Old Town with the
river and the prevalence of 19th-century buildings from the "belle
epoque" period. The heritage of Old Polish architecture consists of
three Gothic churches, a former Jesuit college, several half-timbered
granaries from the 18th century and a dozen or so buildings and tenement
houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. The architectural development
from the period 1850–1914 is rich. However, the basic and original asset
of Bydgoszcz is water: rivers, canals, hydrotechnical structures,
boulevards, quays, cascades and the elevation of the city's buildings
from the river side.
Noteworthy is the Old Town located in the
meanders of the Brda River (the other Old Town area is Stary Fordon on
the Vistula River), Mill Island, Bydgoszcz Venice and Śródmieście with
urban Art Nouveau buildings. A unique monument is the oldest active
artificial waterway in Poland - the Bydgoszcz Canal (1774) with a system
of sluices.
The tourist product is the Old Town and Śródmieście
with its historical layout and architectural monuments: churches,
granaries, public buildings, streets lined with decorated tenement
houses. The provincial register of monuments includes 245 objects from
Bydgoszcz, including the spatial complex of the Old Town, the remains of
the city walls, the Mill Island (in its entirety), the Old Bydgoszcz
Canal (completely with locks and weirs), the City Lock, 16 churches, a
synagogue, 7 cemeteries, 10 old granaries, a former water tower, about
35 public buildings, over 100 tenement houses and villas. The municipal
register of monuments includes about 2,800 objects, of which over 2,000
(75%) is located in the area of compact development of Śródmieście along
with Bocianów, Bielawy, Okole and Wilczak.
In the city, it is
worth seeing historic churches, especially the cathedral - the Marian
sanctuary of Our Lady of Beautiful Love, the Basilica of St. Vincent de
Paul and the other three city sanctuaries. There are several museums and
cultural facilities in the city that attract the public for their
repertoire, as well as for their events and festivals. The TeH2O
cultural Water, Industry and Crafts Trail is also being created in the
city, with 16 stops, and the Bydgoszcz Culinary Trail.
Another
great advantage of Bydgoszcz is its nature. The city is divided by the
valleys of three great watercourses. Therefore, there are many places in
Bydgoszcz from where you can see the panorama of the city. Further
districts, from west to east, can be admired by walking along the
footpath along the Bydgoszcz Slope - the edge of the upper terrace of
Bydgoszcz with a relative height of 20-40 m.
There is no shortage
of parks in the city, including many established in the 19th century.
Worth recommending are above all: Leśny Park Kultury i Wypoczynku,
Planty on the Bydgoszcz Canal and a number of parks within the
Śródmieście district.
A characteristic feature of Bydgoszcz is the exposure of buildings
from the side of rivers and canals. Over the centuries, churches,
granaries, tenement houses and bridges were built near the river. All
major city events take place on the Brda River and the Bydgoszcz Canal.
Around it, a specific living room of the city is created - with the Mill
Island as its center. The attractiveness of Bydgoszcz related to water
is emphasized by the illumination of monuments, places and greenery, and
enriched by small architectural forms, e.g. the sculpture "Crossing the
River". Weirs and cascades of Międzywodzie add additional charm. In
newspapers describing the city, there are statements that Bydgoszcz is
Polish Amsterdam.
The following images are reflected in the old
town area of Brda:
Bydgoszcz monuments (e.g. cathedral, granaries,
Lloyd's Palace and others),
municipal buildings (e.g. the Main Post
Office, former Eastern Railway Directorate),
post-industrial
buildings (e.g. Rother mills, Buchholz tannery, current PZU building),
Kentzer mills,
modern buildings (Opera Nova, "new granaries" and
others),
tenement houses on the Brda, Młynówka and the Bydgoszcz
Canal (Bydgoszcz Venice, Przyrzecze Street, Stary Port Street, tenement
houses on the Canal Island).
A unique monument of Bydgoszcz is
the oldest Bydgoszcz Canal in Poland (1774) - an inland connector
between Western and Eastern Europe. There are ten locks and three weirs
in the city. Four sluices are closed, restored and open to the public in
the park on the Canal (3) and in Brdyujście (1). The center of the
Bydgoszcz Water Junction in the Old Town is the Mill Island together
with the Bydgoszcz Venice. As a number of exhibition facilities of the
District Museum are located within it, it is of great cultural
importance.
One of the basic walking and tourist trails in
Bydgoszcz are the boulevards along the Brda River (5 km) and the
Bydgoszcz Canal (3 km). Along the Canal you can admire the restored,
historic sluices, while along the Brda River, apart from hydrotechnical
structures, there are historic buildings of architecture. Some of the
riverside buildings are treated as a symbol of the city: the complex of
granaries on the Brda River, the "new granaries" or, for example, Opera
Nova. Since 2015, the construction of a boulevard on the Vistula River
in Stary Fordon has also been planned. So far, the walking route along
the Vistula is the crest of the flood embankment with a length of
approx. 4.5 km.
There are three water trams (including 2 solar
ships) running on the Brda River, the course of which (8 stops) also
includes locking at the city lock and others.
Bydgoszcz's Old Town, located on the Brda bend, has preserved its
medieval layout. Relics of architecture from before 1800 have been
preserved here:
gothic temples: St. st. Martin and Mikołaj, the
post-Bernardine church and the church of the Poor Clares,
building of
the former Jesuit college from the 17th century,
fragments of
defensive walls,
several tenement houses and granaries from the 18th
century
Most of the buildings in the Old Town, however, come from
the first and second half of the 19th century. The central point of the
city is the Old Market. In one of the tenement houses on the eastern
frontage of the Market Square, the figure of Mr. Twardowski appears
twice a day, presenting a short show and music show.
In the area
of the chartered town, along with the Mill Island, there are historic
streets and town squares. There are over 50 objects entered in the
provincial register of monuments and several hundred monuments from the
municipal register. The newer buildings include the monumental monument
of Casimir the Great - the donor of city rights for Bydgoszcz and the
builder of the castle.
The city center of Bydgoszcz was almost entirely built in the years
1850–1914 on the wave of favorable economic conditions from the Prussian
period. Economic and mental ties with Berlin at that time made the
capital of the German Empire a model and a point of reference for
Bydgoszcz. At that time, Bydgoszcz was called "Little Berlin", due to
the urban similarity: putting green areas in the foreground: parks,
squares, gardens, relations to rivers and canals, and the authorship of
new buildings according to designs by Berlin or local architects,
educated at Berlin universities. The greatest contribution to the
development in the Prussian period was made by, among others,
architects: Józef Święcicki, Fritz Weidner, Karl Bergner, Paul Böhm,
Rudolf Kern, Erich Lindenburger, Carl Rose, Alfred Schleusener, Paul
Sellner, Heinrich Seeling and city building advisors: Heinrich Grüder
(1871–1877), Wilhelm Lincke (1878–1886 ), Carl Meyer (1886–1912),
Heinrich Metzger (1912–1920), and in the interwar period, among others:
Jan Kossowski, Bogdan Raczkowski, Kazimierz Ulatowski and others.
The vast Śródmieście district is famous primarily for its 19th and
20th-century buildings in historicizing styles (eclecticism,
neo-renaissance, neo-baroque, neo-gothic, picturesque historicism, Art
Nouveau and modernism). The eastern part of Śródmieście was built on the
assumptions of a garden city, so the buildings here are intertwined with
the greenery of parks. It is in this area that the music district is
located, where a number of cultural and educational facilities have been
built.
In Śródmieście, there are most historic public buildings:
administrative, educational, cultural, neo-gothic and neo-baroque
churches and frontages of large-city tenement houses along the most
important city routes: ul. Gdańska, Dworcowa, Cieszkowski, Aleja
Mickiewicza and others. Tenement houses and villas, rich in details,
stucco and ornaments, are a great asset of the city's historic and
contemporary architecture. Several objects in Śródmieście are treated as
symbols of the city, e.g. the Archer's Monument from 1910, the
monumental Deluge Fountain from 1904 (rebuilt), or the neo-baroque hotel
"Pod Orłem". There are also fountains and new monuments, including "The
bench" with the Enigma killer, Marian Rejewski from Bydgoszcz.
Bydgoszcz has several historic sacral buildings, including four
sanctuaries, late-Gothic churches from the turn of the Middle Ages and
the Renaissance, as well as neo-Gothic and neo-Baroque churches from the
times of historicism. Worth visiting are above all: the Cathedral of St.
st. Martin and Mikołaj from 1466 - the sanctuary of Our Lady of
Beautiful Love, the post-Bernardine church built in the years 1552-1557,
the church of the Poor Clares, from the tower of which the bugle call of
Bydgoszcz is played every day at noon. Minor Basilica of St. st.
Wincentego à Paulo is one of the most interesting examples of references
to the Pantheon in Rome in Poland.
Among the churches of
historicizing architecture, the most impressive are: the church of the
Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, St. Andrzej Bobola, the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, the Holy Trinity, St. Santa.
In Bydgoszcz, there is a regional Regional Museum located in several
buildings scattered around the Old Town (especially on Mill Island), the
Museum of Land Forces and the only Pharmacy Museum in Poland operating
in an active pharmacy. There is also the Museum of Soap and History of
Dirt, the Museum of the Bydgoszcz Canal, the Museum of Polish Diplomacy
and Refugees, the Museum of Freedom and Solidarity, the Museum of
Photography, the Museum of Education, the Chamber of Traditions of
Bydgoszcz Railways, the Mission Museum of spirits and others.
Bydgoszcz is also famous for several festivals that attract spectators
from outside the city as well. The well-known music scenes of the
Pomeranian Philharmonic, Opera Nova and the stage of the Polish Theater
operate here. The Philharmonic organizes the festivals: "Bydgoszcz Music
Festival" and "Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis", the opera "Bydgoszcz
Opera Festival", and the theater "Festiwal Prapremier". Concerts and
open-air events such as "Ster na Bydgoszcz" are also gaining a large
audience.
A separate issue is the large variety of sporting
events, including many of international and even world class, which
attract fans from all over Poland.
There is a large Congress Center in Bydgoszcz, which occupies one of
the circles of Opera Nova (the building is in the form of a three-leaf
clover, two circles are occupied by the opera house). In 2023, the
construction of the 4th circle of the Opera began. On September 24,
2015, the Bydgoszcz Trade and Exhibition Center was opened, located at
ul. Gdańska on the border with Osielsko.
In 2009, according to
the Conference Services Catalog published by Meetings Management, the
Bydgoszcz center was among the largest facilities of this type in the
country. The city as a large economic center is also a place of training
and business tourism.
In the administrative area of Bydgoszcz there is the former town of
Fordon, founded in the Middle Ages, which has its own old town square
and several monuments. Fordon has a spatial layout from the 15th
century, while the current buildings come from the 19th and 20th
centuries. Noteworthy is the location of Fordon, whose market is only
200 m away from the Vistula River, and from the bridge over the Vistula
River a classic panorama of the former town can be seen. In 2023, a new
quay on the Vistula River was opened, and the construction of a
recreational area in its surroundings and a promenade along the Vistula
are in progress.
Old Fordon is dominated by the towers of three
temples that used to be of different denominations: Catholic,
Evangelical and Jewish. In the 18th century, Fordon was mostly inhabited
by Jews, and on the Vistula River there was a royal customs house
established here by King Sigismund III Vasa.
World War II left in Bydgoszcz and the surrounding area attractions
for military lovers. In the forests of Zakłady Chemiczne "Zachem" in the
south-eastern part of the city, there are mysterious objects of the Nazi
explosives and ammunition factory DAG Fabrik Bromberg, which was one of
the largest armaments factories built in the areas occupied by Nazi
Germany in terms of area. To this day, over a dozen kilometers of
concrete roads, railway sidings and several dozen buildings hidden in
the forest, as well as several kilometers of tunnels, have remained in
this area. In 2011, in 8 facilities of the nitroglycerin production zone
(1% of the entire factory area, which covered an area of 23 km²), the
Exploseum was opened - an open-air museum of industrial architecture of
the Third Reich along with an underground tourist route.
In
addition, in the forests near Bydgoszcz there are numerous shelters and
post-military facilities. The Polish side left behind the line of
defense of the Polish Army (called Przedmość Bydgoskie) in
Kruszyn-Osówiec, where the members and supporters of the Bydgoszcz
Association of Monuments Lovers "Bunkier" organized an open-air museum.
Bydgoszcz is an important center of culture, especially music, in the
country. The traditions of the city theater date back to the 17th
century, when a theater hall was built in the Jesuit college. In 1824, a
permanent theater building was erected, rebuilt in 1895 to a monumental
form by the architect Heinrich Seeling from Berlin. The Bydgoszcz
Conservatory of Music was founded in 1904, and in the years 1905-1945
there was the Bruno Sommerfeld Piano Factory, known in Europe and in the
world, numerous orchestras and choirs, both German ("Gesangverein",
"Liedertafel") and Polish (Św. Adalbert) Halka, Moniuszko). In 1880, the
first museum collections were made available, in 1884 the People's
Library was established, and in 1903 the Municipal Library, in 1913 a
center for artistic education, and in 1909 the first cinema. The center
of Polish cultural life was established in 1907, the Polish House, which
was destroyed in 1919 by the German Grenzschutz.
The
re-Polonization of the city in the interwar period led to the formation
of a new Polish cultural elite in the 1930s, the development of Polish
theatrical, musical, artistic and literary life, as well as the
development of periodicals. After the dramatic episode of World War II,
the process of cultural development continued, mainly in institutional
terms. In the 1950s, two musical institutions were founded: the
Pomeranian Philharmonic and the Opera and Operetta. Since 1974, the
Academy of Music. Feliks Nowowiejski in Bydgoszcz.
In 2011, over 80 organizations, associations and foundations dealing
with broadly understood cultural activities were active in Bydgoszcz.
Eight cultural institutions benefit from subsidies from the local
government at the commune and voivodeship levels. These are: Opera Nova,
Pomeranian Philharmonic. Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Teatr Polski im.
Hieronim Konieczki, Provincial Center of Culture and Art "Stara
Ochronka", Municipal Cultural Centre, City Gallery bwa, District Museum.
Leon Wyczółkowski and the Provincial and Municipal Public Library.
Witold Bełza.
The offer of cultural institutions in Bydgoszcz is
complemented by the activities of the Academy of Music, the Youth
Palace, youth culture centres, several art galleries, museums,
associations and foundations whose cultural offerings combine various,
often unconventional fields of artistic creativity. The most famous are
the "Mózg" Artistic Association, Eljazz, Yakiza Culture Foundation and
Art House.
In 2013, there were 34 libraries in Bydgoszcz (with
branches), whose services were used by nearly 50,000. people. 51
thousand cinema screenings were watched by 762 thousand. people. In
2013, Bydgoszcz museums were visited by 83,000 people. people. In 2012,
96,000 people listened to concerts in the philharmonic, 71 thousand.
people watched opera performances, and 24 thousand. watched plays.
In 2010, Bydgoszcz was a candidate for the title of European Capital
of Culture 2016[. The experience gained during the development of the
application resulted in the anchoring of the city's development process
in culture and through culture, which was expressed during the 1st
Bydgoszcz Culture Congress held in 2011.
Pomeranian Philharmonic I. J. Paderewskiego has existed since 1953.
The concert hall (920 people) is among the best acoustics in Europe,
which is confirmed by the opinions of famous artists and music critics.
Due to the phenomenon of acoustics, it is popular with famous artists.
Many world-renowned artists have performed on the Bydgoszcz stage, e.g.
Artur Rubinstein, Benjamin Britten, Witold Małcużyński, Luciano
Pavarotti, Shlomo Mintz, Mischa Maisky, Kevin Kenner, Kurt Masur,
Kazimierz Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Antoni Wit. Many great bands have
also played here.
Opera Nova
Opera Nova, existing since 1956.
In 1974, it started the construction of a building consisting of three
circles, located on the Brda River. In 2023, the construction of the 4th
circle began. Opera Nova has become a cultural showcase of Bydgoszcz in
the world. At the Bydgoszcz Opera, the prima donnas recognized today,
such as Barbara Zagórzanka and Bożena Betley, as well as singers: Józef
Stępień, Florian Skulski and others, achieved their first successes and
began their great careers. The greatest opera artists in Poland, such as
Antonina Kawecka, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Wiesław Ochman, as well as foreign
ones, have been guests here. Entire ensembles of the Wrocław Opera,
Theaters from Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, Minsk and the Glubenkian
Foundation from Lisbon also performed here.
Polish Theater Hieronim Konieczka with 16th-century traditions, was
founded in 1949. It continued the activity of the Municipal Theatre,
whose impressive building was demolished in 1945. Since 2002, it has
been the initiator of the only Festival of Premieres in Poland. In 2022,
a new building of the Chamber Theater was opened.
There are also
several private theaters in Bydgoszcz: "Nearby", "Yakiza", Rozruch dance
theater, plastic theater, words, Salon of Young Artists, and alternative
theaters, including Pantomime Theater Dar. In addition, at the Acting
School of A. Grzymała-Siedleckiego, there is the Stage of Theater
Presentations, which hosts a number of nationwide events: "Theatre
Spring", "Peregrination with Melpomena", happenings. In the years
1960–1986 there was also a second theater stage: the Kameralny Theatre,
and from 2009 the Buratino Bydgoszcz Puppet Theatre. In 2015, the
Rozmaitości Theater was initiated at the fourth lock of the Bydgoszcz
Canal with an audience of 650 seats.
There are about 30 choirs in Bydgoszcz: academic, parish, secular and youth. Most of them belong to Bydgoszcz branches of associations: the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras and the Caecilianum Federation. The Bydgoszcz Singing Society "Halka", which has been operating continuously since 1883, is one of the oldest choirs in Poland.
Attempts to organize a professional municipal orchestra were made at the beginning of the 20th century (German Orchestra Society, founded in 1898), and also in the years 1921–1922. In the interwar period, there were symphonic ensembles at music schools in Bydgoszcz, a German-Polish theater orchestra (Deutsche Bühne) and several dozen amateur and professional brass bands. The first City Symphony Orchestra was founded in Bydgoszcz in 1936, led by Alfons Rezler. Reactivated in 1945, it was transformed in 1953 into the Pomeranian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Regardless of this, the artistic showcase of Bydgoszcz in the years 1946–1955 was the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bydgoszcz, which provided live music for Polish Radio broadcasts. Subsequent orchestras: symphonic, chamber and wind orchestras were created from the 1960s and were associated with the development of secondary and music education. In 2011, there are several dozen orchestras in Bydgoszcz, some of which are professional (Filharmonia, Opera, Academy of Music), and others are amateurs associated in the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras.
There are nearly 40 music clubs in Bydgoszcz. Klub Mózg founded by Jacek Majewski and Sławomir Janicki was one of the centers of the creation of the so-called yass music, important for contemporary European culture. Artists such as Tomasz Gwinciński, Tymon Tymański, Marcin Świetlicki, Jerzy Mazzoll, Kazik Staszewski and many other Polish and foreign artists are associated with Mózg. Other establishments that represent the local underground and alternative music include: Eljazz, Kuźnia, Węgliszek, Clan, Savoy, Sogo and many others.
Among the museums in Bydgoszcz, the largest is the Regional Museum of Leon Wyczółkowski (since 1923), occupying several buildings in the city, including granaries on the Brda River and on Mill Island. In Bydgoszcz, there is also the Land Forces Museum, specializing in documenting the latest (19th-20th century) Polish military history, in particular the history of the Pomeranian Military District, Exploseum, presenting issues related to explosives and the history of DAG Fabrik Bromberg, and several other museum units.
In 2014, three multiplexes operated in Bydgoszcz: Multikino (10 screens), Cinema City (13 screens) in Focus Mall and Helios in Galeria Pomorska (7 screens). The offer is complemented by studio cinemas, including: Kinoteatr Adria, Kino Orzeł, the cinema of the Youth Palace, the Kinoteatr of the IwSZ Club and two cinemas in Fordon: Jeremi and the Dom Kultury Katolickiej "Wiatrak". During the holiday season, there are open-air cinemas: Perła in front of the Drukarnia Fashion House, LPM in front of Klub Mózg and Blokada Filmowa - night screenings on the most beautiful streets of Bydgoszcz.
The oldest and largest historical collection of books is the
Bernardine Library in Bydgoszcz, founded in 1488. In the 19th century,
apart from official (post office) and administrative (regency)
libraries, scientific libraries developed, mainly belonging to German
societies, e.g. Nadnotecki District, or Agricultural Institutes (Central
Agricultural Library). At that time, libraries were also established at
secondary schools, garrison and professional libraries, in 1898 the
People's Library, and in 1903 the Municipal Library. Polish cultural,
educational and craft associations had their own collections. In 1867,
Tomasz Śniegocki founded the first Polish bookstore in the city. In the
interwar period, there was The Medical Library (1921, the largest in
Pomerania), the library at the Municipal Museum (1925), other military,
school and professional libraries. After 1945, the headquarters in
Bydgoszcz had, among others, The Library Department of the Baltic
Institute, and in 1959 the library of the Bydgoszcz Scientific Society
was founded.
In 2015, the largest library in Bydgoszcz was the
Wojewódzka i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna im. dr Witold Bełza, which had
34 branches in the city and valuable old prints, including "Rule for all
monks" by Hieronim Savonarola from 1489 and the manuscript of "Rota" by
Maria Konopnicka (1910). Other major libraries include Provincial
Pedagogical Library, collections of the State Archives, several
university libraries, including: UTP (1952, the largest in the region
with a technical profile), UKW (1969), Academy of Music (1974), Medical
Academy (1984), University of Economy, KPSW, WSB University, church
libraries, e.g. Primate's Institute of Christian Culture, military
libraries, e.g. Armed Forces Support Inspectorate, Land Forces Museum
and many others.
Since 1952, the Bydgoszcz Scientific Antiquarian
has been operating continuously, which has been running the Bydgoszcz
Antiquarian Auctions since 1969.
The most important organization conducting regional activity is the Society of Friends of the City of Bydgoszcz established in 1923. It continues the traditions of the Society for Beautifying the City of Bydgoszcz established in 1832. TMMB publishes many publications devoted to the city (including the monumental multilingual album "Because it is Bydgoszcz", the album "Pope John Paul II in Bydgoszcz", "Muzyczna Bydgoszcz" and the periodicals: "Kronika Bydgoska" - since 1967 - and "Kalendarz Bydgoszcz" - since 1968), organizes numerous concerts, competitions for the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz, cares about the protection of memorial sites and monuments. With the help of school clubs, he popularizes knowledge about the traditions of Bydgoszcz among young inhabitants of the city. In Bydgoszcz, there are also other associations that popularize literature, art and culture of other countries and regions of the world, including: Association of Polish Writers, Bydgoszcz Branch, Author's Gallery of Jan Kaja and Jacek Soliński, Polish-French Friendship Society, Polish-Austrian Society, Italian, German, Nigerian, Norwegian, Korean and many more.
Several dozen cyclical national and international cultural festivals
and reviews take place in Bydgoszcz. The oldest festivals in Bydgoszcz
are organized by the Pomeranian Philharmonic: International Piano
Competition. Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1961), the Bydgoszcz Music Festival
(1962) and the Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis congress (1966). The
following events, organized by the Youth Palace, also have considerable
traditions: the National Competition of Children and Youth Choirs a
Cappella and Bydgoszcz Music Impressions (1977).
The brand in
Poland and abroad has also been developed by such festivals as: the
International Competition of Young Pianists "Arthur Rubinstein in
memoriam" organized by the Music School Complex, the Bydgoszcz Opera
Festival, the Artpop Festival Złote Przeboje Bydgoszcz, the Festival of
Music Competition Laureates, the Festival of Premieres, Camera Obscura
and Landscape without you - the Festival of Unforgettable Polish
Artists.
The Municipal Cultural Center in Bydgoszcz organizes
i.a. festivals: the International Harmonica Festival, which attracts
lovers of this instrument from all over Poland, and the largest literary
event in the region, the International Book Festival - Bydgoszcz
Literary Triangle, and the Provincial Cultural Center - Bydgoszcz
Buskers Festival - International Meetings of Street Artists. Bydgoszcz
drummers also have their own festival - Bydgoszcz Drums Fuzje.
Film festivals are held in the city: Never seen in Bydgoszcz and AFF-Era
Filmowa, as well as a review of the independent cinema OFF-Era Filmowa.
In 2010-18, Bydgoszcz hosted the world's largest festival dedicated to
the art of cinematographers: Camerimage.
Along with the progress in the revitalization of riverside areas,
parks and historic architecture, Bydgoszcz is gaining an increasing
tourist brand in the country and in the world. In the rankings organized
by the professional media, Bydgoszcz is often among the top Polish
cities in terms of tourism. For example, the creators of the Poland
Sotheby's International Realty ranking emphasize that.
After
2010, Bydgoszcz received a number of awards and distinctions in the
field of tourism, including:
The title of the Museum Event of the
Year Sybilla 2011 in the category of technology exhibitions for the
Exploseum of the War Technology Center DAG Fabrik Bromberg awarded by
the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage;
Certificate of the
Best Tourist Product 2012 for Mill Island awarded by the Polish Tourist
Organization;
Bydgoszcz among the top 10 destinations in Poland in
2013 according to the world's largest travel website, Tripadvisor;
Nomination for the 7 New Wonders of Poland 2013 for the Museum of Soap
and History of Dirt in Bydgoszcz - National Geographic Traveler monthly;
Certificate "Tourist-Friendly Municipality" awarded in 2014 to Bydgoszcz
by the Local Government Magazine "Wspólnota" together with PTTK;
Bydgoszcz recognized as the 5th most beautiful city in Poland in 2014
according to the Poland Sotheby's International Realty ranking - a
platform for luxury real estate agencies around the world.
In 2015,
Exploseum in Bydgoszcz was included in the European Route of Industrial
Heritage, gaining the rank of the so-called anchor point, one of 6 in
Poland and 77 in Europe - industrial places of supra-regional importance
for the industrial history of Europe and with great tourist potential
Bydgoszcz 8th best destination in Poland in 2015 according to
Tripadvisor (the highest rated place in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region);
Museum of Soap and History of Dirt in Bydgoszcz ranked in 2015 by
National Geographic Traveler in first place among the five most
interesting museums in Poland
The TeH2O Water, Industry and Crafts
Trail in Bydgoszcz wins a prestigious award in the Tourism Trends Awards
2016 competition and a nomination in the World Travel Awards 2016
competition
Bydgoszcz 5th best travel destination in Poland in 2017
according to Tripadvisor (the highest rated place in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, ahead of Poznań, Toruń, among others);
The Soap and History of Dirt Museum in Bydgoszcz receives the Best
Tourist Product Certificate of the Polish Tourist Organization in 2017,
earlier this distinction was awarded to Exploseum, Wyspa Młyńska and the
Camerimage Film Festival.
The attractiveness of the landscape and nature and the strong
afforestation of the vicinity of Bydgoszcz mean that several dozen
marked tourist trails have been marked out in the suburban area. The
density of trails around Bydgoszcz is the highest in the region and
higher than in many other large cities. Among the hiking trails, the
following can be distinguished:
Brda trails (9) – they lead north of
Bydgoszcz, mainly through forest areas along the Brda River and the
Koronowski Lagoon,
Vistula routes (14) – cover four regions: the
Lower Vistula Valley, the lower Wda basin, the western part of the
Chełmińskie Lake District and the northern ends of the Bydgoszcz Forest,
Noteć trails (12) – run along the Noteć basin, covering part of the
ethnic areas of Kujawy and Pałuki, through Bydgoszcz Meadows by the
Noteć River and the Bydgoszcz Forest, crossing in the vicinity of Lake
Jezuickie.
Through Bydgoszcz runs the longest in Europe
International Bicycle Route R-1 and several others: along the Lower
Vistula Valley, around the Fordońska Valley, the Bicycle Trail of
Friendship Bydgoszcz-Toruń and others. The Eurovelo bicycle route No. 9
is also planned to run through Bydgoszcz.
There are four Slavic
strongholds from the 6th-11th centuries in the city and its immediate
vicinity: Wyszogród, Zamczysko, Pawłówek and Strzelce Dolne. The city is
also famous for water tourism, thanks to kayaking on the Brda River and
sailing in tourist barges on the following shipping routes: Great
Wielkopolska Loop, Toruń Loop, Kujawska Loop, Vistula and Noteć. In the
Opławiec district there is a holiday resort (Janowo) and a sanatorium
(built in 1904). Within a radius of 20 km, there are about 10 bathing
beaches on the lakes. The nearest are in Piecki and Chmielniki on Lake
Jezuickie and in Borówno on Lake Borówno. The purity of the water in
Brda (class II) allows bathing in the river in its upper section.
In the immediate vicinity of the city there is a palace and park
complex in Ostromecko, called the "Bydgoszcz Wilanów", the Bydgoszcz
Forest, which is gaining more and more on the tourist brand of the Lower
Vistula Valley, and about 20 km away, the Koronowski Reservoir,
attractive for sailors and water sports enthusiasts. The city is a good
starting point for Bory Tucholskie, the Chełmno Land (Teutonic
monuments) and Kujawy and Pałuki, where the Piast Route has been marked
out. In 2008, in Solec Kujawski, 15 km from Bydgoszcz, a Jurassic park
was built, and in 2012 a similar facility was built in the Forest Park
of Culture and Recreation.
There is one five-star hotel in Bydgoszcz (Bohema) and five four-star hotels: City, Holiday Inn, Pod Orłem, Słoneczny Młyn and Sepia. In addition to them, there are about 20 lower-class facilities. According to the data of the Central Statistical Office, in 2013, there were 25 tourist accommodation facilities in Bydgoszcz (including 18 hotels), with 3,000 beds. seats. 238,000 were granted. overnight stays, including 90% in hotels. There are also 105 places in a youth hostel and several hundred in facilities offering guest rooms.
Never Seen In Bydgoszcz – March
Never Seen In Bydgoszcz is a
film festival whose idea is to bring the so-called "ambitious cinema",
and in particular films that are hard to find in the repertoires of
local multiplexes. And this is where the strength of this project lies,
because the city on the Brda River is full of connoisseurs of world
cinematography, whose tastes, unfortunately, are too often relegated to
the background, at the expense of ubiquitous commercialism.
Young
Talents - April
National Artistic Festival, the idea of which is
the slogan "Young for the Young". The aim of the competition is to
promote talented youth from secondary schools and to discover the talent
hidden in young artists.
KolorOffon Film Festival – April
Review of short films: fiction, documentaries and animations.
Bydgoszcz Opera Festival – April/May
Since 1994, it has been held
annually and it is the largest review of the most interesting
achievements of musical theaters - domestic and foreign - in Poland. The
idea of organizing a great opera festival inspired the authorities,
sponsors and the community of the Pomerania and Kujawy region with
enthusiasm for this project. The Bydgoszcz Opera Festivals are held in
one of the most modernly equipped Polish music theatres. On the
beautiful, large stage of Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, opera theaters from
Poland and foreign companies set their annual meeting in spring. Two
festival weeks are the time of meetings of artists, people of culture
with enthusiasts of various musical genres: opera, operetta, musical,
ballet: classical and modern, and an excellent form of promoting these
arts. It is a tradition that the first of the performances is the
premiere performed by the "host", Opera Nova. We devote the following
evenings to the presentations of the invited Theatres. The Bydgoszcz
Opera Festivals are financed by the Marshal's Office of the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Ministry of Culture and National
Heritage. The festival is accompanied by exhibitions, a review of music
films on DVD, and (since 2008) performances of chamber operas - artistic
proposals by students of Polish music academies.
Bydgoszcz
Festival "Travellers" - April
"Travellers" is a festival of
inspiration - a 2-day travel holiday on the Brda River for hikers,
mountaineers, canoeists - those who want to share their experiences. In
2013, the Tony Halik awards were presented for the second time for
interesting travel ideas. In 2012, the special guest was Elżbieta
Dzikowska, who presented the awards to the crew of the Solanus yacht
with Capt. Bronisław Radliński at the helm, Aleksander Doba for a lonely
journey across the Atlantic, and the Jasieński brothers Szymon and
Michał for their expeditions to Torella Land.
Rudder to Bydgoszcz
- June
It is the largest water sports festival in the region.
Ster na Bydgoszcz is 3 days of fun, during which concerts, yacht
exhibitions, photo exhibitions, inland water tourism fairs and many
other attractions take place.
Bydgoszcz Music Impressions – July
It is the largest and most important international event organized
by the Youth Palace in Bydgoszcz since 1977. During all editions of the
festival, the Youth Palace in Bydgoszcz hosted over 500 youth teams from
several dozen countries, including from Austria, Belgium, Belarus,
Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Poland,
Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine , USA,
Hungary, Italy, Great Britain. It is the only festival in Poland and one
of the few in the world with such musical diversity. Within a few days,
several concerts take place in concert halls and in the open air, not
only in the city, but also in the region. Choirs and chamber orchestras,
early music ensembles, instrumental and vocal-instrumental ensembles of
jazz and popular music as well as folklore ensembles are eligible to
participate in the festival.
Bydgoszcz Buskers Festival -
July/August
Two-day meetings of street artists (comedians,
magicians, jugglers, clowns, acrobats, circus performers, musicians,
improvisers) from around the world.
ArtPop Festival - July
ARTPOP Festival Złote Przeboje Bydgoszcz 2011 is a continuation of
the Smooth Festival, whose previous editions took place on the Mill
Island in Bydgoszcz. Along with the new name, the place and formula of
the festival changes. Since 2011, fans of art-pop music will meet in the
beautiful natural surroundings ofMyślcinek - one of the largest City
Parks in Poland.
Harmonica Bridge Bydgoszcz – Toruń – August
The International Harmonica Festival BYDGOSZCZ-TORUŃ HARMONICA
BRIDGE, organized by the Municipal Cultural Center in Bydgoszcz and the
House of Muses in Toruń, has become a permanent fixture in the national
schedule of musical events related to the widely used harmonica. Back in
2001, when the 1st Harmonica Meeting was held in Bydgoszcz, no one
expected that after a few years the harmonica, an instrument small in
size but great in terms of musical possibilities, would connect the two
largest cities of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region: Bydgoszcz and Toruń
will fit in well with the visible renaissance of the harmonica.
Musica Antiqua Europea Orientalis Festival – September
Meetings
of the most eminent personalities in the world of science, organized in
Bydgoszcz every three years, a wide range of topics, great concerts
(including world premieres of works of various provenance) ensured the
IAEO a unique international position. Since then, the Congress has
entered the history of not only Polish, but also world music, measuring
historical time with its regularity - a time of change, development and
enrichment.
Shell Fest - September
The favorite event of
fans of hard sounds. The Muszla Fest festival is an opportunity to
listen to the latest achievements of groups from the region. The
festival is a powerful dose of sounds from very different musical
genres. The permanent place of the Festival is Park im. Vitos.
Bydgoszcz Music Festival - September - October
The Bydgoszcz
Music Festival is one of the cyclical events in Bydgoszcz with the
longest tradition. Dating back to the 1960s, it has successfully
resisted all historical storms, trends and today's widespread
commercialization over the years. In its current form, the Festival is
characterized by a huge variety of forms and styles, however, their
significant distinguishing feature is the consistently high level of
performance, guaranteed by the invited most outstanding Polish and
foreign artists. The main goal of the festival is to promote high
culture with a special emphasis on Polish creativity, including music by
Polish composers. The program of concerts covers a wide spectrum of
musical genres and forms, drawn from almost all eras. Each edition of
the festival is dedicated to a different artist, keynote or idea.
Camera Obscura International Reportage Art Festival – October
The festival has been organized since 2004 by the Art-House Art
Foundation. It was established as the first pan-European event dedicated
to the promotion of reportage as an independent and increasingly popular
audiovisual artistic form on the border of journalism and documentary
film. The most important points of the festival are competitions in
which the authors of the best reportages compete for the GRAND PRIX
Award. Ryszard Kapuściński, worth EUR 3,000, and honorable mentions in
the following categories: investigative reportage, social reportage,
radio reportage. During the meetings at the CAMERA OBSCURA Festival,
both creators and viewers have the opportunity to exchange views on the
quality and standards of a reporter's work, as well as on the image of
the surrounding world emerging from the presented reportages.
Premiere Festival – October
The Premieres Festival is a
competition presenting performances whose premieres took place in the
theatrical season preceding the next festival edition. During the
festival, premiere productions from all over Poland are presented, and
an annex of an international nature is also organized.
Bydgoszcz
Jazz Festival – October
For four years, the main organizer of the
Festival has been the ELJAZZ Jazz Association. The festival is getting
more and more varied every year, and the invited artists represent
various trends in jazz music. So far, the most outstanding
representatives of Polish jazz have performed, such as: Urszula Dudziak,
Tomasz Stańko, Włodzimierz Nahorny, Krzysztof Ścierański and many
others, and representatives of American jazz, such as: Billy Harper, Al
Foster, Vincent Herring. The festival is also supported by other
institutions that actively contribute to the development of this event.
Festival concerts take place throughout the city, from clubs to the
Pomeranian Philharmonic. Interest in the Festival is growing year by
year, and the organizers are constantly expanding the formula of the
festival. This year, there will be nine concerts over five days.
Festival of Unforgettable Polish Artists "Landscape without You" -
October
The festival has become a permanent fixture in the
calendar of the biggest cultural events in Bydgoszcz and Poland. Six
years ago, admirers of Krzysztof Klenczon's work had the opportunity to
listen to "old" songs in new arrangements and performed by the greatest
Polish artists. A year later, the stars recalled the hits from years ago
by the unforgettable Mieczysław Fogg. The third edition was devoted to
the work of Anna Jantar, the next one to Grzegorz Ciechowski. Two years
ago we heard songs by Czesław Niemen. Last year's edition reminded us of
the work of Jonasz Kofta. During this year's seventh edition of the
festival, we will remember the creators of the BREAKOUT group.
Mózg Festival – Music from the Brain – November
A festival
covering alternative music from around the world. During the festival,
all forms of contemporary music, performance art, audio and video
installations, painting, photography and film are presented. When
talking about contemporary music, the festival is about musical forms
that come from both the so-called "classical" sources as well as those
that refer to such musical genres as jazz, ethnic music or rock music.
Plus Camerimage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography
– November/December
The International Festival of the Art of
Cinematography PLUS CAMERIMAGE is the largest and most famous festival
dedicated to the art of cinematography. PLUS CAMERIMAGE significantly
contributes to the increase in the prestige of cinematographers among
other creators of the 10th muse. In many countries, including Poland,
this profession was classified as technical. Thanks to the Festival,
people began to notice that the cinematographer is a co-creator of the
visual side of the film - he is an artist, just like the director and
actors.
The unique formula of the Festival, focusing attention on
the qualities of the film image and its adequacy to the message
contained in the film's plot, turned out to be an attractive alternative
to other festivals. The awards are an expression of recognition for the
most outstanding achievements in the field of cinematography and give a
sense of achievement to their authors. PLUS CAMERIMAGE is also an
excellent forum not only for presentations, but also for discussions on
the future of film art. By bringing together the circle of already
awarded filmmakers and helping debutants and students, it allows them to
discover new artistic areas.
Drums Fusions – December
The
Bydgoszcz Drums Fuzje Festival is thematically related to the Chopin
Year celebrations. Each of the concerts, in various musical styles,
arrangements or innovative forms of communication, refers to the work of
the great composer. During the six days of the CHOPIN DRUMS FUZJE
festival, we will have a unique opportunity to listen to great music
projects performed by drummers from Bydgoszcz, together with invited
guests.
There are many legends and tales about Bydgoszcz, including:
The
legend of the founding of Bydgoszcz "Two brothers Byd and Gost"
"The
Legend of the Herb"
"The legend of Łysa Góra in Bydgoszcz"
"Bartodzieje Bartholomew stands"
"The legend of the Bydgoszcz devil
Węgliszek"
"How Bocianowo was created from a stork"
"About
Angelica, daughter of the knight Carolus"
"The Legend of Hangman's
Island"
Legends about Bydgoszcz and Mr. Twardowski (according to
the legend, the nobleman Twardowski lived in Bydgoszcz):
"Mr.
Twardowski and Mayor Słomka's Rejuvenation"
"In the year of our Lord
1560"
"Sitting on roosters"
"Ninepenny"
Bydgoszcz is an important transport hub in northern Poland.
By
plane
Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo Airport "Ignacy Jan Paderewski" (IATA:
BZG) is located 3 km from the city center. It is of more regional
importance, but has seen a significant increase in connections since the
2000s. From Germany you can fly directly with Lufthansa from Frankfurt
(daily) or with Ryanair from Weeze (Lower Rhine; only on Fridays). There
are also scheduled flights to airports in the British Isles and Ukraine,
and charter flights to Mediterranean holiday destinations.
The
closest major alternatives are the airports in Poznań (140 km away; 2½
hours by train) and Gdańsk (170 km; 2 hours by car).
By train
The main train station Bydgoszcz Główna is located on the heavily
frequented routes Gdansk-Poznan and Warsaw-Bydgoszcz.
Approximately every hour there are Intercity and TLK trains (corresponds
to an Interregio) from Gdańsk (journey time approx. 1:40 hrs) and Gdynia
(2 hrs); every two hours from Poznań (around 1½ hours), Warsaw (3½
hours) and Wroclaw (4 hours); four times a day from Łódź (3:15 hrs) and
Katowice (6½ hrs). Regional trains run once or twice an hour between
Toruń and Bydgoszcz, the journey takes 40-45 minutes.
Once a day
there is a direct Eurocity connection from Berlin (4:15 hours) and
Frankfurt/Oder (3:05 hours).
By bus
Long-distance buses and
regional buses stop in the center.
In the street
Arrival from
Germany is possible via Berlin and Posen on the A2 motorway. East of
Poznan, at the Poznań Wschód triangle, change to the S5, which is
designed as a motorway-like expressway.
By boat
Excursion
boats operate on the Vistula and Brda.
The tram network of MZK Bydgoszcz consists of 10 lines with a total
length of 41 km. Mostly high-floor cars from the 1980s are used, but
increasingly also modern low-floor cars from the local Pesa factory.
In the summer months, a "water tram" (Bydgoski Tramwaj Wodny) runs
on the Brda.
The name of the town is derived from the Slavic name Bydgost, which
consists of two parts byd as a variant of bud- (to wake up) derived from
Proto-Slavic *bъd- (Old Russian vъzbydati = to stimulate, Proto-Slavic
bъděti/bъd'ǫ = not to sleep, to stay awake) and the popular the Slavic
member goszcz/gost - meaning "-guest". This name was created using the
adjectival suffix "-jь", which was used to create place names from the
names of the founders or owners, e.g. Przemyśl from Przemysław, Poznań
from Poznan, Radom from Radom or Radomiła, etc.
Names with the
ending -goszcz are characteristic of the Slavs and derive directly from
the Slavic *gost-jь meaning "hospitality" or "hosting" in Slavic names.
They prove the Slavic stronghold settlement and are characteristic of
Slavic and Polish possessive and local names with this ending, such as
Małogoszcz, Skorogoszcz. Such names also occur in Germany in the area of
Germania Slavica, where in the Middle Ages the Polabian Slavs also
established their settlements. Examples include: a stronghold that was
the main political center of the Redars and the center of the cult of
the god Radogost - Radogoszcz, *Trěbigost-jь, German Trebgast in the
area inhabited by the Slavs, the so-called Bavarian Slavica derived from
the Slavic name Trzebiost, mentioned in 1028 in Latin as Trebegast,
*Radogost-jь, German Raabs in Austria, mentioned in 1112 as Ratgoz and
derived from the Slavic name Radogost.
One of the first surviving
documents with the name of the city in Polish was recorded in 1429 by
Marcin from Międzyrzecz, who mentioned in it the part of Bydgoszcz and
the starost of Nakło Tomek from Pakość - in the org. "The Thomexakian
Participant of the Bidgoschky Nakelsky Starost". "Bidgosczanyn" - a
Polish term for an inhabitant of Bydgoszcz, was recorded in 1523 in his
Polish-Latin dictionary by Bartłomiej of Bydgoszcz. The name of the
village has a very rich historical documentation:
1239, Bedgosciam
1242, castrum quod Budegosta vulgariter nuncupatur ("city, which is
commonly called Bydgoszcz")
1279, Bidgoscha
1280, Bidgostia,
mentioned in a Latin document issued in Gniezno signed by the Polish
prince Przemysł II.
1281, Bydgoszcz, mentioned in a Latin document
issued in Lubin in 1281 signed by the Pomeranian prince Mściwoj II.
1558, Bydgoszcz, i.e. until the 16th century, Bydgoszcz "a fishing
settlement or a hostel belonging to Bydgoszcz"
1835, Muller's
Topographical Dictionary of Prussia lists the city under its current
Polish name Bydgoszcz, and also its German name Bromberg.
Some
identify the name of the village with Ptolemy's BUDOrgis from the 2nd
century, listed next to the village of Calisia, on the amber trail.
Bydgoszcz is located in the northern part of Poland in a
characteristic place where the Vistula makes a sharp turn to the north.
The administrative area of the city is elongated and stretches along the
Bydgoszcz Canal in the western part, the Brda River in the central part,
up to the Vistula River, which is the eastern border. From west to east:
from the edge of the Osowa Góra housing estate to the Vistula River
below Stary Fordon, the city spans 22 km. A similar distance occurs
diagonally from the north-west (Smukała estate) to the south-east
(Żółwin-Wypaleniska estate). At the narrowest point, from the north
(Myślcinek estate) to the south (Lotnisko), the area of the city is 10
km long.
The vicinity of the city is characterized by a
young-glacial relief formed during the Baltic glaciation, approx. 15-10
thousand years ago. years ago. The city is located at the junction of
great valleys, through which the meltwater of the ice sheet originally
flowed, and were later used by rivers. Bydgoszcz is one of the few
cities within which there are four physico-geographical macroregions:
Toruń-Eberswalde Pravalley, South Pomeranian Lake District, Lower
Vistula Valley and Chełmińsko-Dobrzyńskie Lake District, together with
numerous mesoregions (6) and microregions (about 20). Therefore, there
is a significant geomorphological diversity in the city and its
immediate vicinity. Moving from Bydgoszcz to any direction of the world
brings with it different landscapes, as well as geobotanical and
ethnographic regions.
To the south of the city, there are fields
of inland dunes, covered with the Bydgoszcz Forest, in the north,
Pomeranian uplands with lakes, in the east, the great bend of the
Vistula and the Lower Vistula Valley, in the west, the Bydgoszcz-Nakiel
proglacial valley with vast meadows. The territory of the city lies
within three large river valleys (the Brda, the Vistula and the
Noteć-Warta proglacial valley), which is the reason for the presence of
numerous terrace levels, upland areas and particularly exposed in the
city landscape - edge zones of uplands (up to 62 m relative height),
divided by valleys and denudation steams. The main edge zones in the
Bydgoszcz area include the Slopes: Fordońskie, Bydgoskie, Kruszyńskie,
Mariańskie and Łęgnowskie.
According to the division of S. Jarosz
(1956), Bydgoszcz is located in the area of seven geobotanical and
landscape regions[30]. However, according to the physical and
geographical division of J. Kondracki (1978), Bydgoszcz lies in the
following mesoregions:
Toruń Basin (covers most of the city's
territory, 11 dune and floodplain terraces, several micro-regions)
Fordon Valley (the turn of the Lower Vistula Valley)
Brda Valley
Świecka Upland
Krajeńskie Lake District
Chełmno Lake District.
The region encompassing Bydgoszcz and the surrounding area is
sometimes called Northern Kuyavia, and is historically associated with
Kuyavia and Wielkopolska, which of course does not exclude rich past and
present contacts with Pomerania and Gdańsk.
Ethnographically, it
is on the border of:
Kuyavia (south and southeast)
Krajny (West
and Northwest)
Pałuk (southwest)
Vistula Pomerania – Bory
Tucholskie and Kociewie (north)
Chełmno Land (east)
In the years
1945–1998, the city was administratively the capital of the Bydgoszcz
Voivodeship.
On the territory of Bydgoszcz there are several edge zones, which are
the borders of proglacial valley terraces and uplands. All these works
were created around 10,000 years ago. years ago as a result of lateral
and deep erosion of flowing waters. Most of the city area is located
within the terraces: high (Upper Terrace (Bydgoszcz)) and medium (Lower
Terrace (Bydgoszcz) and Fordon (Bydgoszcz)) created during the formation
of the Toruń-Eberswald glacial valley. The northern outskirts of the
city lie within the moraine plateau, and the north-western outskirts on
the outwash terrace associated with the outflow of waters from the
north. On the southern outskirts of the city and further in the
Bydgoszcz Forest, there is one of the largest fields of inland dunes in
Poland, which creates a mosaic of hills, valleys and valleys.
The
lowest situated place in Bydgoszcz is the bank of the Vistula River - 28
m above sea level. The water level in the Brda in the section from the
Czersko Polskie weir to the city center is about 32 m above sea level,
while the Bydgoszcz Canal on the western outskirts of the city reaches
58 m above sea level. The highest topographical point in the city is
GóraMyślcińska 107 m above sea level, where in winter there is a ski
slope. Stefan Kulmatycki.
The edges separating the individual
levels increase in relative height towards the east. They reach the
highest values over the Vistula valley: 68 m in Fordon and 40 m in
Łęgnów. The zones along the escarpment (especially the Bydgoszcz Slope)
were already in the 19th century designated as the main promenades of
the city with viewpoints and facilities with a general city function. In
1900, e.g. a water tower with a viewing gallery, and in 1890 the
construction of Górska Avenue began. There are numerous vantage points
at the exposed positions. On the Bydgoszcz Slope, these include, among
others: Henryk Dąbrowski Hill, Szwederowskie Hill, Bolesław Krzywousty
Hill, and on the Fordon Slope, among others Myślicińska Mountain, Glider
Mountain, Zamczysko settlement. The settlement of Wyszogród is situated
on the Vistula cliff - a former ducal settlement recorded in the
chronicle of Gallus Anonymus.
The average annual air temperature in the period 1945–1994 was +8.4 °C. The hottest month is July, with an average temperature of +19.0 °C, the coldest is January -1.9 °C. Absolute temperature records in Bydgoszcz are: -26.9 °C (February 1, 1956) and +38.0 °C (July 31, 1994). The prevailing winds are westerly (18%) and south-westerly (15%). On 24% of days there is silence, which is the result of the city's location in a valley surrounded by forests. The average annual rainfall in the period 1945–1994 was 512 mm, and in 1993–2002 – 533 mm, with a strong annual variation: from 269 mm (1989) to 719 mm (1912). 318 mm, with a maximum in July (83 mm), August (61 mm) and June (58 mm). In the middle and dry years, there is a shortage of rainwater for vegetation, which deepens the generally light nature of the soils in the area. The sunshine duration in the Bydgoszcz area amounts to 1509 hours and is higher than the national average, especially in the spring months (March-May). During the year, there are 35 days with frost, 100 days with ground frost, about 50 days with snow cover and 26–30 hot days with a maximum temperature above 25 °C.
The most valuable resource of the Bydgoszcz environment is the Water
Junction, which consists of three main watercourses with a total length
of 100 km of quays. The Bydgoszcz Water Junction connects two
international inland waterways: (E40 Baltic Sea - Black Sea and E70
Atlantic Ocean - Baltic Sea), linking the basins of Western and Eastern
Europe.
The Brda River flows through the city, over a distance of
28 km, and flows into the Vistula in Brdyujście. The waters of this
river on a part of the urban section have the 2nd class of purity. The
eastern border of the city runs along the Vistula river (in the
districts of Fordon, Brdyujście and Łęgnowo). The Bydgoszcz Canal flows
through the western part of the city for a distance of 6.5 km, which
leads to the Noteć River and then via the Warta River to the Oder river.
The presence in the city of numerous hydrotechnical structures
related to the Canal and the Vistula-Oder waterway is worth noting: six
active sluices and four closed (historic) locks, three weirs, a river
port, a water dam, fish passes, sluices and regulatory structures. As a
result of the damming of the Brda River, there is the Mill Island in the
center of the city, flowing around the Młynówka River and intersected by
the Międzywodzie Canal arranged in the form of a water cascade.
There are also smaller watercourses in the area of the city, e.g. Rafts,
which siphon crosses the Bydgoszcz Canal, Struga Młyńska or Struga
Prądy. On the South Escarpment and the Fordon Slope there are several
streams, springs and seepages. As a result of building up the Brda with
barrages, sluices and hydropower facilities, two reservoirs were created
in Bydgoszcz:
Regatta Course (60 ha, raising the water level
compared to the natural state reaches the Kapuściska estate) built in
1879, enlarged in 1906, it hosts national and international rowing and
canoeing competitions.
Zalew Smukalski (96 ha) - was created after
the construction of a dam on the Brda River in 1906, rebuilt in 1952
after being destroyed during World War II. In 2009, three hydroelectric
power plants on the Brda river operated in the city, generating a total
of 4.5 MW of electricity.
There are also about 50 water
reservoirs in Bydgoszcz. Most of them are small ponds and oxbow lakes.
The largest objects are the lake called Balaton, located on the estate
Bartodzieje, two extensive ponds in Fordon, in Okole and a park pond in
Dobrzecinek.
Due to the natural conditions, 35% of the territory of Bydgoszcz is
in the protected landscape zone, and 9% is occupied by the Lower Vistula
Valley Landscape Park (in the north and north-east of the city).
The city is bordered by three nature reserves (Wielka Kępa Ostromecka,
Las Mariański, Mała Kępa), and within a radius of 20 km there are
another 16 reserves belonging to four different natural and geographical
units: (Vistula, Noteć, Bydgoszcz Forest, Świecie Upland).
There
are eight protected landscape areas in the vicinity of Bydgoszcz, which
include both dune fields (overgrown with forest), as well as edge zones
of river valleys, lakes and meadows along the Noteć River. The northern
part of Bydgoszcz is covered by the protected landscape zone called the
Northern Recreational Belt of Bydgoszcz (2,640 ha) and the Koronowski
Lagoon Landscape (890 ha), while the southern part of the city is
covered by the Toruń-Bydgoszcz Basin Dunes Landscape zone. About 6% of
the city's area is covered by four Natura 2000 areas.
There are
95 nature monuments in the city, and in the Osowa Góra district - an
ecological use to protect the peat bog.
Due to Bydgoszcz's
location at the junction of physico-geographical and geobotanical lands,
three ecological corridors intersect here, including two of
international importance (Pradolina Toruńsko-Eberswaldzka, Lower Vistula
Valley and Sandr Brdy connecting the above-mentioned nodes with Bory
Tucholskie). The Lower Vistula Valley together with the Bydgoszcz bend
of this river is included in the Natura 2000 network. The second area in
the network is the area bordering the city from the west under the name:
Valley of the Middle Noteć and the Bydgoszcz Canal.
Bydgoszcz is one of the cities with the largest number (31 parks with
an area of over 2 ha) and the largest area of parks in Poland (879 ha,
second only to Warsaw). In the northern part of the city, there is the
largest city park in Poland - the Forest Park of Culture and Recreation
"Myślęcinek" - with an area of 830 ha. In the city center there is Mill
Island, famous for its "green climate", and Śródmieście was partly built
on the urban planning of a garden city, so there are numerous parks,
squares and flowerbeds.
The main spatial arrangement of green
areas are the watercourses of the Bydgoszcz Water Junction: Bydgoszcz
Canal, Brda and Wisła. Each of them has a different landscape character,
which makes the parks significantly diversified, offering different
aesthetic and recreational experiences. The main park in the western
part of the city is Planty on the Bydgoszcz Canal, in the central part
Planty on Brda and the central park, and in Fordon the district park
"Wisła". Other natural creations along which green areas have been
arranged are the slopes of terraces and uplands. Slopes: Bydgoskie,
Fordońskie and Kruszyńskie stretching in the east-west direction, from
the western borders of the city to the Vistula river, are potential
walking routes from which you can observe the panorama of the city. The
oldest walking route (1890) leads along the edge of the upper terrace of
the city, connecting individual parks separated by erosion valleys: the
Valley of Five Ponds, Park im. Henryk Dąbrowski, Aleja Górska and the
park on Wolności Hill. One of the most attractive landscape routes in
Bydgoszcz and the surrounding area is a walk along the Fordon Slope,
which connects the Forest Park of Culture and Recreation with Fordon. It
offers kilometers of walking routes, located in a very diverse
topographical area (valleys, ravines, ravines, valleys, springs,
streams, hills with a view of the Lower Vistula Gorge). Its culminations
are, among others: GóraMyślcińska with a ski lift, the Zamczysko
settlement, the monument in the Valley of Death, the Glider Mountain,
from where glider flights were performed in the years 1933-1963.
There are three botanical gardens in the city. The oldest of them
(established in 1930) is fully recognized as a natural monument - an
arboretum, while the newer one established in 1979-1983 is the second
largest in Poland (60 ha), picturesquely situated among the valleys and
hills of the Forest Park of Culture and Recreation "Myślęcinek". In
addition, to the north of it is the IHAR Botanical Garden, where
scientific research is carried out. Since 1978, Bydgoszcz has been home
to the Garden of Polish Fauna Zoo with an area of 14 ha. In addition to
domestic fauna, you can see animals from all continents, a terrarium and
a Vistularium.
Bydgoszcz is one of the few large cities in Poland surrounded by
forests on all sides. They occupy 27.6% (2021) of the city's area. Most
of them are protective forests. Pine and mixed forests dominate, but in
the northern uplands there are mixed forests and enclaves of deciduous
forests, e.g. in the vicinity of Miedzyń, Osowa Góra, Opławiec, Rynków,
Fordon.
Riparian forests occur in the Vistula and Brda valleys.
The largest complex of naturally rich forests of this type in the area
of the entire lower Vistula is located in the bend of the Vistula in
Bydgoszcz, bordering the city from the east.
Bydgoszcz has 330,038 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2022). The city's population is 46.75% male and 53.25% female. In the last dozen or so years, there has been a constant tendency of depopulation of the city, caused by the aging of the population and moving out of the city to neighboring communes and, less often, outside the region. A significant number of migrations of inhabitants is economic emigration to Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Housing estates and districts
Until the beginning of the 19th
century, Bydgoszcz included a chartered town within the city walls and
three suburbs: Gdańskie, Kujawskie and Poznańskie. From the times of the
Duchy of Warsaw (beginning of the 19th century), another suburb was
populated: Okole, where the Bydgoszcz Canal was built. The first
administrative extension of the city limits took place in 1851 and was
related to the urbanization of the areas adjacent to the railway
station. Another extension was made in 1867, and a new administrative,
educational and cultural center of the city was built on the then
incorporated area. By 1907, the area of the city had increased fivefold
(compared to the state in 1800), covering mainly the areas north of the
Old Town. Today's eclectic Śródmieście developed in this area. Another,
eight-fold enlargement of the city's territory took place in 1920, when
most of the then suburban communes were incorporated. At that time, the
city limits resisted and even crossed the Vistula River (Zawiśle in the
years 1920–1954). In the interwar period, Bydgoszcz was one of the seven
Polish cities with the largest area and population. After World War II,
in 1954, the city included, among others Prądy, Opławiec and the areas
of DAG Fabrik Bromberg located in the Bydgoszcz Forest (wartime
ammunition factories). Further corrections of borders took place in the
years: 1959 (Osowa Góra) and 1961 (Janowo, around Grunwaldzka and
Szubińska Streets). In the 1960s, in the face of shrinking housing areas
and limitations caused by the forests adjacent to Bydgoszcz, it was
decided to expand the city to the east towards the Vistula River. In
1973, over 800 hectares of land were added together with the town of
Fordon, and four years later most of the land connecting the mother city
core with Fordon. Fordon, from a town of about 8,000 inhabitants,
developed over 35 years into a residential district of almost 70,000
inhabitants, characterized by a certain spatial and landscape
separateness from the mother city area. In 1977, Łęgnowo and Wypaleniska
were also incorporated into the city precincts, with the intention of
locating municipal facilities there (sewage treatment plant, garbage
dump).
Bydgoszcz can be divided into the following districts:
Lower Terrace (housing estates located on the lower terrace in the
northern part of the city, approx. 40 m above sea level)
Górny Tarasy
(housing estates located on a high terrace of the proglacial valley in
the southern part of the city, approx. 70 m above sea level)
Western
residential estates located along the Bydgoszcz Canal (west) and the
Brda River (north-west)
The eastern district based on Stary Fordon
and the Vistula River
The Northern Leisure Belt of Bydgoszcz,
including The Forest Park of Culture and Recreation, the Gdańsk Forest,
the Fordon Slope and protected areas in the Lower Vistula Valley
Landscape Park and protected landscape zones.
Together with its surroundings, Bydgoszcz forms an urban complex - an
agglomeration with over 530,000 inhabitants. people. One third of this
is the population living in the rural areas surrounding the city, but in
a perceptible way related to Bydgoszcz. Two suburban communes: Białe
Błota and Osielsko are dormitories for people who work largely in
Bydgoszcz and use the educational, cultural and entertainment offer, as
evidenced by socio-economic indicators. Parameters of entrepreneurship,
income and professional activity of these communes are typical for the
urban population. The dynamics of housing construction and demographic
growth since 1990 are the highest in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
and outstanding in the country. In the following suburban communes: Nowa
Wieś Wielka, Sicienko, Solec Kujawski, the areas of urban enclaves are
connected with forests and rural areas. Housing construction rates are
at city level or better. Migration is clearly positive. Entrepreneurship
higher and unemployment lower than average. The dynamizing influence of
the city of Bydgoszcz affecting the results of migration, housing
construction, income and the labor market is also felt by other communes
of the Bydgoszcz poviat: Dobrcz, Dąbrowa Chełmińska, Koronowo, as well
as outside the poviat: the communes: Szubin, Łabiszyn, Nakło, Pruszcz,
Unisław, Żnin and Barcin [55]. Most of these communes together with
Bydgoszcz form the Bydgoszcz Functional Area.
The proximity of
Bydgoszcz is also used by the population located in a much larger area
located further from the city. The role of Bydgoszcz is expressed mainly
in providing jobs (in 2006, 20,000 people commuting to work from
outside), health care, educational, cultural, commercial and
entertainment offer. In total, the surroundings of Bydgoszcz, where the
dynamizing influence of the city is observed, has approx. 180,000 sq. m.
people and is adjacent to the east (line Zławieś Wielka - Przyłubie)
with the impact zone of Toruń (110,000 people). Together, both centers
generate an area of increased socio-economic development, which is the
metropolitan zone of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region (Bydgosko-Toruński
Functional Area) with a potential of 850,000. people (of which 63% are
in Bydgoszcz and the surrounding communes - BOF, and 37% in Toruń
together with the communes - TOF).
Bydgoszcz's regional potential
The narrowly understood Bydgoszcz agglomeration (city and country
districts) has the following relative potential in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian region:
23% of the province's population
approx. 30% of business entities, working people, fixed assets in
enterprises, new flats completed (1995–2013)
about 40% of entities
with foreign capital, fixed assets in service enterprises
approx. 50%
and more of the potential of higher education (academic teachers,
students), press publishing houses, health care (hospitals, specialist
treatment, etc.), music culture.
Bydgoszcz Metropolitan
Association
On November 23, 2016, the Metropolia Bydgoszcz
Association was registered, bringing together 19 communes (619,000
inhabitants, including 10 cities) located in the impact zone of the
Bydgoszcz agglomeration, which is a form of cooperation between local
governments, an introduction to the construction of the Bydgoszcz
metropolitan association. The aim of SMB is to build a common identity,
support the socio-economic development of the association area, its
promotion and care for the common interests of the associated local
governments.
Bydgoszcz belongs to national and international associations and
organizations, including:
Association of Polish Cities, since 1990
Union of Polish Metropolises, since 1997 - a foundation associating 12
Polish metropolitan cities
Eurocities Association, since 2005 – an
association of large European cities, including 12 Polish ones
Kujawsko-Pomorska Organizacja Turystyczna (office; seat in Toruń, pl.
Teatralny 2), since 2005
Bydgoszcz Local Tourist Organization, since
2006
Association of Local Democracy Agencies ALDA, since 2007
Association of the Cities of King Casimir the Great, since 2009
Association of Vistula Cities (2002–2009)
The settlements located within today's Bydgoszcz were permanently
inhabited since the Bronze Age. A significant development of settlement
took place in the Roman period, when trade contacts between the local
population and the empire were found. The convenient location of the
settlements and the easy crossing of the Brda River were used by
merchants traveling along the amber route. At this point, the Vistula
was bypassed, fording the Brda. According to the latest research, based
on the dendrochronological method, the Bydgoszcz stronghold, whose
relics are still being discovered, was built in 1038. The first mention
of the Bydgoszcz castellan, Suzzlaus de Budegac, dates back to 1238. The
settlement and the churches of St. Mary Magdalene (before 1198) in
Wyszogród (a stronghold on the Vistula River within today's territory of
Bydgoszcz, whose conquest by Bolesław Wrymouth in 1113 is described in
the Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus) and a Romanesque church. st. Go. In
the early Middle Ages, Bydgoszcz was a stronghold in northern Kuyavia.
Until the middle of the 13th century, Duke Kazimierz Kujawski built a
permanent bridge over the Brda River in Bydgoszcz, where customs duties
were collected on goods transported to Gdańsk Pomerania. At the
beginning of the fourteenth century, as a result of district divisions
in Kujawy, the Duchy of Bydgoszcz and Wyszogród was established.
In the years 1330–1337, the Bydgoszcz stronghold was temporarily
occupied by the Teutonic Knights. On April 19, 1346, Casimir III the
Great located the city of Bydgoszcz on the Magdeburg Law and granted it
to the German founders, Johann Kiesselhuth and Konrad. To the east of
the city, separated by a moat (on the site of the former stronghold),
the king erected a magnificent castle, which initially became the seat
of the royal grandson, Kazimierz, Duke of Słupsk, and then the Bydgoszcz
starosts.
Bydgoszcz, due to its location, participated in the
Polish-Teutonic wars. In August 1409, the Teutonic Knights captured the
Bydgoszcz castle, which was then recaptured by Władysław Jagiełło and
concluded a truce here until June 24, 1410. In the years 1411-1454,
Bydgoszcz was besieged several times by the Teutonic forces, and Polish
offensive operations were also directed from here. In turn, during the
Thirteen Years' War, King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk established one of his
main war quarters here. Here, in April 1457, he bought from the hands of
the Teutonic mercenaries, among others the fortress in Malbork - the
capital of the Order, which has never been conquered militarily. In
November 1520, during the last Polish-Teutonic war, the Seym was held in
Bydgoszcz, attended by the common levy and King Sigismund the Old. At
the end of the Middle Ages, Bydgoszcz became the seat of the nobility
courts: the land and town courts, which functioned until the partitions.
In 1555, Bydgoszcz obtained the de non tolerandis Judaeis privilege.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town became rich on trade in
navigable grain, beer and salt. In the 16th century, Bydgoszcz was one
of the largest urban grain trade centers in Poland. According to the
preserved records from the Vistula Chamber in Biała Góra, in 1579 every
sixth ship bound for Gdańsk had its home port in Bydgoszcz. Local
skippers (associated in the guild since 1484) transported on average
2,030 lags of grain (according to preserved records from 1564–1573) from
Kujawy and Greater Poland a year, and brought back overseas goods bought
in Gdańsk. The city was also a center of craftsmanship (21 guilds, 80
professions) and the seat of factories-manufactories.
Particularly noteworthy is the mint, active in the years 1594-1688,
where in 1621 the largest gold coins in Europe were minted - 100 ducats
of Sigismund III Vasa. In the years 1627–1644, the mint was the only one
active in the area of the Crown.
At the beginning of the 17th
century, the buildings covered the entire urban charter area and spread
over four suburbs. At that time, Bydgoszcz reached the maximum number of
inhabitants in the Old Polish period - about 5,000, placing it among the
medium-sized cities of the Republic of Poland. The town was surrounded
from the south by a defensive wall with four towers and three gates, and
from the other sides by watercourses: the city moat, the castle moat,
the Brda river and the Młynówka. A magnificent town hall, numerous
diocesan, monastic and hospital churches, monastery buildings and
tenement houses were built on the territory of the chartered town.
In Bydgoszcz there was a parish school and monastic schools:
Carmelites, Poor Clares and the Bernardine Study of Philosophy. The
Jesuit college (1647–1780) had the character of a secondary school. The
most famous scholar of Bydgoszcz in the Old Polish era was Bartłomiej of
Bydgoszcz (1475–1548), who in 1532 compiled the first Latin-Polish
dictionary.
In 1620, Bydgoszcz had about 5,000 inhabitants along
with its suburbs. The Swedish Deluge (1655–1660) brought great
destruction to Bydgoszcz. During fierce fights (the city changed hands
several times), the castle was blown up and half of the townspeople
died. On November 6, 1657, in the Old Market Square, King John Casimir
and the Elector of Ducal Prussia Frederick William Hohenzollern signed
and swore the Welawa-Bydgoszcz treaties, which became the basis for the
independence of Ducal Prussia from Poland.
The period of attempts
to rebuild the city was interrupted by the Third Northern War
(1700–1721). In the years 1700–1760, as a result of wars, contributions,
plagues and disasters, the city suffered a deep economic and demographic
decline. The economic situation improved during the reign of the last
Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, although the city was far
from the image of a large urban center from years ago. In 1764,
Bydgoszcz was designated as the seat (alternating with Poznań) of the
judicial Tribunal of Greater Poland, and in 1766 the Polish project of
the Bydgoszcz Canal was created.
In 1772, Bydgoszcz was annexed by the Prussian state as part of the
First Partition of Poland. The King of Prussia, Frederick II, appointed
Bydgoszcz as the capital of the newly created administrative district -
the Noteć District, which included the incorporated areas of Greater
Poland and Kuyavia, which had not previously belonged to Royal Prussia.
In the years 1773–1774, the construction of the Bydgoszcz Canal was also
carried out, which connected the Brda with the Noteć (and consequently
the Vistula with the Oder). On October 2, 1794, during the Kościuszko
Uprising, the Battle of Bydgoszcz was fought by the Polish army under
the command of Gen. Henryk Dąbrowski.
In the years 1807-1815 the
city belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw, established as the capital of the
Bydgoszcz department. After 1815, it was the capital of the Bydgoszcz
poviat and the Bydgoszcz regency within the Grand Duchy of Poznań (from
1848 the Province of Poznań). In 1875, it was separated from the land
poviat, creating a separate municipal poviat (Stadtkreis). In the 19th
century, the city experienced significant economic development related
to the development of the Water Junction, the construction of a railway
junction (the Prussian Eastern Railway - 1851, the Warsaw-Bydgoszcz
Railway - 1862, the Poznań-Bydgoszcz Railway - 1872 and others), and the
development of the metal, machinery, wood and food. At the beginning of
the 20th century, Bydgoszcz was considered a German city (due to the
artificial administrative separation of Śródmieście from the Polish
suburbs), called "little Berlin" due to its architectural face similar
to the capital of the German Empire and the ubiquitous greenery. The
Prussian authorities demolished many old Polish buildings, including the
Gothic-Renaissance old town hall in 1834, and the Bydgoszcz castle in
1895, which had been falling into ruin since the eighteenth century.
However, a number of representative municipal buildings, administrative
buildings, schools, hospitals, churches, bridges and factories were
built in the city. In 1895, a monumental theater building was built, and
in 1904 the Agricultural Institutes in Bydgoszcz were established - the
first scientific institution.
The location of the railway station
in the area of present Bocianów contributed to the urban development of
the city. In the years 1850–1914, the New Town (Śródmieście) was built
between the Old Town and the railway station, in the eastern part in the
form of a garden city. Old buildings were replaced and intensified, and
the area of Śródmieście took on a metropolitan appearance. The dynamics
of Bydgoszcz development in the years 1850-1914 was very high, which led
to the fact that after the city was incorporated into Poland in 1920, it
became the seventh largest center in the country (88,000 inhabitants).
Bydgoszcz returned to the borders of reborn Poland on January 20, 1920, taken over by the Greater Poland army under the Treaty of Versailles. The presence of a strong German garrison in the city prevented the liberation of the city by the Wielkopolska Uprising, which at the height of the fighting reached the village of Brzoza Bydgoska, 7 km south of the city limits. After World War I, Bydgoszcz was re-Polonized very quickly and became one of the most Polish cities (around 1928/1929, Poles accounted for 92% of the city's population, while before re-Polonization, under the partitions, in 1910 there were about 19% of Poles according to the official census and 28% according to corrections by Eugeniusz Romer). In the early 1920s, there were numerous anti-Semitic excesses on the railway in the form of beating and robbing Jewish passengers. The Jews were especially afraid of the Bydgoszcz railway station. In 1920, the area of the city was enlarged eight times, including Polish suburbs, and its eastern borders crossed the Vistula River. Industry continued to develop, especially its modern branches: chemical and electrotechnical. In 1928, Bydgoszcz became a junction and the seat of the management of the newly built Silesia-Gdynia coal railway line. During the period of the Second Polish Republic, Bydgoszcz was a city with poviat rights in the Poznań Voivodeship, which was drawn along the borders of the Prussian Province of Poznań. This fact caused frustration of the local society, because Bydgoszcz was then the 7th city in terms of size in Poland, the largest poviat city, larger, among others, from Lublin and Katowice. In April 1938, it found itself in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, counting on the location of the administrative authorities of "Great Pomerania" here, as sanctioning the actual economic and social role of the city in this region (Toruń (transformed into a city-fortress) was from the second half of the 19th century a city twice as small as from Bydgoszcz, established as the administrative capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in 1920, when it became clear that Gdańsk would not be incorporated into Poland, and in the former West Prussia district, the only competitor of Toruń was Grudziądz; Bydgoszcz was not considered at that time, as it was located in the Province of Poznań). In interwar Bydgoszcz, she continued her activity, among others in The City Library (est. 1903), the City Museum (1923), the City Symphony Orchestra (1936). The center of water sports in the country was the regatta course in Brdyujście.
On September 3, 1939, there were fights between Polish units and
German subversives, supported by local Germans (including members of the
Hitlerjugend). Some of the captured Germans were shot. Nazi propaganda
emphasized these events (to prove the moral right of the Germans to
invade Poland) and gave them the name "Bromberger Blutsonntag"
(Bydgoszcz "Bloody Sunday"). After the Wehrmacht entered, the Germans
began reprisals against the Polish population for their participation in
the "Bloody Sunday" - executions (in the Old Market Square, in
Tryszczyn, in the "Valley of Death" near Fordon, etc.) and deportations
to concentration camps. Einsatzgruppen SS units took part in the
operation, e.g. Einsatzgruppe IV and the German minority paramilitary
organization Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz.
During World War II,
Bydgoszcz (as Bromberg) was incorporated into the province of
Gdańsk-West Prussia as the seat of the regency, although the Ministry of
the Interior of the Third Reich was more favorable to the concept of
linking Bydgoszcz with Poznań, according to the former division of the
province and regency before 1920, during the Prussian partition . In the
opinion of Ministerial Director Vollert, due to the importance of
communication routes (the Bydgoszcz Canal, the Piła-Bydgoszcz-Toruń
railway), it would be more advantageous to join Bydgoszcz to the Gdańsk
district, but due to cultural factors, it should become part of the
Wartheland. The final affiliation of Bydgoszcz to the Gdańsk-West
Prussia Reich District was determined by the unyielding attitude of
Albert Forster, who on September 23, 1939, intervened with Hitler
himself. He appointed his own mayor of the city, Werner Kampe, and
prevented the Ministry of the Interior of the Third Reich from filling
offices in the Bydgoszcz region. The new mayor of Bydgoszcz, Werner
Kampe, ordered the reconstruction of the city center in the National
Socialist fashion. It led to the implementation of the idea of
demolishing the western frontage of the Old Market Square, the eastern
frontage of ul. Mostowa and the synagogue to make the city center neue
deutsche Bromberg. The building near the starosty building at ul.
Słowacki monument to Henryk Sienkiewicz and the monument to the Unknown
Insurgent of Wielkopolska at ul. Bernardyńska, and in January 1943 the
Deluge fountain was melted down for war purposes.
In the years
1939–1945, 10,000 inhabitants of the city died.
On January 22,
1945, the Soviet 9th Guards Tank Corps forced the Noteć, and the next
day it entered Bydgoszcz. However, he did not engage in street fighting
and handed over the captured positions to the 2nd Cavalry Corps, going
west himself. On January 23, the troops of Major General Pierchorowicz's
47th Army and the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps occupied the southern part of
the city. The Nazis defended themselves in the northern part. On January
25, the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Romuald
Traugutt. The units of the 1st Warsaw Cavalry Brigade, the 1st motorized
reconnaissance battalion and the 7th independent armored artillery
squadron also fought here. The fighting lasted until January 27, when
the city was finally captured. During the battles for the city, the
Municipal Theater was hit by shells, demolished in 1946.
On January 24, Roman Borowski (who served as the mayor of the city
from January 28 to February 24, 1945), an officer of the Polish People's
Army, together with a group of citizens, organized the Provisional
Citizens' Committee, which took over power in the city. In March 1945,
after initiating the creation of the Polish state administration, the
capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship was located in Bydgoszcz, and not
in Toruń, arguing that the power was given to the working class, which
prevailed in Bydgoszcz. Arguments of pre-war origin, i.e. economic
potential and transport accessibility, were also taken into account.
Pursuant to the decree of the PKWN of August 31, 1944, places of
isolation, prisons and forced labor centers for "Nazi criminals and
traitors of the Polish nation" were created. Labor camps No. 11, 134 and
203 were established by the Ministry of Public Security in Bydgoszcz. In
the 1940s and 1950s, Bydgoszcz became a large military and garrison
center (in 1946, the command of the Pomeranian Military District was
moved from Koszalin).
After the war, Bydgoszcz became an
important cultural center (Bydgoski Antikariat Naukowy begins its
activity - 1952, construction of the Polish Theater - 1948, Pomeranian
Philharmonic - 1956 and Opera Nova - 1973-2006). In 1974, the
headquarters of the Youth Palace - the Youth House of Culture,
Technology and Sport is put into use. From 1975, the Gallery of
Contemporary Art of the Visual Arts Studio operated at the market
square[83]. Particularly noteworthy is the development of music culture
in People's Poland: in 1945 there were two symphony orchestras (of the
City and of the Polish Radio), from 1953 the Pomeranian Philharmonic,
from 1956 the Musical Theater of Opera and Operetta, from 1963 the
Representative Band of the Bydgoszcz Region, from 1974 the . Feliks
Nowowiejski in Bydgoszcz. Prestigious music festivals were organized:
the International Piano Competition. Ignacy Jan Paderewski (from 1961),
Bydgoszcz Music Festival (from 1962), Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis
(from 1966), and in the 1970s a music district with a gallery of
monuments to composers and virtuosos was established. Since 1978, the
Youth Palace has organized Bydgoszcz Music Impressions - international
meetings of young people making music.
In People's Poland,
Bydgoszcz also became a scientific center (four post-war public
universities). In September 1951, the Evening Engineering School was
established, which after numerous transformations became the University
of Technology and Agriculture in 1974 with the right to conduct doctoral
studies. In 1969, the Teachers College was established, which in 1975
was transformed into the Pedagogical College. The Faculty of Medicine of
the Medical Academy in Lodz was also established this year. A year
earlier, a branch of the State Higher School of Music in Łódź was
established in the city. In 1974, the Technician's House (the seat of
the Provincial branch of the Chief Technical Organization) was put into
use. In 1959, the Bydgoszcz Scientific Society was also established.
In 1946, the city hosted the Pomeranian Exhibition of Crafts,
Industry and Trade as part of the celebration of the 600th anniversary
of the city. The multi-branch industry inherited from previous periods
was expanded by the new authorities, but no new large industrial
investment was built from scratch, as was the case in the neighboring
cities (Płock, Świecie, Toruń, Janikowo, etc.). : Romet Bicycle Plant",
"Zachem" Chemical Plant, Rolling Stock Repair Plant, "Eltra" Radio
Plant, "Kobra" Pomeranian Leather Industry Plant, "Stomil" Rubber
Industry Plant in Bydgoszcz, "Makrum" Pomeranian Machine Building Plant,
"Makrum" Teleelectronic Plant Telfa”, Bydgoszcz Cable Factory.
After the war, the urban infrastructure and housing were developed. In
the years 1945–1977, approx. 175,000 sqm were built in the city. new
flats, which then accounted for 60% of the city's housing stock. From
1950, new housing estates were built on the Lower and Upper Terraces of
the city (Kapuściska, Leśne), and from the 1960s, large-panel housing
estates (Błonie, Skrzetusko, Wyżyny, Bartodzieje, Szwederowo Północ and
Południe, Wzgórze Wolności), and in the western part of the city –
housing estates of single-family houses. In the west (Osowa Góra) and
east of the city (Bydgoszcz Wschód, Zimne Woda, Siernieczek, Brdyujście)
warehouse and industrial districts were created. In 1961, the Old Town
Bridge was put into use. 1971 a part of the Old Bydgoszcz Canal was
filled in with two locks and a bridge due to the widening of the
communication artery. An east-west route was built in the 1970s, and a
north-south route in the 1980s. In 1974, a spatial solution was created
for the Fordoński roundabout and Kardynała Wyszyński Avenue (designed by
architect S. Klejbor). In 1975, a promenade was created between the Old
Market Square and ul. Grodzka. In 1975, the construction of the Forest
Park of Culture and Recreation, similar to the Silesian Park, was
initiated, and the construction of the city bus station was completed.
In 1976, ul. Grudziądzka in the direction of Nowy Rynek, which allowed
the elimination of vehicular traffic from ul. Długa and rebuilt ul.
Jagiellonian Ramparts. In 1977, the city gained a karting track.
In September 1969, on the 30th anniversary of the first Nazi executions
in the city, the Monument to Struggle and Martyrdom of the Bydgoszcz
Land was unveiled on the market square. Behind the monument by
Franciszek Masiak, there is a 3.5 m high and 30 m long sandstone
earthwork on which 146 names of towns in the Bydgoszcz voivodeship where
the occupiers were murdered were engraved.
In 1973, the city of
Fordon located on the Vistula River was incorporated into Bydgoszcz,
where in 1980 the construction of a large district of approx.
inhabitants. In 1979, the protection and transformation of Mill Island
into a recreation and museum center began.
In 1991 and 1993, 35% of the city's area was included in the
protected landscape zones, e.g. to the Vistula Landscape Park. In the
1990s, the economic system was transformed, several plants went bankrupt
after the communist period, and most of them were transformed into
branches of global and domestic corporations and capital groups
(Unilever, Telefonika, Atlas, Mlekpol, Enea, Alcatel-Lucent, Asseco,
etc.). Pesa Bydgoszcz Rail Vehicles have become a company with great
development potential. In the 1990s, regular passenger flights from the
airport were reactivated and a branch of Polish Television TVP3
Bydgoszcz was launched.
The number of inhabitants reached 386
thousand. in 1998, after which it began to slowly decline as a result of
a decrease in birth rate and suburbanization in favor of suburban
communes.
Since January 1, 1999, the city has been the seat of
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivode and the provincial government
administration. After 2000, several new non-public universities were
established, and public ones were transformed into universities, several
museums, shopping centers, bridges were built, and the construction of a
new W-Z route was initiated. Bydgoszcz remained a large military center:
in 2004, the NATO Joint Forces Training Center was located in the city,
and in 2007, the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate. Since the 1990s, the
Forest Park of Culture and Recreation has been expanded with new
facilities for recreation: a Botanical Garden with an rock garden, a
golf course, a ski slope, a miniature park, a Jurassic park, a zoo with
a terrarium, etc. In the years 2005–2012, the Mill Island was
revitalized, cultural and recreational values and moving several
branches of the District Museum to its premises. In 2009, Bydgoszcz
competed in the competition for the title of the European Capital of
Culture. In the years 2004–2016, many investments were made, e.g. the
water supply and sewage system, sewage treatment plants were rebuilt and
the Brda River was renaturalized (approx. PLN 1 billion), tram lines
were built to the Bydgoszcz Główna railway station (PLN 82 million) and
to Fordon (PLN 290 million), the University Route was built with
horseshoe-shaped pylons ( PLN 212 million), Intelligent transport
systems (PLN 58 million), Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park
with the Municipal Waste Thermal Treatment Plant (PLN 522 million), the
Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo airport was expanded (PLN 130 million), hospitals
(approx. PLN 400 million ), the Old Town and part of Śródmieście were
revitalized, railway stations, including Bydgoszcz Główna (PLN 197
million), modernized the boulevards along the Brda river, over a length
of approx. 3 km. New stops of the Bydgoszcz Water Tram, the Międzywodzie
cascade, water bike and tourist motorboat rentals were built on the Brda
River. As a result of revitalization, the exhibition of the Bydgoszcz
Water Junction, the development of the hotel chain, and cultural events,
the city has significantly improved its tourist brand. Since 2010,
Bydgoszcz has become one of the national leaders for new locations of
shared service centers and Business Process Outsourcing, and in 2015 it
took first place among Polish cities in the "Doing Business in Poland
2015" ranking created by the World Bank. Since 1999, many international
sports events have been held in Bydgoszcz, including: European (2003)
and World (2008) Junior Athletics Championships at the Zawisza Stadium,
European Women's Volleyball Championships (2009), Men's World Basketball
Championships (2009) in the Łuczniczka Hall (2009) and Volleyball
(2014), and the World Cross-Country Championships in Dobrzecinek (2011
and 2013). In 2016, Bydgoszcz hosted the World Youth Championships in
Athletics, and in 2017 one of the 6 host cities of the 2017 European
U-21 Football Championship.
In the Old Polish period, Bydgoszcz was part of the Province of
Greater Poland of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The first land
office in Bydgoszcz was the castellany, established in the 1320s. The
fourteenth century saw the development of middle and lower land offices
(Bydgoszcz land officials), which were related to the separation of the
Duchy of Bydgoszcz and Wyszogród (1314–1325) and the rule of vassal
Kazimierz Słupski (1370–1392). The jurisdiction of the Bydgoszcz
starosty covered the royal city of Bydgoszcz and the landed Bydgoszcz
district. In later years, Bydgoszcz was the capital of the 1st and 2nd
degree administrative division units:
1st degree - equivalent to
the capital of the voivodship, the region: the Noteć region (1772-1806),
the Bydgoszcz department (1806-1815), the Pomeranian voivodeship
(1945-1950), the Bydgoszcz voivodeship (1950-1975), the Bydgoszcz
voivodship (1975-1998) and together with Toruń Kuyavian-Pomeranian
(since 1999)
II degree - capital city of a unit with a status lower
than a voivodship and higher than a poviat: Bydgoszcz Regierungs
(1815-1920, in the Province of Poznań), Bydgoszcz Regierungs (1939-1945,
in the Province of Gdańsk-West Prussia)
III degree - the capital of
the land county continuously from 1358 and the township from 1887.
Traditions of the judiciary
In the Old Polish period, the
administration and judiciary in Bydgoszcz was handled by the castellan
(from 1230), then the Bydgoszcz-Inowrocław land court, the mayor, the
city council and the starost (from 1358). Bydgoszcz starosts lived in
the Bydgoszcz castle, where they had a residence, office and chapel.
They hosted Polish kings many times, sometimes for months (e.g.
Kazimierz Jagiellończyk - 1457-1466, Sigismund the Old - 1520, Stefan
Batory - 1577). Initially, the judgments of the Bydgoszcz courts were
appealed to the authorities of Inowrocław, from 1505 to Poznań, and from
1570 to the starosty and royal courts. From 1764, Bydgoszcz became the
seat of the Crown Tribunal for Greater Poland and Royal Prussia, i.e.
the highest court of appeal of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland for
land (nobility) law. At that time, the future general, the organizer of
the authorities of the Duchy of Warsaw and the creator of the national
anthem, Józef Wybicki, was undergoing judicial training in Bydgoszcz. It
was then that he met his future wife, Kunegunda Drwęska, and on October
2, 1794, together with General Henryk Dąbrowski, he took part in the
victorious battle of Bydgoszcz. Wybicki wrote the future Polish Anthem
in 1797 in Italy in the town of Reggio nell'Emilia, with which the
authorities of Bydgoszcz maintain partnership relations to this day.
From 1781 in Bydgoszcz, in a new building in the Old Market Square,
the West-Prussian Court Court was located, which was the court of appeal
for the Noteć District, with branches in Piła and Chojnice. During the
period of the Duchy of Warsaw, the judicial body was the Civil Tribunal
of the Bydgoszcz Department, which continued to function as an appeals
court. From 1815, the Land Court was located in Bydgoszcz, which could
be appealed to the higher Court of Appeal in Poznań. In 1870, it was
erected at ul. Wały Jagiellońskie 4, the new seat of the Land Court, and
in 1906 the new seat of the District Court. In the interwar period, the
Municipal Court and the Prosecutor's Office functioned in the building
at Wały Jagiellońskie. After World War II, from 1949, the Court of
Appeal for the Pomeranian Voivodeship functioned in Bydgoszcz, renamed
in 1951 to the Provincial Court, and in 1999 to the District Court.
In 2015, the following units and organizations related to the
judiciary operated in Bydgoszcz:
Provincial Administrative Court
(since 2002, Jana Kazimierza 5) - the court of the highest instance in
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship;
District Court (Wały
Jagiellońskie 2) – one of 45 in Poland and 3 in the province, its
jurisdiction covers the western part of the province;
District Court
– individual departments are located in several buildings in the city,
e.g. Wały Jagiellońskie 2 and 4, Grudziądzka 45, Toruńska 64a, Nowy
Rynek 10, Piotrowskiego 7, Grunwaldzka 30;
Permanent Consumer
Arbitration Court (Jagiellońska 10), with branches in Toruń and
Włocławek;
Self-government appeals board (Jagiellońska 3) – one of
the 3 in the voivodship, covering its western half;
District
Prosecutor's Office in Bydgoszcz (Okrzei 10) - one of 40 in Poland,
covers the western part of the voivodship;
District Prosecutor's
Offices: Bydgoszcz Północ (Przyrzecze 2-4) and Bydgoszcz Południe (Nowy
Rynek 10);
Institute of National Remembrance - branch office in
Bydgoszcz (Grudziądzka 9-15)
Bydgoszcz District Bar Council - one of
24 in Poland, covers the western part of the province;
Bydgoszcz
District Chamber of Legal Advisers; – one of 19 in Poland, covers the
western part of the voivodship;
National Chamber of Statutory
Auditors – one of 27 branches in Poland.
Five-year uniform
master's studies in the field of law in Bydgoszcz can be completed at
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian University.
Since around 2000, the local
legal community, city authorities and parliamentarians have been trying
to locate an Appeals Court in Bydgoszcz to serve the Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Voivodeship. The traditions of the court of this instance in the city
date back to 1764 and the periods 1781-1815, 1949-1975, and since 2005
Bydgoszcz has been the largest Polish city without its own appellate
court.
The Regional Inspectorate of the Prison Service (one of 16 in the country) is located in Bydgoszcz, which supervises 10 organizational units, including 3 detention centers (Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Chojnice) and 7 prisons (Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz 2x, Inowrocław, Koronowo, Potulice, Wloclawek). There is a detention center in Bydgoszcz (Wały Jagiellońskie 4) and the Bydgoszcz-Fordon Prison (1853-1984 for women, 1984-2021 for men, from December 2021 as the External Department in Bydgoszcz-Fordon of the Bydgoszcz Remand Centre).
Bydgoszcz is the eighth largest economic center in the country and
the largest in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region. It is also the fourth
place of hired work in northern Poland, the range of which extends
beyond the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Employment in the enterprise
sector amounted to 56,000. people (7th place in the country), of which
90% belonged to the private sector.
Services and industry are of
primary importance in the city's economy. Its structure is diversified,
but the most important industries are:
chemical, including plastics
processing, concentrated within the Bydgoszcz Industrial Cluster,
and
modern services for business Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Share
Service Center (SSC), concentrated within the Bydgoszcz IT Cluster,
electromechanical, including the production of railway and tram rolling
stock, focused around PESA and its sub-suppliers,
food.
The
business card of the city and the largest local enterprise is Pojazdy
Szynowe Pesa Bydgoszcz, which produces railway and tram rolling stock.
Many capital groups, concerns and international corporations are present
in the city. About 25% of Kuyavian-Pomeranian companies exporting their
products abroad are located in Bydgoszcz. A developed business
environment is of great importance - banks, financial services,
insurance institutions, real estate and company services, fairs,
industrial clusters, economic organizations, prestige class hotel base,
air connections (including freight).
The economic specificity of
Bydgoszcz is complemented by its surroundings, the Bydgoszcz poviat, and
especially the closest and developed communes: Białe Błota, Osielsko,
Nowa Wieś Wielka and Solec Kujawski, whose economic parameters are
clearly better than average rural areas. The Bydgoszcz agglomeration
groups 30% of business entities in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship,
including over 50% of large entities employing over 1,000 people.
Professional activity in Bydgoszcz is the highest in the region, while
the unemployment rate is the lowest. In addition, Bydgoszcz is a
workplace for 30,000 people. people commuting from outside (data from
2011). The commuting balance gives Bydgoszcz the 4th place in northern
Poland, after Warsaw, Poznań and Gdańsk.
The specificity of the Bydgoszcz economy is expressed, among others, in in the modest presence in the rankings of companies with the largest revenues (e.g. Polityka's 500), because it is not commercial enterprises with high turnover that determine the economic image of the city, but, among others, processing industry (revenues - 7th place in the country). It should be emphasized that the largest companies in Bydgoszcz are often subsidiaries or branches of national or global capital groups, and at the same time more than half of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian companies with the largest employment are located in Bydgoszcz. Bydgoszcz companies are widely represented in rankings promoting the quality of products and services (Teraz Polska, Dobre bo Polskie, European Medal, etc.), development indicators (Gazele Biznesu, Złota Hundred, etc.) or business ethics (Fair Play Companies). In 2015, out of 121 companies from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship awarded as Forbes Diamonds, one third were companies from Bydgoszcz (28) and the district (10). Noteworthy are the local facilities for running and developing a business. In 2015, Bydgoszcz was ranked first among Polish cities in the Doing Business in Poland 2015 ranking prepared by the World Bank.
Bydgoszcz has rich commercial and industrial traditions. The
tradition of trade dates back to the Middle Ages, while the tradition of
industry dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. The
development of Bydgoszcz was based on the premises resulting from its
location at the junction of watersheds (Bydgoski Węzeł Wodny) and
communication routes (the amber route). Starting from the 15th century,
Bydgoszcz became the center of grain trade for northern Greater Poland,
and in the 16th century the city was one of the largest centers of
navigable trade in the Commonwealth. In the Old Polish period, Bydgoszcz
was also a large center of craft production, where several guilds
functioned. Bydgoszcz beer and pottery products were known in the
territory of the Republic of Poland, recorded e.g. in the work Floats,
that is, Launching ships on the Vistula and other rivers falling to it
(1595).
In the 16th century, Bydgoszcz beer, along with four
others, was approved by the Sejm as an export beer of the Republic of
Poland. The Brda River, dammed up in the city weir, was a source of
energy for driving various manufactures, e.g. water mills, sawmills,
tanneries. In the city there were a saltworks (1522) and a saltworks
(1579), a royal mint (1594–1688) and a paper mill (1648). Until the end
of the 17th century, the citizens of Bydgoszcz had a monopoly on the
salt trade in Greater Poland. From the mid-seventeenth century, trade
and the city's economy were in crisis due to the Swedish wars, but even
then the city stood out in terms of the flow of goods. An important role
in the economic life of the town was also played by fairs and fairs six
times a year, for which the townspeople received royal privileges.
The construction of the Bydgoszcz Canal in 1774 was of great
importance for the development of industry and trade aimed at Western
Europe. At the end of the 18th century, about 1,000 boats and rafts
passed through it annually, and in the mid-19th century, eight times
more. Bydgoszcz was an intermediary in the supply of wood and grain from
the Congress Kingdom as well as machinery and industrial products from
Germany. In turn, the inclusion of the city into the railway network in
1851 was decisive for the industrial revolution in Bydgoszcz, which
completely changed its face in the second half of the 19th century and
led to the metropolisation of Bydgoszcz. The rank of the railway in
Bydgoszcz was very high. Here was located the Eastern Railway
Directorate managing the network from Berlin to Klaipeda and the
headquarters of the railway workshops, the largest in the eastern
provinces of Germany. In the 19th century, thanks to the development of
water, railway and industry, Bydgoszcz developed the fastest among the
cities under Prussian partition. Throughout the 19th century, the
industry of machinery and equipment for woodworking and agricultural
machinery as well as the food industry were of particular importance in
Bydgoszcz. Many of the enterprises established at that time exist to
this day, e.g. Bydgoszcz Tools Factory "Befana" (1852), Fiebrandt
Railway Signals Factory (1864), Wood Machine Tool Factory (1865),
Löhnert Machine Factory (1868), Otto Pfefferkorn Furniture Factory
(1884) , Municipal Slaughterhouse (1890) and many others.
Particularly noteworthy is the development of the wood industry since
the 1870s. Large quantities of timber floated from the Congress Kingdom
of Poland along the Vistula River to Gdańsk and the Bydgoszcz Canal to
central Germany favored the establishment in Bydgoszcz in the 1890s of a
complex of enterprises (sawmills, carpentry, furniture, plywood, wooden
packaging factories) located along the banks of the lower Brda River,
which initiated eastern industrial district. The development of this
field of economy was facilitated by the regulation of the Brda river
(1879) and the construction of a timber port in Brdyujście, regulation
of the Vistula river (1880–1892), and in 1890 the establishment of the
Żegluga Bydgoska company.
The expansion of Gdynia and the
construction of the Śląsk-Gdynia coal main, the node and management of
which was located in Bydgoszcz, had a significant impact on the
development of industry in Bydgoszcz. Bydgoszcz stood out economically
in the region of "Great Pomerania". In 1930, the value of purchased
industrial certificates was twice as high as in Toruń, Grudziądz and
Włocławek taken together. In the interwar period, an important sector of
Bydgoszcz's economy was also trade, conducted both by water (Bydgoski
Canal, Vistula) and by rail (coal main). In 1925, the only Timber
Exchange in the country was opened in Bydgoszcz, and in 1933, the Grain
and Commodity Exchange, the turnover of which put it in third place in
the country (after Poznań and Lviv, and before the Warsaw Stock
Exchange).
During World War II, the Germans built an explosives
production and ammunition reloading plant DAG Fabrik Bromberg near the
city in the Bydgoszcz Forest, the area of which was 23 km². In 1946, in
recognition of the heroic attitude of the inhabitants during World War
II, the city was awarded the Order of the Grunwald Cross, 3rd class. In
the post-war period in the People's Republic of Poland, the industry was
rebuilt and many industrial plants operated in the city. In the 1950s,
the infrastructure of the German factory was used to launch Chemical
Plants (Zachem and Nitrochem) producing organic and inorganic chemical
products and explosives for the army. Since then, it has been the
largest plant in the city, distancing the Railway Workshops. In
addition, there were other military enterprises in the city: Zakłady
Elektromechaniczne "Belma" producing mines and fuses, and Wojskowe
Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2 specializing in the repair and modernization of
combat aircraft. A characteristic feature of the industrialization of
the city in the post-war years was the reliance on the existing and
well-established industries and workplaces: chemical, electrotechnical,
electromechanical, clothing, leather, wood, food. The city became the
center of bicycle production in Poland. The specificity of the economic
policy of the state conducted in Bydgoszcz was the expansion and
modernization of existing plants with many years of tradition, and not,
as in many centers in the country, the construction of new large
industrial plants from scratch, the so-called "building socialism". The
process of dislocating the plants from the city center to the storage
and industrial districts was also started: Osowa Góra in the west and
Bydgoszcz Wschód, Siernieczek and Zimne Woda in the east of the city.
One of the most important achievements of the Bydgoszcz industry was the
production in 1958 by Zakłady Radioowe Unitra-Eltra of the first
miniature radio receiver in Poland, in which traditional tubes were
replaced with transistors. In the 1970s, the largest producers for the
market and export, the city's showpieces, were, among others: Zakłady
Rowerowe Romet, Zachem, Eltra, Telfa, Pollena, Modus, Kobra. In the city
there were also Rolling Stock Repair Plants, Pomeranian Machine Building
Plants "Zremb-Makrum", Stomil Bydgoszcz and School and Pedagogical
Publishing Houses.
After 1989, several large enterprises in
Bydgoszcz collapsed (Romet, Kobra, Foton, Zachem). However, as a result
of privatization processes, several large companies from Bydgoszcz were
absorbed by national and international corporations: Unilever, Nokia,
Canpack, Tele-Fonika Kable, Grupa Atlas, Enea, Mlekpol, Colian, IKEA
Grene, Tyco, Globalmalt, etc. Examples of local companies that have
created their own brand by entering the global market, e.g. Pesa
Bydgoszcz Rail Vehicles, Oponeo.pl, or the Immobile Capital Group.
In 2013, 117,000 people were employed in Bydgoszcz. people, which accounted for 27% of employees in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The unemployment rate was 8.8%, compared to 13.4% in the country and 18.1% in the region. In 2013, every third job offer in the voivodship concerned an employer from Bydgoszcz. There were 43.4 thousand in the city. business entities, of which only 2% in the public sector. Most in the sections of trade and repairs (26%), construction (10%), scientific and technical activities (10%) and industrial processing (9%). According to the PKD 2007 section, 31,000 companies operated in Bydgoszcz. natural persons, 12.4 thous. legal persons, 350 local government units. In terms of legal forms, there were 3 state-owned enterprises, 115 cooperatives, 1085 foundations, associations and social organizations and 4.4 thousand. commercial companies, including 563 with foreign capital. 96% of business entities are micro-enterprises employing less than 10 people. Almost 2,000 companies employed from 10 to 250 people, 53 - in the range of 250-1000 people, and 14 - over 1000 people. In 2013, revenues from the sale of products and services (excluding the trade and repairs section) amounted to PLN 12.4 billion in Bydgoszcz, of which 70% of the value was generated by industry and 10% by construction. Plastic and rubber products (17%), food products (12%), metal products (11%), paper and paper products (7%), machinery and equipment (5%) have the largest share in the structure of sold production of industry. ) and furniture (4%).
The largest employers in Bydgoszcz in 2014 were, among others:
Pojazdy Szynowe PESA Bydgoszcz (3,300 people), Atos IT Services (1,500),
Poczta Polska (1,500, Central Settlement Center and regional logistics
center in Lisim Ogon), iQor Global Services (1,400 ), PKP Cargo (1400),
Enea (1400), MZK Bydgoszcz (1300), Stomil Bydgoszcz (1000), IMS Sofa
(1000), Alcatel-Lucent (1000), Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2 (1000),
Bank Pocztowy ( 950), Tyco Electronics (930) and others. Social
entities, such as hospitals, schools, universities and offices, are also
large employers.
The largest CIT payers for 2013 were the
following enterprises: Bank Pocztowy, NeuPack Polska (belonging to the
Austrian concern Mayr-Melnhof Bydgoskie Zakłady Opakowań DrukNYCH since
1995), Miejskie Wodociągi i Kanalizacja, Miejskie Zakłady Komunikacyjne,
Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2, Frosta, Supravis Group (derived from
PPH Gąsior), Polmass, ZETO and PESA.
A number of enterprises with
traditions dating back to the 19th century and the interwar period are
still active in Bydgoszcz, including:
Hotel Pod Orłem in Bydgoszcz –
1800
Rail Vehicles PESA Bydgoszcz - 1851
Bydgoszcz Tool Factory
"Befana" - 1852
Gasworks in Bydgoszcz – 1859
Factory of
Woodworking Machines - 1865
BZE Belma – 1868
Makrum - 1868
Prasowe Zakłady Graficzne - 1869
Hotel Ratuszowy in Bydgoszcz – 1881
Bydgoszcz Furniture Factories – 1884
Municipal Transport Company in
Bydgoszcz - 1888
Bydgoszcz Meat Factory - 1890
Bydgoszcz shipping
- 1891
Bydgoszcz Power Plant - 1896
Urban Greenery (Deputation of
Municipal Gardens) – 1898
Municipal Waterworks and Sewerage – 1900
Bydgoszcz Plywood Works - 1914
Bydgoszcz Rubber Industry Plant
"Stomil" - 1920
Tele-Fonika Kable (Bydgoska Fabryka Kabli) – 1920
Railway Communications Works - 1920
Polish Post Central Settlement
Center - 1920
Dawn - 1922
Eltra - 1923
Pasamon - 1924
Alcatel-Lucent (Telfa) – 1928
Unilever (Bydgoszcz) (Bydgoskie Zakłady
Chemii Gospodarczej Pollena) – 1932
Noteworthy is the developing
sector of modern services, which include, above all: finance and
accounting, IT services, customer service, human resources management,
management of supplies, documentation, deliveries, research and
development, and legal services. There are a number of international
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Share Service Center (SSC)
companies in Bydgoszcz, which are leaders in this industry in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. According to the study by the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Investor Assistance Center, these include: Atos
Origin, Alcatel-Lucent, JPMorgan Chase, Teleplan Polska, Jabil Global
Services, Mobica Limited, Genesys, Asseco Poland, Sunrise System,
Banking Bases and Systems, TELDAT, Character and others.
There
are also settlement and financial centers in the city, such as
Livingston International, BPH Centrum Korporacyjne, the Operations
Center of the Bank Pocztowy Group, and the Central Settlement Center of
Poczta Polska. In 2014, over 7,000 people worked in the BPO/SSC sector
in Bydgoszcz. people, of which over 70% in the broadly understood IT
industry. To this must be added more than 1,000 employees in the field
of finance and accounting and less than 0.5 thousand. call center
employees.
Recognizable products manufactured in Bydgoszcz enterprises include:
trainsets, rail buses and trams (PESA) present in many Polish and
foreign regions and cities (Warsaw, Łódź, Gdańsk, Elbląg, Toruń,
Bydgoszcz, Szeged, Sofia, Królewiec, Moscow),
toothpaste (Signal,
Amodent), shampoos and hair conditioners (Timotei, Sunsilk, Andrelon),
bubble baths (Dove), toilet blocks (Domestos),
Jutrzenka sweets,
among others delicacies in chocolate, Alibi and Apetit bars, Jeżyki,
Elitki, Petit Beurre biscuits, Familijne wafers, Grześki,
fish
fingers and frozen foods (Frosta)
On the other hand, examples of
local economic brands, apart from PESA trams and Jutrzenka sweets, are
e.g. Sowa confectionery products known in the country and in Europe,
Oponeo.pl trade brand known for selling tires on the Polish and European
market, Bydgoskie Meble - a brand present in Poland and Germany since
the end of the 19th century, awarded many times, Quiosque clothing brand
known throughout the country, Vivid Games - a brand of mobile games
known in the world.
There are over 550 companies with foreign capital operating in
Bydgoszcz, which constitutes approx. 30% of the region's potential, and
nearly 40% including the poviat. Production corporations have their
enterprises here, including: Unilever, Tele-Fonika Kable, Atlas Group,
Mlekpol, IMS Group, Pilkington Group, Tyco, Lexel A/S, Schieder, MMP
Neupack, Prettl, Bierbaum, Frosta, Helvetia Furniture , SPX, OKT, Global
Malt, East Pack, Wentworth, as well as services: Grupa Energetyczna
Enea, Schenker, Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna, Nokia, Atos IT Services,
Livingston International, Teleplan, Jabil, Mobica, Sunrise System, Metro
AG, Grene, Cogifer, Asseco, Dräger Medical and many others.
Examples of local companies showing national and global expansion
include: Rail Vehicles PESA Bydgoszcz, Oponeo.pl, Makrum, Abramczyk,
Drozapol-Profil and others.
Since 2004, the Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park with an
area of 283 ha has been operating in Bydgoszcz. It is an attractive
space for running a business due to tax reliefs, security, available
media and land, proximity to communication routes: coal main railway,
DK5, DK10, an airport with a cargo terminal and flights to transfer
ports. In BPPT, a subzone of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone has
been created on the area of 46 ha. As part of the investor-friendly
policy of the city authorities, Bydgoszcz is exempt from property tax
for new investments where new jobs have been created. In 2015, there
were 61 enterprises operating in BPPT employing approx. 2,000 people.
people.
A separate issue is the development of office and
business centers used by companies from the IT industry and settlement
and financial companies. New office centers developing after 2010 are:
Biznes Park Kraszewskiego 1, Bydgoszcz Business Center, SCANPARK
Business Center, Your Office, ML Office, F262.
There are a number of institutions in Bydgoszcz. business
environment, supporting the development of entrepreneurship and
associating entrepreneurs. In 2013, a number of regional financial
institutions operated in Bydgoszcz, 230 law firms, 21 leasing companies,
13 brokerage houses, 247 accounting offices, 17 car rental companies, 24
economic chambers and organizations, 10 trade fair institutions with 14
trade fair events.
Regional institutions of state and local
government administration are located in Bydgoszcz, e.g. Supreme Audit
Office, Agricultural Property Agency, Agricultural Market Agency,
Voivodeship Office of Geodesy and Agricultural Areas, Inspectorates
subordinated to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Commercial Quality
of Agricultural and Food Products, Pharmaceutical, Plant Protection and
Seed Production, Veterinary Medicine, Construction Supervision,
Environmental Protection Inspection, Road Transport Inspection, Geodetic
and Cartographic Inspection, Sanepid). Regional branches of numerous
offices are located here, including: the General Directorate for Roads
and Motorways, the Central Statistical Office, the Central Office of
Measures, Assay Office, Technical Inspection, Competition and Consumer
Protection, Electronic Communications, the Armed Forces Support
Inspectorate and others. In 2015, it was decided to locate the Vistula
River Basin Authority in Bydgoszcz, which administers most of the inland
waters in Poland.
Entrepreneurship in the city and the region is
supported by numerous economic institutions and associations, including:
Bydgoszcz Regional Development Agency, academic and municipal business
incubators, several chambers of commerce, including several nationwide
(Polish Waterworks Chamber of Commerce, Polish Chamber of Commerce for
Electrical Engineering and others ), regional industry chambers of urban
planners, architects, engineers, legal advisers, economic unions and
associations, loan funds, Business Angels Network, exporter's centers
and clubs, Business Center Club, Rotary International. Among the
institutions involved in the implementation of scientific achievements
in industrial activity, the Regional Innovation Center in Bydgoszcz and
the development center of the PESA holding stand out.
In 2007, the Bydgoszcz Industrial Cluster was created, bringing together companies from the tool industry and plastics processing, as well as a number of business-related institutions. In 2013, several companies from the IT sector in Bydgoszcz, the University of Technology and Life Sciences and the city of Bydgoszcz concluded a cooperation agreement within the Bydgoszcz IT Cluster, while in 2014 the Bydgoszcz Aviation Cluster was established, whose leading unit is Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2. There are also a number of other clusters, gathering, among others agribusiness, chemical, tourist, medical, craft and other industries. Clusters contribute to the development of innovation and the application of science in industry.
About 14 fairs and exhibitions take place in Bydgoszcz every year. The largest are: the International Fair of Machines and Equipment for Water Supply and Sewage Systems "Wod-Kan" (400 exhibitors from Poland and Europe) organized by the Chamber of Commerce "Wodociągi Polskie". In 2012, the Trade and Exhibition Center was established in the Forest Park of Culture and Recreation in Dobrzecinek, for which a new exhibition hall was erected in 2015 in Dobrzecinek.
The oldest institution in Bydgoszcz related to broadly understood
finance was the mint (1594–1688), which from 1627 to 1644 was the only
active plant of this type in the Crown of Poland. The water driving
force of the Młynówka river was widely used to drive the devices of the
Bydgoszcz mint, which, along with the convenient location of Bydgoszcz
on the water communication route (Brda, Wisła), contributed to the
development of the plant. Until 1601, the mint operated as a private
plant of Stanisław Cikowski, the Cracow chamberlain and general
administrator of royal duties. From 1613, it was the royal mint of
Sigismund III Vasa (one of four, next to the mints in Olkusz, Gdańsk and
Warsaw). In 1632, the plant was transformed into the Crown Mint, managed
by the Crown Treasurer. After the Swedish Deluge, the first Polish coins
called zlotys were minted in the Bydgoszcz mint en masse - the tymphs of
Jan Kazimierz (1663-1666), whose difference between the nominal value
and the actual value was to finance the royal treasury. At the same
time, copper shillings (boratine) were minted in a similar way. In the
17th century, the Bydgoszcz mint was comparable to the best European
plants. In 1621, the largest gold coins in Europe until today were
minted there - 100 ducats of Sigismund III Vasa.
The first
bank-like institution was established in Bydgoszcz in 1787. In the
mid-nineteenth century, there was, among others, branch of the Prussian
Royal Bank in Berlin with its registered office at ul. Długa 52. In the
years 1863–1866, a Neo-Renaissance building was built for this
institution in the administrative part of the city at ul. Jagiellońska,
designed by architect Hermann Cuno. In the 19th and early 20th
centuries, Pomerania and Wielkopolska were dominated by German banks,
including Ostbank für Handel und Gewerbe with its seat in Bydgoszcz.
There were also 5 Polish banks.
In the interwar period, the
number of banks in Bydgoszcz ranged from 17 to 26 (including 4-6 German
ones). Among the local banks, the following ones stood out: Bank
Discount Towarzystwo Akcyjne, Bank Bydgoski (until 1929 - Komunalna Kasa
Oszczędności) and the German People's Bank. The seat of the former Royal
Bank in Berlin at ul. Jagiellońska was adapted for the Polish Bank in
Warsaw. In 1925, the building was extended according to a design by
architect Z. Mączyński from Warsaw.
After the war, a branch of
the National Bank of Poland was located in the building. In 1954, there
were already three branches of the NBP in Bydgoszcz, which occupied,
among others, buildings at ul. Jagiellońska 4 and 8. After the banking
reform carried out in 1969, the NBP branch in Bydgoszcz was assigned the
role of controlling and financing (on a national scale) small trade,
industry, municipal and housing economy. In 1974, the NBP founded an IT
company in Bydgoszcz, Bazy i Systemy Bankowe, a producer of
comprehensive IT solutions for State Treasury institutions and public
administration.
After 1989, the NBP remained as the central bank,
while the market was opened to commercial banks. In the 1990s, a
"banking boom" occurred in Bydgoszcz, which was characterized by the
opening of several dozen branches of commercial banks and the
establishment of several domestic banks. The newly erected headquarters
of mBank in Bydgoszcz in the form of "new granaries" was awarded the
title of the most beautiful public building in Poland in the 1990s.
Regional financial institutions are based in Bydgoszcz, e.g.
Narodowy Bank Polski Regional Branch, Jagiellońska 8 – provincial branch
of the Polish central bank
Tax Chamber, Warmińskiego 18 – 23 tax
offices in the voivodship are subordinated to it
Tax Control Office,
Marcinkowskiego 7
Regional Chamber of Accounts, Holy Trinity 35
Kujawsko-Pomorski Tax Office, Grunwaldzka 50 – serves large business
entities from the entire province, there are also 3 municipal branches
of the tax office
ZUS, Święty Trójcy 33 – branch in Bydgoszcz, with
inspectorates in Bydgoszcz, Inowrocław, Nakło, Sępólna, Świecie,
Tuchola, Żnin
KRUS, Wyczółkowskiego 22 – Regional Branch in
Bydgoszcz, with field offices throughout the province plus the Chojnice
poviat
Databases and Banking Systems – an IT company belonging to the
NBP, associated with the Polish Bank Association
KIR Regional Sales
Center – offering the sale of qualified electronic signatures
34
banks with 167 outlets, including the only nationwide bank with its head
office in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region (Bank Pocztowy), 13 Cooperative
Savings and Credit Unions, 59 consulting companies, 156 advertising
agencies, 211 insurance companies
nationwide settlement centers:
Poczta Polska, Bank Pocztowy, PKP Cargo, Bank BPH
PZU – branch and
regional motor insurance center
Totalizator Sportowy – provincial
branch
The oldest department store in Bydgoszcz (1911), which partially
serves its function to this day, is Jedynak at Gdańska Street in the
city center. The development of hyper- and supermarket chains began in
1996. According to Central Statistical Office data, in 2014 there were
12 hypermarkets in Bydgoszcz (3x Carrefour, 2x Auchan, Tesco, E.Leclerc,
Makro, Castorama, OBI, Leroy Merlin (since 2002), IKEA and others ) and
72 supermarkets. There were 15 marketplaces and over 5,000 shops in the
estates. small retail stores. In 2014, the city had 4 large (over 50,000
m²) shopping and entertainment centers and 4 smaller ones:
Rondo
Shopping Center (1998) – 60,000 m², including a hypermarket hall of
approx. 8,000 sq. m. m², a three-level gallery with an underground car
park and an Auchan hypermarket and 46 boutiques with a gastronomic
section (including McDonald's)
Tesco Shopping Center (2000) – a sales
hall of approx. 10,000 sq.m. m², boutiques, the only ones in Bydgoszcz
open 24 hours a day
Auchan Shopping Center (2001) – 17.6 thousand. m²
(hypermarket 11.5 thousand m² - the largest area in Bydgoszcz, shopping
mall 6.1 thousand m² - 46 boutiques), surface parking, near Leroy
Merlin, Decathlon and Ikea
Galeria Pomorska (2003, extension 2014) –
76 thousand. m², including 8 thousand. m² is the Carrefour sales hall; a
two-level mall with about 150 boutiques, a bowling alley, a Helios
multiplex, a restaurant and entertainment section, as well as an
above-ground and multi-storey car park
Glinka Shopping Center (2006)
- houses a Carrefour sales room and about 20 boutiques
Focus Mall
(2006) – a four-level shopping mall (90,000 m²) with 150 boutiques, a
Cinema City multiplex and a two-level rooftop car park
Drukarnia
Fashion House (2007) – a six-storey shopping mall (including 3
commercial storeys, 3 car parks) with an area of 25,000 sq m. m² in the
city center at ul. Gdańska
Galeria Fordon (2008) – a four-storey
shopping mall with an area of 7 thousand m² and approx. 18 boutiques
Zielone Arkady Shopping Center (2015) – a four-level shopping mall, the
largest in the province (115,000 m²) with 200 boutiques, an
entertainment section and a 6-storey car park
The traditional
commercial role is also played by the city center with the following
shopping streets: Gdańska, Dworcowa, Długa, Śniadeckich, but after 2000,
their role is increasingly taken over by shopping malls.
The historical development of Bydgoszcz is closely related to its
favorable location at the crossroads of communication routes. In the
prehistoric and old Polish period, the most important was the meridional
direction. The development of the settlement was possible thanks to its
location on the amber route, and later on the Silesian-Pomeranian
overland route. An expression of the great communication importance of
the Bydgoszcz stronghold was the construction of a permanent bridge over
the Brda River before 1250, where customs fees were collected. In the
14th-17th centuries, the key city-forming factor of Bydgoszcz was the
development of trade in grain and wood on the water route of the Vistula
to Gdańsk. This is connected with the construction of numerous granaries
in the city, the establishment of the oldest chypre guild in the Crown
and the increase in the number of inhabitants.
After the seizure
of the city by Prussia in 1772 and the construction of the Bydgoszcz
Canal (1774), the latitudinal direction became more important. The
inland waterway Vistula-Odra has become a competition for sea transport
via Gdańsk. Throughout the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
century, river transport reached its apogee in Bydgoszcz. At the
beginning of the 20th century, one-third of all timber imports to
Germany passed through the Bydgoszcz Canal, and a river port with a
shipyard and one of the largest timber ports in Germany was built on the
Brda River. From 1851, the railway became a new city-forming factor for
Bydgoszcz, due to the location of the junction of the Prussian Eastern
Railway. In 1862, the Warsaw-Bydgoszcz Railway was built, which until
1877 (the opening of the Vistula Railway) was the only connection
between northern Germany and Russia. For 20 years, until the 1870s,
Bydgoszcz was the only such large railway junction between Poznań and
Gdańsk, through which all transit from the Congress Kingdom, Russia,
Königsberg and Gdańsk to Berlin passed.
In 1849, the first in
Europe and in the world state-owned Railway Directorate was located in
the city, which became the most prestigious institution that was located
in Bydgoszcz in the 19th century. Until 1895, the management managed the
Prussian Eastern Railway, covering the following provinces: West
Prussia, East Prussia, Poznań and West Pomerania. The positive impact of
the railway concerned both the development of industry and trade in
Bydgoszcz during the industrial revolution (eg the oldest Railway Repair
Workshops in Poland, today the Pesa holding), as well as the development
of housing construction (Śródmieście). By 1914, 10 bridges over the Brda
River and the Bydgoszcz Canal were built in Bydgoszcz, as well as the
longest truss bridge in Germany over the Vistula River, 1.35 km long.
After Bydgoszcz returned to Poland in 1920, the meridional direction of
communication gained importance again. In 1933, Bydgoszcz became the hub
and seat of the management of the Silesia-Gdynia coal main - the largest
transport investment of the Second Republic of Poland. In addition,
water transport was still of great importance, and air transport was
started (civil flights to Warsaw, Lviv and Vilnius).
In the
post-war period, the favorable transport location continued to
contribute to the city's development. However, in the new layout of
Poland's borders, the role of Bydgoszcz as a direct transport base for
Gdynia and Gdańsk has been weakened. As a consequence, in the 1970s, the
planned A1 motorway was moved from Bydgoszcz to Toruń, even though this
required the construction of two crossings over the Vistula just 50 km
apart. In the 1960s, the southern road bypass of the city was built,
railway lines and the urban communication system were modernized. The
coal railway trunk line continued to serve as the main transit freight
line used to supply the ports of the Tri-City. Although the economic
importance of the Vistula-Odra waterway declined, Bydgoszcz was home to
one of Poland's largest shipping companies, "Żegluga Bydgoska".
Throughout the post-war period, there were air connections with Gdańsk
and Warsaw, and in 2000, international connections were introduced.
Bydgoszcz is located on the route of the pan-European transport
corridor VIa, along which the European route E261 runs. The Regulation
of the Council of Ministers on the network of motorways and expressways
provides for two expressways to run through Bydgoszcz. The following
routes run through the city:
expressways:
S5E261 -
commissioned in 2020, the section is the western bypass of Bydgoszcz and
leads from the "Błonie" junction to the "Bydgoszcz Północ" junction.
Thus, it diverts transit traffic from the city center and improves
traffic to Poznań and Wrocław as part of the European route E261 (the
section from the "Bydgoszcz Błonie" junction to the "Bydgoszcz Zachód"
junction has a common route with the S10 expressway)
S10 - since 2008
there has been a section on the southern and western bypass of the city
from the "Bydgoszcz Południe" junction to the "Bydgoszcz Zachód"
junction (the section from the "Bydgoszcz Błonie" junction to the
"Bydgoszcz Zachód" junction has a common route with the S5 expressway)
national roads:
25 - from Bobolice to Sokołowice near Oleśnica,
connects Bydgoszcz with Konin and Kalisz, and indirectly with Koszalin
(the section from the "Bydgoszcz Opławiec" junction to the "Bydgoszcz
Południe" junction has a common route with the S5 and S10 expressways)
80 – from Pawłówek (Bydgoszcz Zachód junction) to Lubicz (Lubicz
junction), along the northern bank of the Vistula River it connects
Bydgoszcz with Toruń;
provincial roads:
223 - a 7-kilometre
section connecting the S5 and S10 expressways in Białe Błota with the
national road No. 80 in Bydgoszcz,
232 - a 3-kilometer section
connecting the national road No. 80 with Aleja Jana Pawła II, runs
entirely through the city,
256 - a 16-kilometre section connecting
the national road No. 5 in Trzeciewiec with the national road No. 80 in
Bydgoszcz (Fordon),
244 – Kamieniec – Bożenkowo – Strzelce Dolne,
part of the local northern bypass of the city (does not reach the city
limits),
249 – Czarnowo – Solec Kujawski, currently there is no
permanent crossing over the Vistula (it does not reach the city limits),
394 – Przyłubie – Solec Kujawski – Otorowo, a natural extension of
Toruńska Street (does not reach the city limits)
The traffic
volume at the entrances and exits of the city is 98.6 thousand. vehicles
per day (traffic measurement from 2005), including 13.5% heavy vehicles.
Transit at the exits is about 30% of the total traffic, which means that
most drivers find their destination in Bydgoszcz. Among the 9 main exit
roads from Bydgoszcz, the largest daily traffic of vehicles was found on
the southern and northern exits (national road No. 5, 20,000, traffic
measurement from 2005)
Road reconstruction
In 2006–2007, the
5-km section 5 and 25 Bydgoszcz-Stryszek was reconstructed to the
parameters of an expressway. Two collision-free interchanges were
created: "Lotnisko" and "Bydgoszcz Południe". In the years 2008–2010, an
11-km dual carriageway section of the S5 and S10 was built on the
southern ring road of the city, together with the "Bydgoszcz Błonie"
junction. In 2015, a tender was awarded for the construction of S5,
connecting Bydgoszcz with Gniezno and Poznań, and in the north with A1
(E75). In December 2019, the northern section of the S5 expressway
bypass was commissioned from the "Bydgoszcz Północ" junction to the
"Bydgoszcz Opławiec" junction. In 2020, the western bypass of the city
was put into use along the S5 and S10 roads, thanks to which a bypass of
the city was created and transit traffic was diverted along the national
road No. 5 as part of the European route E261.
road
administration
There is a branch of the General Directorate for
National Roads and Motorways in Bydgoszcz, dealing with the
construction, renovation and maintenance of motorways, expressways and
national roads in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, as well as the
Provincial Roads Authority, performing the same tasks in relation to
provincial roads. Poviat roads (Bydgoszcz poviat) are managed by the
Poviat Starosty in Bydgoszcz, and municipal roads in Bydgoszcz by the
Municipal Roads and Public Transport Authority. The Department of Road
Engineering and Transport at the Bydgoszcz University of Technology and
Life Sciences provides study, research and planning services in the
field of road traffic and the transport network in the region. The
Provincial Road Transport Inspectorate and the Provincial Road Traffic
Center with a branch in Inowrocław are also located in the city.
The Bydgoszcz Railway Junction consists of three railway lines of
national importance and three local lines. Among the lines of state
significance are:
131 (international transit line C-E 65/1) – Chorzów
Batory – Tczew coal railway trunk line, connecting Silesia with ports in
Gdańsk and Gdynia. It runs through the city in the south-north
direction, enabling connection with the Tri-City and the south of the
country;
18 (main line): Piła - Bydgoszcz - Toruń - Włocławek - Kutno
(former Warsaw-Bydgoszcz Railway). It enables the connection of
Bydgoszcz with Warsaw and indirectly with Szczecin and Berlin;
201
(freight bypass) on the section Nowa Wieś Wielka - Bydgoszcz -
Maksymilianowo. Built in 1928–1930, it bypasses the Bydgoszcz Główna
station from the east.
Local lines in Bydgoszcz are:
201 on
the section Maksymilianowo - Kościerzyna - Gdynia;
209: Bydgoszcz -
Chełmża - Kowalewo Pomorskie;
356: Bydgoszcz - Kcynia - Gołańcz -
Poznań.
Lines 131 and 201 are located in the VI pan-European
transport corridor marked with the number C-E65. They are the only
railway lines in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region of international
importance, as they are included in the AGTC European agreement on Major
International Combined Transit Lines and Accompanying Facilities. They
concentrate passenger (no. 131) and freight (no. 201) traffic in the
north-south direction. Line No. 18, on the other hand, enables transport
in the east-west-south direction. All lines in the city are electrified
except lines 209 and 356.
The railway line from Bydgoszcz to
Poznań via Inowrocław and from Bydgoszcz to Gdańsk via Tczew has been
renovated and currently trains travel along this line at a speed of 120
km/h. Since June 2013, part of the Poznań - Gdańsk route has been
adapted to speeds of 140-160 km/h (sections Bydgoszcz-Laskowice
Pomorskie - Tczew and Poznań - Gniezno-Bydgoszcz). The target travel
time for the fastest trains from Bydgoszcz to Gdańsk will be 1 hour 20
minutes, and to Poznań 1 hour 24 minutes. And from Gdańsk to Poznań in 2
h 45 min.
There are five railway stations within the
administrative boundaries of the city: Główna, Leśna, Wschód, Bydgoszcz
Emilianowo (closed) and Bydgoszcz Fordon, as well as 9 railway stops.
Bydgoszcz Główna station is the busiest with passenger transport,
handling about 90% of passengers. This station is the only one in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship that is included in the Premium
category, along with 15 other stations in Poland.
Units and
institutions related to railways
There are departments of railway
companies in Bydgoszcz, including: PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (Railway
Lines Plant and Track Machinery Plant), PKP Cargo (Freight Transport
Department, Cash Register, Central Settlement Office - since 1922), PKP
Energetyka ( Kujawski Department), Kujawsko-Pomorski Regional Transport
Department, Regional Headquarters of the Railway Protection Guard. There
are also large economic entities dealing with production and services
for the railways, e.g. Pojazdy Szynowe Pesa Bydgoszcz - manufacturer of
railway trains, including high-speed rail, Kolejowe Zakłady Łączności in
Bydgoszcz (since 2013 in the PKP Informatyka group) - most Polish
railway stations are equipped with a system of information boards KZŁ,
Kolejowe Zakłady Nawierzowe Cogifer Polska and others . PESA and PKP
Cargo are among the largest employers in Bydgoszcz and the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian region.
In Bydgoszcz, there are also national
organizations related to the railway industry: the National Association
of Local Governments for Local Railways and the Polish Chamber of
Equipment and Services Producers for Railways, as well as the Chamber of
Tradition of Bydgoszcz Railways at the Bydgoszcz Wschód railway station,
run by the Bydgoszcz Society of Friends of Railways.
Since 2015,
the only Railway Technical School in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region has
been operating at the Bydgoszcz University, which refers to the Railway
Technical School named after Nicolaus Copernicus existing in the years
1952-2007 in the Copernicanum building in Bydgoszcz.
International airport
International Airport Ignacego Jan
Paderewskiego Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo (ICAO code: EPBY), is located 3.5 km
south of the center of Bydgoszcz. Its advantage, in addition to its
proximity to the city center, is its connection to the network of
expressways ("Lotnisko" junction on S5, at the exit from the city).
Connection with the city is provided by bus line no. 80.
The
airport in Bydgoszcz was built during World War I and entered into
civilian use in 1929. It has a paved runway measuring 2,500 x 60 m and
is the 9th busiest airport in the country. Since 2004, it has had a
modern passenger terminal. In 2015, the port handled 341,000 passengers,
in 2019 425 thousand. passengers. Since 2013, the port has been included
in the trans-European TEN-T network.
The airport is served by
scheduled flights of Ryanair, Lufthansa (connection with Frankfurt),
WizzAir and LOT. There are also summer charter flights (Bulgaria,
Croatia, Greece, Turkey), cargo and general aviation flights.
Flying club airport
Bydgoszcz also has a second airport,
Bydgoszcz-Biedaszkowo (ICAO code: EPBD), owned by the Bydgoszcz
Aeroclub, and a general aviation airport. The airport is located in the
same complex as the International Airport, with a separate access road
and the main entrance from Biedashkowo. The airport has a closed
concrete runway in the direction of 13/31 with dimensions of 1000 × 50
meters. Side grass strips of 650 × 100, 650 × 100 and 590 × 100 m are
used. Airport geographic coordinates (center of the inactive concrete
runway): 53°06′11″N 17°57′20″E.
landing sites
In 2015, there
were three sanitary landing sites in Bydgoszcz:
them. dr. Antoni
Jurasz on the roof of the University Hospital No. 1, at ul.
Skłodowska-Curie
Bydgoszcz-10 airstrip Military Clinical Hospital at.
st. Powstańców Warszawy 5.
The helipad at the University Hospital No.
2 at ul. Biziel
In addition, in the area of the "Bydgoszcz Północ"
road junction, in the town of Niwy, there is a base of the Polish
Medical Air Rescue Service.
Aviation exhibitions
In May each
year (since 2007) on the premises of Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze no. The
list of exhibitors in 2015 reaches approx. 120 entities, and one day is
dedicated to visiting the exhibitions free of charge.
The water corridors of the Eastern and Western European system of
inland waterways intersect in Bydgoszcz. These are the roads:
E-40
Lower Vistula (Baltic Sea-Gdańsk-Bydgoszcz-Warsaw-Bug-Dnieper-Black
Sea);
E-70 (North Sea-Antwerp-Berlin-Bydgoszcz-Królewiec-Klaipeda). A
fragment of this road is the Odra-Vistula section, navigable thanks to
the Bydgoszcz Canal.
Three canalized watercourses flow through
the territory of the city, which enable water transport - both economic
and tourist: Wisła (14.4 km), Brda (14.4 km canalized) and the Bydgoszcz
Canal (6.5 km).
Water infrastructure
Bydgoszcz is one of the
pioneers among Polish cities in the field of revitalization and
restoration of riverside areas to residents. The current economic use of
waterways within Bydgoszcz is small (there has been a timber port on the
Brda river since 1879, and a river port since 1897, where the apogee of
transshipments reached 2 million tons of goods per year), but their
tourist importance increases every year. Since 2005, the Bydgoszcz Water
Tram has been running on the Brda River as a means of public transport
(with timetables and ZDMiKP tickets). In addition, passenger units,
yachts and houses on the water (manufactured in Bydgoszcz) are available
for rent. There are 5 sailing, 6 rowing and 7 canoeing marinas in the
city - many of them have traditions and architecture from the early 20th
century and the interwar period. The regatta course in Brdyujście is one
of the national centers of water sports. In 2009, the Gwiazda Marina on
the Bydgoszcz Canal was opened, and Przystań Bydgoszcz has been offering
rental of kayaks, boats, water bikes and motorboats since 2012, which
can be used in the city center while admiring its waterfront. In
Bydgoszcz-Janów there is a PTTK hostel, where canoeing trips on the Brda
River from Bory Tucholskie usually end. Since 2000, successive programs
have been implemented: "Restoring the Brda River to the City",
"Revitalization and Development of the Bydgoszcz Water Junction",
"Revitalization of the Mill Island", "Revitalization of the Brda
Boulevards and Quays and the Bydgoszcz Canal", "Revitalization of Old
Fordon along with the development of the boulevard on the Vistula ". The
funds spent for these purposes amount to hundreds of millions of zlotys,
and the effects are visible to residents and tourists in the form of
kilometers of rebuilt quays, boulevards, renovated bridges, locks,
weirs, construction of new hydrotechnical facilities, e.g. in the city
center you can freely take a bath.
water administration
Since
January 1, 2018, Bydgoszcz has been the seat of the regional water
management board responsible for the Noteć water region (including the
Bydgoszcz Canal). The Catchment Boards in Inowrocław and Piła operate
under the RZGW in Bydgoszcz. In Bydgoszcz, there is also the Office of
Inland Navigation (one of 8 in the country), whose area of operation
since 2018 covers the entire Vistula River. Under the new structure, the
shipping offices in Warsaw and Krakow are UŻŚ branches in Bydgoszcz. The
city is also home to the District Branch of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Land
Reclamation and Water Facilities Authority, which covers most of the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (on the left side of the Vistula).
Public transport services in Bydgoszcz are provided by several
companies at the request of ZDMiKP. The leading carrier is Miejskie
Zakłady Komunikacyjne MZK Bydgoszcz. City lines are also served by KDD
Trans spółka z o.o. Other carriers run several city lines (microbuses)
and several suburban lines. In Bydgoszcz, there are 47 bus lines and 11
tram lines as well as the Bydgoszcz Water Tram.
The city
authorities focus on the development of tram connections. In the years
2010–2012, a line to the PKP railway station was built, and since
January 2016, a line to Fordon has been in operation. In 2021, a section
of the track on ul. Kujawska (connecting the Upper Terrace with the
center). The construction of the Kazimierz Wielki tram bridge is
underway. In March 2007, Ikarus buses disappeared from the streets of
Bydgoszcz, and in 2008 two new low-floor trams from Pesa plants in
Bydgoszcz appeared. In the following years, several dozen more PESA
Swing trams were purchased.
In 2015, 81 km of roads for bicycles were designated and marked in Bydgoszcz. On April 1, 2015, the Bydgoszcz Agglomeration Bike was launched with a network of 36 stops, and ultimately also including some of the communes: Osielsko, Białe Błota and Dąbrowa Chełmińska. The system is very popular among the Bydgoszcz community. In 2015, 585,395 rentals were recorded, which puts Bydgoszcz in third place in the country after Warsaw and Wrocław, and in terms of the frequency of renting a bike (on average 8 times a day) in third place in Europe, behind Dublin and Barcelona.
Bydgoszcz is an important stop for long-distance collective car transport. To several cities, incl. From Warsaw, Kołobrzeg, Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Komfort Bus buses run. In turn, PKS maintains long-distance communication, e.g. to cities: Łódź, Chojnice, Słupsk, Koszalin, Grudziądz, Elbląg, Gniezno, Poznań, Wrocław, Katowice, Płock, Ostrołęka, Białystok, Warsaw, Ustka, Piła, Konin and others, not counting smaller towns in the Bydgoszcz region. Bydgoszcz is included in the network of Polski Bus connections - there are direct connections with Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław, Berlin and Prague.
In 2013, there were 748 km of roads in Bydgoszcz, including 38 km on national roads, 9 km on provincial roads, 160 km on poviat roads, and 541 km on municipal roads. Transit in the east-west direction is enabled by the southern ring road of the city: 10, partly rebuilt into S10 and 80, while movement in the north-south direction is taken over by 5, also partly rebuilt into S5. In 2013, 67% of urban roads had an improved surface.
In April 2015, the ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) system
was launched in Bydgoszcz - one of the first intelligent urban systems
in the country to improve the conditions of vehicular traffic. The
system covers the central part of the city, where the highest traffic
volume is recorded, and ul. Fordońska, up to the Warsaw viaducts. The
system acquires data from road measuring devices, optimizing the
operation of traffic light controllers, giving priority to public
transport. It provides users with up-to-date information on variable
message boards and passenger information boards. It also shows the use
of parking spaces in Śródmieście and guides drivers to alternative
routes. The value of the project amounted to PLN 54 million, of which
85% was obtained from European Union funds.
Engineering objects
There are 68 engineering structures on the territory of the city:
26
bridges,
23 viaducts,
15 footbridges,
2 underground passages,
2 pedestrian tunnels.
The largest of the objects is the bridge
over the Vistula named after Rudolf Modrzejewski, which is 1 km long.
The oldest surviving structure in its original form is the arched brick
railway bridges over the Brda from 1851.
From the 14th century, there was a parish school in Bydgoszcz, and in
the years 1530-1725, a three-year Bernardine Study of Philosophy, one of
the lecturers of which was Bartłomiej of Bydgoszcz - the author of the
first Latin-Polish dictionary. In addition to religious schools:
Carmelites, Bernardines and Poor Clares, there was a gymnasium in
Bydgoszcz from the end of the 16th century, replaced in 1637 by a Jesuit
college, whose building at the Old Market Square (today's town hall) was
funded by the Great Chancellor of the Crown, Bydgoszcz starost Jerzy
Ossoliński. After the dissolution of the order in 1780, the college was
transformed into a real school, from 1808 a departmental school, and in
1817 it was raised to the rank of the Royal Classical Gymnasium. At that
time, there was also an Evangelical teachers' seminary as well as
private and elementary schools in the town. In the years 1846–1914, 8
new school buildings were built and 2 were extended. Many of them are
used to this day, housing the most reputable school facilities and
faculties of Bydgoszcz universities. In 1914, there were, among others,
14 folk schools and a dozen secondary schools. Higher level schools
included:
Classical Gymnasium, from 1877 in the building at pl.
Wolności 9;
Evangelical Teachers' Seminary, from 1879 in the building
at ul. Bernardyńska 6;
Catholic Teachers' Seminary, from 1907 in the
building at ul. Seminar 3;
Bydgoszcz Conservatory of Music (est.
1904) in an Art Nouveau tenement house at al. Mickiewicza 9;
Higher
School of Music - founded in 1907;
School of Crafts and Artistic
Industry (est. 1911) - the only state art school in the Province of
Poznań in the building at ul. st. Trinity 37.
Special education
for disabled children has a rich tradition in Bydgoszcz. In 1870, the
building of the Institution for the Blind was erected at ul.
Krasińskiego, and in 1902 another facility at ul. Kołłątaj. In 1895 at
ul. Reja, an Institution for the Deaf was opened.
In the interwar
period, four Polish state and municipal gymnasiums (secondary schools)
were at the top of the hierarchy:
State Classical Gymnasium (Plac
Wolności) for men, from 1938 I State Liceum and Gimnazjum im. Józef
Piłsudski;
State Humanistic Gymnasium (ul. Grodzka) for men, from
1938 II State Lyceum and Gimnazjum im. Edward Śmigły-Rydz;
Municipal
Gymnasium of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (ul. Kopernika) for men,
from 1934 Municipal Men's Gymnasium of Nicolaus Copernicus;
Municipal
Women's Catholic Humanistic Gymnasium (ul. Staszica), from 1938
Municipal Catholic High School and Women's Gymnasium.
In addition
to state schools, there were private gymnasiums, teachers' seminaries
and numerous vocational schools of various types and degrees, as well as
military, artistic and musical schools. In addition to the Bydgoszcz
Music Conservatory, the Bydgoszcz Music School was opened in 1921, and
the Municipal Music Conservatory in 1925. After World War II, the
educational base was significantly expanded, e.g. by 1980, 41 new school
buildings were erected.
A separate issue is Bydgoszcz's efforts
to establish a university in the city, which date back to 1873. In the
years 1903–1906, Agricultural Institutes were located in Bydgoszcz, the
structure of which was organized on the model of a university with four
faculties: agricultural chemistry, plant diseases, animal hygiene and
melioration. After the incorporation of Bydgoszcz into the Second Polish
Republic in 1920, the institute developed intensively, which after 1927
became a branch of the State Research Institute of Agriculture in
Puławy. Its activity was continued and even expanded after 1945. The
second institution constituting, in principle, the nucleus of the
University of Bydgoszcz was the Royal-Prussian School of Crafts and
Artistic Industry (1911), raised in 1916 to the rank of an academy. In
the years 1920-1923, the activity of the school was continued under the
name of the State School of Artistic Industry. From 1920, there was also
an Agricultural Academy in Bydgoszcz, which was later moved to Cieszyn.
The university idea was implemented only after World War II, and led
through the natural development of the local scientific community,
concentrated since 1959 in the Bydgoszcz Scientific Society. The total
potential of the four public universities established until 1990 could
be compared with the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The rapid
increase in the number of students, academic staff and non-public
universities in Bydgoszcz began after the political breakthrough in
1989. Despite plans to merge into one university, in the 1990s Bydgoszcz
universities decided to develop independently. In 2004, the Medical
Academy was transformed into the Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus
Copernicus University, in 2005 the Kazimierz Wielki University was
established, and in 2006 the University of Technology and Life Sciences
(since 2021 Bydgoszcz University of Technology).
In 2011, there were 16 higher education units in Bydgoszcz, including 9 universities (4 public and 5 private), 3 theological universities, including two being sections of the Faculty of Theology of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and 4 external faculties of public and private universities from Poznań, Toruń and Lodz. In addition, there were two Foreign Language Teacher Training Colleges, which offered diplomas of patron universities (Universities of Poznań, Warsaw and Gdańsk). Bydgoszcz is home to the only public universities in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship - technical, music and medical. In 2014, 36,000 students studied in Bydgoszcz (11th place in the country), which accounted for 52% of students in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region.
There are four public universities in Bydgoszcz, the largest of which
is the Kazimierz Wielki University, where over 8,000 students study.
students. It offers 30 majors and about 60 specializations at five
faculties: Humanities, Pedagogy and Psychology, Mathematics, Physics and
Technology, Natural Sciences, and Administration and Social Sciences.
The second in terms of the number of students (over 7,000 in 2020),
but also the oldest (1951) is the Bydgoszcz University of Technology.
Jana i Jędrzej Śniadecki - the largest and most successful technical
university in the province. It offers 27 majors and about 100
specializations at 7 faculties: Civil Engineering and Environmental
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Agriculture and Biotechnology,
Chemical Technology and Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer
Science and Electrical Engineering, Biology and Animal Breeding,
Management and the Institute of Mathematics and Physics.
Academy
of Music Feliks Nowowiejski is a state art school. It educates future
musicians, composers, instrumentalists, vocalists, and conductors at 4
faculties: Composition, Music Theory and Sound Engineering,
Instrumental, Vocal and Acting, and Choral Conducting and Music
Education.
In Bydgoszcz there is also the Collegium Medicum of
the Nicolaus Copernicus University - a separate part of the University
of Toruń, focused on educating students in medical sciences. In terms of
the number of scientific staff, it constitutes about a quarter of the
potential of the entire NCU. This university was established in 1975 as
a Bydgoszcz branch of the Medical Academy in Gdańsk, became independent
in 1984 as the Medical Academy of Ludwik Rydygiera in Bydgoszcz, in 2004
incorporated into the structures of the Nicolaus Copernicus University,
retaining its own patron and headquarters in Bydgoszcz. 4.77 thousand
students are educated there. students at 3 faculties: Medicine,
Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences. The base of the university is also
based on clinics located in 7 hospitals (including two university ones).
There are also branches of other state universities in the city, e.g.
Center for Higher Studies of the Poznań University of Economics and
Business, Section of Theological Studies of the Adam Mickiewicz
University Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań and two theological universities:
the Higher Theological Seminary of the Diocese of Bydgoszcz and the
Higher Missionary Seminary of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.
Since 1998, there has been a dynamic development of non-public universities. The consequence of this process is over 35% share of students of non-public universities in the total number of students studying in Bydgoszcz in 2010. Among the 6 non-public universities, three stand out, which are among the top in northern Poland: Wyższa Szkoła Gospodarki (est. 1999, 3 faculties, 17 fields of study) , 5.1 thousand students in 2010), the Kuyavian-Pomeranian University (established in 2000, 5 faculties, 11 fields of study, 5.6 thousand students in 2010) and the WSB University in Toruń, Faculty of Finance and Management in Bydgoszcz ( est. 2007, 7,000 students in Toruń and Bydgoszcz). Other non-state universities are: University of the Environment (est. 1998), Bydgoszcz University (est. 2004), University of Health Sciences (est. 2005) and off-campus faculties: University of Information Technology and Skills in Łódź (since 2001), Humanities and Economics in Łódź (since 2002), University of Management and Banking in Poznań (since 2007).
Bydgoszcz is also the seat of scientific institutes and other units cooperating with universities. The most important scientific units with branches in Bydgoszcz include: Institute of Plant Breeding and Acclimatization, Institute of Land Reclamation and Grasslands, National Veterinary Institute - National Research Institute, Institute of Biotechnology of Agricultural and Food Industry, Institute of Forensic Genetics and others. The progenitor of many of these units are the Agricultural Institutes in Bydgoszcz, founded in 1903.
Bydgoszcz is a regional center where most Polish scientific associations operate. Many of the Bydgoszcz branches of these societies cover the entire Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, and in some cases exceed it. The genesis of some organizations dates back to the interwar period, and even to the Prussian period (before 1920). Some of the societies conduct regional and historical studies. Among them are the most meritorious for the city: the Bydgoszcz Scientific Society and the Society of Friends of the City of Bydgoszcz. TMMB is one of the oldest regional associations in Poland (est. 1832).
In 2013, there were 8 nurseries, 83 kindergartens, 34 pre-school
departments at schools and 12 pre-school points in Bydgoszcz. 11.7
thousand people were covered by their care. kids. 17.5 thousand students
studied in 56 primary schools. children, and in 66 lower secondary
schools 9.2 thous. children and young people. There were 19 upper
secondary vocational schools in the city, 29 general secondary schools
for youth and 17 for adults, and 53 post-secondary schools for youth and
adults. In middle schools and high schools in Bydgoszcz, 52% of young
people learned English, and 40% – German. In the years 2008–2012, an
average of 2.4 thousand students obtained a secondary school-leaving
certificate in Bydgoszcz. high school graduates.
School teams
include: sports championship (3), special (2), construction, food,
chemical, mechanical (2), automotive, wood, economic and administrative,
electronic, gastronomy, commercial, medical and others.
In Bydgoszcz, there is the only international school in the region,
authorized to issue certificates recognized all over the world. The
International School of Bydgoszcz, founded for children of NATO army
officers, educates both foreign and Polish children.
Secondary
art schools
State Complex of Music Schools them. Artur Rubinstein -
primary and secondary school, existing since 1925
Art School Complex
Leon Wyczółkowski - since 1945
Acting School Adam
Grzymała-Siedleckiego ul. Dworcowa 81
Post-secondary School of Fine
Arts in Bydgoszcz
Special School and Educational Center for Children and Youth with
Poor Vision and the Blind named after L. Braille in Bydgoszcz - existing
since 1872
School and Educational Center for Hard of Hearing and Deaf
Children and Youth Gen. S. Maczek in Bydgoszcz - existing since 1876
School and Educational Center 03
Revalidation and Educational Center
for Children and Youth with Autism
Supervision and professional
development of teachers
Bydgoszcz is home to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Board of Education, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Teacher Education Center,
the Municipal Teacher Education Center in Bydgoszcz, the District
Vocational Training Center, the Bydgoszcz Teacher Training and
Educational Services Center, the Teacher Training Center of the
Universal Knowledge Society and others.
In 2008, on the urban dialect of Bydgoszcz, prof. Andrzej Stanisław Dyszak published (by TMMB) "As the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz used to say. A small dictionary of the Bydgoszcz dialect. The literary testimony of the dialect is Jerzy Sulima-Kamiński's book "Most Królowej Jadwigi". In September 2012, the online initiative "Rescuing the Bydgoszcz Dialect" was launched, in which over 1,200 people took part. The result of their work is the Glossary of the Bydgoszcz Dialect published on the Internet at the beginning of January 2013.
Bydgoszcz is the center where most of the mass media with a reach to
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship are located. There are: a regional
branch of Telewizja Polska (TVP3 Bydgoszcz) (1973-1984 and since 1994),
a regional public radio station (Polskie Radio Pomorza i Kujaw), the
largest regional daily in Poland (Gazeta Pomorska) and numerous local
radio stations, newspaper editorial offices and magazines and websites.
In 2013, 6 radio stations and 15 press editorial offices were based in
Bydgoszcz. Three regional dailies are published in the city: Gazeta
Wyborcza Bydgoszcz, Express Bydgoski and Gazeta Pomorska, whose local
mutations (e.g. Toruń, Włocławek, Grudziądz, Inowrocław) are also
published in Bydgoszcz.
The traditions of printing in Bydgoszcz
date back to 1806. In the interwar period, Zakłady Graficzne in
Bydgoszcz was one of the largest printing plants in Poland, a publisher
of exclusive Polish publications, and after 1945 - the largest printing
plant in the country in the field of printing textbooks and pedagogical
magazines. In 2008, 97 newspapers and magazines were published in
Bydgoszcz with a circulation of 58,000. copies (7th place in the
country), while in 2012 79% of the press circulation was published in
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Several magazines are national in
scope. Bydgoszcz is also a publishing center where several hundred
titles of books and brochures are published every year, e.g. in 2008,
349 titles were published in Bydgoszcz with a circulation of 617,000.
copies (9th place in the country). Half of the published items concerned
general and popular topics, and one third - scientific publications.
The growing role of the Internet as a source of information is
reflected in the local offer. The most important sources of information
are, among others: Bydgoszcz Internet Portal, Bydgoszcz Nasz Miasto,
MetropoliaBydgoska.pl. The city is the seat of the provincial branch of
the Polish Press Agency, and also correspondents of other agencies,
including CAI.
Since 2007, Polish Radio of Pomerania and Kujawy
has been organizing the International Competition of Artistic Radio
Forms, the only one of its kind in Poland, which is part of the search
for innovative forms of radio art. The final of each edition of the
festival takes place in various historic buildings in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian region.
The beginnings of the post office in Bydgoszcz date back to the first
half of the 18th century, when regular postal courses to Warsaw were
held, and the Royal Post Office was located in the city in a tenement
house on the corner of Batorego and Niedźwiedzej Streets. In the years
1778–1815 Bydgoszcz was the seat of the Central Post Office. After 1772,
one of the most important routes in the Prussian state from Berlin to
Königsberg ran through Bydgoszcz. In 1825, the first full-time postman
set out, in 1826 a fast post office was opened, in 1838 a passenger
post, and in 1876 a telegraph, and in 1895 a telephone.
In the
mid-nineteenth century, the post office was placed in Bydgoszcz, which
was related to the simultaneous construction of an important railway
junction. In the years 1883–1899, an impressive building was built for
this institution at ul. Old Harbor. From 1885, the building housed the
super-directorate of the post office, whose jurisdiction covered parts
of Greater Poland and West Prussia - an area larger than the Bydgoszcz
Regierungs. In the 19th century, more post offices appeared in
Bydgoszcz: Branch No. 2 at the railway station (1850), Branch No. 3 in
Bocianowe (1878) and others: in Bartodzieje (1888), Wilczak (1896),
Jachcice (1900).
An important institution that found its seat in
Bydgoszcz was the Accounting Chamber of the Polish Post, established in
1919 and covering the entire country. As a result of the ordered partial
evacuation of Warsaw, during the Polish-Bolshevik war, the Chamber was
moved to Bydgoszcz in August 1920 and remained there permanently. In
1935, the name was changed to the Post and Telegraph Accounting Control
Chamber. In 1957, the building at ul. Bernardyńska 15 and control of
customs duties was taken over from Warsaw. In the 1970s, after the
computerization of the center, the name was changed to the Central
Settlement Center of Poczta i Telecommunications, and in 1991 to the
Central Settlement Center of Poczta Polska. In the 1990s, further
nationwide postal units were established in Bydgoszcz: Bank Pocztowy and
Postdata.
The postal units in Bydgoszcz include:
Polish Post Central
Settlement Center in Bydgoszcz, ul. Bernardyńska 15 - existing in
Bydgoszcz continuously since 1920
Poczta Polska Expedition and
Distribution Center in Lisi Ogon near Bydgoszcz – one of the 11
logistics centers of the Polish Post in the country
Operational
branches and post offices: Regional Branch, Postal Network Center
Regional Branch, IT Center Regional Operations Department, Concession
Services Center Regional Branch (Jagiellońska 6), Logistics Center
Regional Branch (Gajowa 99), Regional Department of the Security
Management Center (Bernardyńska 15) and 51 post offices.
In
addition, among the 8 entities belonging to the Poczta Polska Group, two
are based in Bydgoszcz:
Bank Pocztowy (since 1990) – specializes in
servicing individual customers, has the largest distribution network in
the country - over 7,500 outlets
Postdata (since 1990) – a company
providing IT services to Poczta Polska
There is also a regional
office of the Office of Electronic Communications in Bydgoszcz (before
2006, the Office of Telecommunications and Post Regulation)
Bydgoszcz and the Bydgoszcz poviat have joint organizational units of
the Police and the State Fire Service - they operate in an area of 1,569
km² inhabited by 470,000 people. people.
In 2019, there were
6,270 road accidents and collisions in Bydgoszcz (17.9 events/1,000
inhabitants), most often caused by failure to keep a safe distance
between vehicles.
The Provincial Police Headquarters is located in Bydgoszcz.
Prevention Department and 19 municipal and district police headquarters
in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The territorial range of the
Municipal Police Headquarters in Bydgoszcz covers the city of Bydgoszcz
and the Bydgoszcz poviat. In 2015, the territorial units of the NPM
were:
Bydgoszcz-Śródmieście Police Station – covers the northern part
of the city and the Osielsko commune;
Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo Police
Station - covers the central and southern part of the city;
Bydgoszcz-Błonie Police Station - covers the western part of the city;
Bydgoszcz-Wyżyny Police Station - covers south-eastern Bydgoszcz and the
municipality of Nowa Wieś Wielka;
Bydgoszcz-Fordon Police Station -
covers the Fordon district and the Dąbrowa Chełmińska commune;
Police
Station in Koronowo - covers the following communes: Koronowo, Dobrcz
and Sicienko;
Police Station in Solec Kujawski - covers the city and
commune of Solec Kujawski;
Police station in Białe Błota - covers the
municipality of Białe Błota.
The staff of the Municipal Police
Headquarters in Bydgoszcz in 2014 was 1,039 policemen
The genesis of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Bydgoszcz dates back to 1864, and the professional service to 1872. Until 1911, the main fire station was located in the Poor Clare Church, and then in the building at ul. Pomorska 16. In 2014, the Municipal Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Bydgoszcz employed a total of 221 officers. The operational security of the city and the Bydgoszcz poviat is provided by 5 rescue and firefighting units (JRG), which have their own specializations, e.g. water and diving, chemical, high altitude. Rescue operations are supported by 6 company volunteer fire brigades (Kable, Lucent, BFM, Unilever, Sklejka, Pasamon), the voivodship branch of the Military Fire Protection and rescue and firefighting services at the Bydgoszcz airport. Since 1992, the Non-Commissioned Officers' School of the State Fire Service (one of the 5 PSP schools in the country) has been operating in Bydgoszcz, which educates firefighters-rescuers from all over the country. In 2014, the fire brigade recorded 2,463 events in Bydgoszcz, including 907 fires.
The ancestor of the Municipal Guard in Bydgoszcz were the observers serving on the town hall tower, the municipal infantry unit (1636), and in the 19th century the so-called night watchmen. Since 1991, the Municipal Police Headquarters of the City of Bydgoszcz has been operating at the municipal office, which is responsible for 4 district departments. In 2014, these units employed 248 people, including 180 guards and 27 people in video surveillance. In 2014, 17.5 thousand were fined. people for the total amount of PLN 2 million and 39.4 thousand ID cards were issued. people revealing 41 thousand offenses.
An important role in ensuring the safety of the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz is played by the video monitoring system located in strategic points of the city, the construction of which began in 2004. In 2014, it consisted of 159 cameras, including 68 stationary and 91 rotating. System studies include: in the buildings of: the Municipal Police Headquarters and the Bydgoszcz-Śródmieście Police Station, and ultimately in the building of the Bydgoszcz Monitoring Centre. They are operated by employees and officers of the City Guard in the number of about 40 people.
Since 2008, the city of Bydgoszcz and the Bydgoszcz poviat have
jointly run the Bydgoszcz Security Center and the Bydgoszcz Crisis
Management Centre. Regardless of this, the Crisis Management Center of
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivode operates. The Center is staffed by city
guards and a crisis management duty service. One of the 17 national
Voivodship Emergency Notification Centers is located here (ul.
Grudziądzka 9-15, building C), which handles emergency calls to the
emergency numbers 112, 997, 998 and 999.
In 2012, an SMS system
was launched in Bydgoszcz for the transmission of warnings about crisis
situations threatening health, life and property.
Provincial branches of the following voivodeships are also located in Bydgoszcz: the State Fisheries Guard, the Railway Protection Guard, the State Hunting Guard, the Border Guard (at the airport), the Internal Security Agency, the delegation of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, a branch of the Military Police, the Branch of the Military Counterintelligence Service, the Prison Service, the Road Transport and others.
The city is an important medical center on a national scale, thanks to a developed infrastructure, a medical university educating appropriate staff, and also thanks to the presence of outstanding specialists (Prof. Marek Harat, Prof. Józef Kałużny and others), who are famous for their innovative medical projects (oncology, neurosurgery ophthalmology, laryngology, cardiology). In 2013, 3,536 doctors, 3,937 nurses and 435 midwives worked in Bydgoszcz.
The first doctors, graduates of the Jagiellonian University, settled
in Bydgoszcz at the beginning of the 16th century. In the old Polish
times, there were hospitals in each of the Bydgoszcz suburbs, which then
took the form of shelters for the sick, the elderly and the poor. In
1448, the hospital of the Holy Spirit was founded by the Bydgoszcz
patriciate in the Gdańsk suburb, and in 1529, the hospital of St.
Stanisław in the Kujawskie suburbs, and in 1550, the hospital of St.
Cross in the suburbs of Poznań. These poorhouses together with the
chapels were demolished in 1834-1840 by the Prussian authorities.
The first hospital (city lazaret) was established at ul. Grodzka 2
in 1774 after establishing a permanent military garrison in the city.
During the times of the Duchy of Warsaw (1806–1815), there were two
hospitals in Bydgoszcz: military and municipal. In 1809, the authorities
of the Duchy allowed the establishment of a departmental Medical Council
in Bydgoszcz, which was to supervise medical treatment. After 1815, it
was transformed into a regency Sanitary Commission subordinated to the
Medical College in Poznań.
In 1836, a new Municipal Hospital was
established in the former Poor Clares convent, which in 1878 was
expanded to 70 beds. In 1852, the Garrison Hospital was built at ul.
Jagiellońska, and in 1880, in Bielawy (not yet incorporated into the
city's administrative precincts), the Poviat Hospital (today's
Provincial Children's Hospital) was opened. In turn, in 1885, the
Deaconess Hospital of Ludwika Giese-Rafalska, who funded the building
(today Kuyavian-Pomeranian Center of Pulmonology). In 1898, the
Children's Hospital was opened at ul. st. Floriana (today the Provincial
Observation and Infectious Hospital), expanded in 1910 thanks to the
help of Dr. Stanisław Warmiński - uncle of the national activist Dr.
Emil Warmiński. In 1909, thanks to the foundation of Empress Augusta
Victoria, a 25-bed Hospital for Babies was established in Bydgoszcz at
pl. Kościelecki (today's Provincial Cultural Centre). In 1901, an
impressive shelter for the blind was built at ul. Kołłątaj.
In
turn, in the years 1903–1904, thanks to the efforts of the Central
German Committee for the Construction of Anti-Tuberculosis Institutions,
a sanatorium for pulmonary patients was established in Smukała among
pine forests, connected to the town by a narrow-gauge railway.
In
the interwar period, a large Municipal Hospital was built (1928-1938,
today the University Hospital No. 1 named after Dr. A. Jurasz), where in
1937 the municipal hospital from the Poor Clares convent (today the
District Museum) was moved. In 1933, the District Hospital at ul.
Chodkiewicz. After 1945, four large hospitals were built in Bydgoszcz:
Miejski im. E. Warmiński (1959), Wojewódzki im. J. Biziela (1980),
Military (1985) and Oncological (1994) and a number of other health care
units. In 1985, the State Clinical Hospital of the Medical Academy of
Dr. Antoni Jurasz on the basis of the provincial hospital. After 2000, a
number of non-public hospitals were established.
In 2013, there were 15 hospitals, 156 clinics and 124 pharmacies in
Bydgoszcz. List of hospitals in Bydgoszcz:
hospitals of local
government units:
Oncology Center prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk in
Bydgoszcz
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Pulmonology Center in Bydgoszcz
Multidisciplinary Municipal Hospital named after Emil Warmiński in
Bydgoszcz
Wojewódzki Szpital Dziecięcy im. Józef Brudziński in
Bydgoszcz
Provincial Observation and Infectious Hospital named after
Tadeusz Browicz in Bydgoszcz
University hospitals run by the
Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Bydgoszcz:
University Hospital No. 1 Antoni Jurasz in Bydgoszcz
University
Hospital No. 2 Jan Biziel in Bydgoszcz
Departmental hospitals:
Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Bydgoszcz
10 Military
Clinical Hospital with Polyclinic in Bydgoszcz
6 private hospitals,
incl. St. Luke's Hospital, Alfa Med, Bieńkowski Medical Center, Gizińscy
Medical Center, Stadmedica, Eskulap Hospital - Center for the Treatment
of Heart and Vascular Diseases
There are also 3 palliative care
facilities in Bydgoszcz:
hospice Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko in Bydgoszcz
at the City Hospital
Sue Ryder House in Bydgoszcz at the Oncology
Center
Palliative Medicine Department at University Hospital No. 1.
Public hospitals in Bydgoszcz have a total of 3,295 beds. They are
of supra-local importance - residents of the region and the rest of the
country are also hospitalized here. In 2003, 114,000 people were treated
here. people, and the average length of stay was 6.9 days.
Three
hospitals in Bydgoszcz: Military Hospital, University Hospital No. 1 and
University Hospital No. 2 have Hospital Emergency Departments (ERs). In
addition, at the University Hospital No. 1 im. Dr. Jurasz, one of the 14
Trauma Centers in the country was established.
Particularly
noteworthy is the Oncology Center of prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk,
located in the Fordon district. It is famous not only for its multiple
wins in the rankings for the best hospital in Poland, but also for
highly specialized research using, among others, the first in Poland
PET-CT (positron emission tomography).
In the district of
Opławiec, located in the western part of the city, on a escarpment over
the Brda river, there is a sanatorium of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Pulmonology Center for chronically ill people.
Medical education in Bydgoszcz has existed since the early 1950s - in 1951, the first Doctors' Training Center in Poland was established, where postgraduate training for doctors from all over the country was held. In 1971, it was transformed into the Clinical Teaching Team in Bydgoszcz, and then into the Branch of the Medical Academy in Gdańsk. In 1984, an independent Medical Academy was established, which 20 years later, in 2004, was incorporated into the Nicolaus Copernicus University as Collegium Medicum. In 2023, work began on establishing a medical faculty at the Bydgoszcz University of Technology.
The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Provincial Branch of the National Health
Fund, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Provincial Public Health Center, the
Provincial Pharmaceutical Inspectorate, the Provincial Veterinary
Inspectorate, the Provincial Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, the
Regional Blood Donation and Blood Therapy Center and professional
self-government units are located in Bydgoszcz, including:
Bydgoszcz
Medical Chamber – one of the 24 regional chambers of the Supreme Medical
Chamber covering the western half of the voivodeship, publishes its own
magazine "Primum non nocere";
Regional Chamber of Nurses and Midwives
in Bydgoszcz – one of the 45 regional chambers, covering the western
half of the voivodeship;
Pomeranian-Kuyavian Regional Pharmaceutical
Chamber - one of the 20 regional chambers of the Supreme Pharmaceutical
Chamber, covers the entire province;
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Medical and
Veterinary Chamber - one of the 16 provincial chambers of the National
Veterinary Chamber;
Federation of Healthcare Employers' Associations
Zielonogórskie Agreement
In addition, there are regional branches
of many medical organizations and associations in Bydgoszcz, e.g. Dental
Society (since 1953), Polish Pediatric Society (since 1954), Polish
Medical Radiological Society, Polish Anatomical Society, Polish Society
of Pediatric Surgeons, Polish Society of Gerontology, Polish Society of
Cardiology, Polish Society of Neurology, Polish Society of
Endocrinology, Polish Society of Medical Physics, Polish Society of
Hypertension, Polish Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Polish
Society for Drug Prevention, Society of Polish Internal Medicine, Polish
Society of Laboratory Diagnostics, Polish Society of Nursing, Polish
Society of Midwives (since 2004), International Association of Medical
Students IFMSA-Poland and others.
emergency medical Services
The first ambulance car used to transport patients and provide first aid
was launched in Bydgoszcz in 1902 and was handed over to the Municipal
Fire Service. In 1926, a switch to mechanical traction took place, and
in 1927, the Rescue Service was launched with a permanent medical duty
at the fire station at ul. Pomorska 16. In the 1930s, approx. 1.7
thousand were transported annually. sick. In 1955, the Medical Aviation
Team was launched. In 1967, a new seat of the Ambulance Service was
opened at ul. Markwarta, which became the provincial station. In 2015,
the Provincial Ambulance Service in Bydgoszcz had 5 specialist teams, 11
departure bases and 16 ambulances.
In Bydgoszcz at ul. Toruńska
157 (at the Czersko Polskie weir) there is the Volunteer Water Rescue
Service of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (est. 1968), which
includes 12 regional facilities throughout the region.
At the
Bydgoszcz-Biedaszkowo Airport, there is also the Bydgoszcz Air Rescue
Service (HEMS base). There are 3 professional LPR helicopter landing
pads in the city, including 2 24/7 (next to the Military and University
Hospitals No. 1 and 2).
Bydgoszcz is one of the most important centers of military
administration on the map of the country, in 2014 the second largest
garrison in Poland. Most of the NATO institutions present in Poland are
also located here.
Institutions and units of the Polish Army
In 2014, the following military institutions were located in Bydgoszcz:
Inspectorate for the Support of the Armed Forces - a unit subordinated
to the Minister of National Defence, directly subordinated to the
General Commander of the Branches of the Armed Forces;
Command
Battalion of the Inspectorate of Armed Forces Support;
1st Pomeranian
Logistic Brigade named after Casimir the Great - present in most
conflicts in which the Polish army took part, including in Iraq, Chad,
Afghanistan;
Doctrine and Training Center of the Armed Forces – deals
with the adaptation of NATO doctrines to the activities of the Polish
army;
Provincial Military Staff;
Military Replenishment
Headquarters;
11th Military Economic Detachment;
22 Command and
Guidance Center - serves the Air Force;
ICT Support Region in
Bydgoszcz – includes the following voivodeships: Kujawsko-Pomorskie,
Pomorskie, Zachodniopomorskie;
2nd Air Force ICT Support Area;
ICT
Support Management Team in Bydgoszcz;
1 Military Field Hospital - one
of two in the country, as a Peacekeeping Operations Hospital, it
provided medical support to soldiers in Iraq;
Central Group of
Psychological Activities - is present, among others, in on foreign
missions in which Polish soldiers participate;
2 Military Metrology
Centre;
Bydgoszcz garrison headquarters - ul. Warszawska 10;
Military Police Department;
Regional Board of Infrastructure - covers
the Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Łódzkie voivodeships;
Regional Technical
Workshops;
Military Housing Agency, regional branch in Bydgoszcz
(www) – covers the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and part of Łódź;
10 Military Clinical Hospital with Polyclinic in Bydgoszcz;
Military
Preventive Medicine Center - one of the 5th in the country, covers the
following voivodeships: Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Łódzkie and Wielkopolskie;
Military Fire Protection – one of the 10 regional offices in the
country, covering the Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Łódzkie Voivodships;
Branch of the Military Counterintelligence Service;
Military Aviation
Works No. 2;
Military Band in Bydgoszcz;
Land Forces Museum;
Civil-Military Sports Association Zawisza Bydgoszcz;
two military
parishes: the catholic pw. of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Peace and
Evangelical-Augsburg.
NATO institutions and units
Important
NATO institutions are also located in Bydgoszcz, most of which are in
Poland:
Joint Force Training Center - thanks to it, several thousand
officers from all NATO and Eastern Partnership countries come to
Bydgoszcz every year
3rd NATO Signals Battalion
NATO Military
Police Center of Excellence
NATO Spitz Unit (2015 - in organization).
NATO Communications and Information Agency CIS Support Unit Bydgoszcz -
NCI Agency CSU Bydgoszcz).
The first permanent military garrison in the territory of present-day
Bydgoszcz, recorded in the Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus, is associated
with Wyszogród on the Vistula River, which was conquered by Bolesław
Krzywousty in 1113. During the times of the First Polish Republic, a
permanent military crew stayed at the Bydgoszcz castle. After 1657, the
security of the city was ensured by the municipal militia and members of
the Bydgoszcz Fowler Brotherhood, existing since the 15th century.
After Bydgoszcz came under the tutelage of the Kingdom of Prussia in
1772, as part of the First Partition of Poland, a permanent military
garrison was established in the city. In 1774, hussar barracks, a powder
magazine and a complex of military warehouses were built. During the
Kościuszko Uprising, the corps commanded by Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
defeated the overwhelming Prussian troops in the Battle of Bydgoszcz and
on October 2, 1794 captured the city. From 1815, the Bydgoszcz garrison
was under the command of the V Army Corps in Poznań, and in 1846 it
changed subordination to the II Army Corps in Szczecin. From 1818 until
1919, units of the 4th Infantry Division were stationed in the city,
which in the years 1866-1870 was commanded by General Otto Hahn von
Weyhern - Honorary Citizen of Bydgoszcz. In the second half of the 19th
century, Bydgoszcz became a garrison town. In the years 1850–1890, the
number of the army tripled, and on average the Bydgoszcz garrison
constituted about 10% of the total number of the city's inhabitants.
In the second half of the 19th century, the northern part of
Śródmieście gradually became a barracks district. A garrison hospital,
headquarters of staff commands, garrison headquarters and a casino at
ul. Foch, extensive barracks covering several hundred hectares, as well
as exercise yards and shooting ranges: in Jachcice, Błonie (for cavalry)
and at ul. Artillery. In 1913 at ul. Gdańska Street, an impressive
building of the War School was erected, which later became the seat of
many top-rank military institutions. In the years 1916–1919, a military
airport in Biedaszkowo was also built in Bydgoszcz. On January 20, 1920,
soldiers of the Polish Army entered Bydgoszcz with the
commander-in-chief of the Greater Poland Uprising, General Józef
Dowbor-Muśnicki, taking the city under the rule of the Second Polish
Republic.
In the interwar period, the Polish Army units stationed
in the Pomeranian Voivodeship were part of the VIII Corps District
Headquarters in Toruń. Their main operational task was to counteract
possible German aggression in the Pomeranian Corridor and the so-called
Gdansk intervention. Bydgoszcz was a large military garrison, it also
had supra-local military institutions. The following units were
stationed here: the 15th Wielkopolska Infantry Division, the Pomeranian
Cavalry Brigade Command, the 61st and 62nd Wielkopolska Infantry
Regiments, the 16th Wielkopolska Lancers Regiment, the 15th Wielkopolska
Light Artillery Regiment, the 11th Horse Artillery Squadron, the 8th
Armored Battalion. Bydgoszcz was also an important center of military
education, where, among others, The Bydgoszcz Cadet School, the Naval
Cadet School, the Military Parachute Center in Bydgoszcz, the Fordon
Gliding School and the Aviation NCO Training Center. The graduates of
the Bydgoszcz school of pilots were excellent Polish pilots and aircraft
mechanics famous in the world, including: Stanisław Skarżyński, Bolesław
Orliński, Karol Pniak, Stanisław Płonczyński, Stanisław Rogalski,
Zygmunt Puławski and others.
An important supra-local institution
was the Branch No. 3 of the 2nd Department of the General Staff. She
dealt with military intelligence and fought against German spy agencies
in the Free City of Danzig, East Prussia, Western Pomerania and
Brandenburg. Its head was Major Jan Żychoń, later the head of the
intelligence department of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the
Polish Armed Forces, General Władysław Sikorski, a participant in the
Battle of Monte Cassino, where he fell. The Pomeranian Banner of the
Hallerczyków Association (one of 12 in the country) was also based in
Bydgoszcz. In 1924 and in May 1939, nationwide General Meetings of the
Haller Association were held here, with the participation of General
Józef Haller.
On September 15, 1937, a great military parade was
held in the city in front of the Commander-in-Chief, Edward Rydz-Śmigły,
attended by 50,000. soldiers. The shows were watched by 200,000 people.
people from all over the region. In 1939, in the face of the threat of
war on the part of Nazi Germany, two units of mobilization were formed:
the horse formation "Krakusy" and the Bydgoszcz Battalion of National
Defense, which became famous for defending the city to the end, even
after the Polish Army left Bydgoszcz, and participated in the Battle of
the Bzura , and 50 of his captured soldiers were shot by the Germans on
September 22, 1939.
During the occupation, structures of the Home
Army functioned in Bydgoszcz, with subordinate Home Army units in Bory
Tucholskie and Miecza i Pługa. The names of the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz
went down in the history of World War II: Marian Rejewski for breaking
German Enigma military ciphers and Augustyn and Roman Träger and Bernard
Kaczmarek for reconnaissance of the testing ground of German V-1 and V-2
rocket weapons in Peenemünde, which enabled its destruction by the
Allies . These achievements were very significant, contributing to the
shortening of World War II. The city was liberated by units of the Red
Army and the Polish Army, which fought for Bydgoszcz on January 22-27,
1945. 1st Armored Brigade and 8th Bydgoszcz Infantry Regiment. As a
result of the fighting, the Soviet army lost about 2,000. killed and
30-40 tanks, and German - about 1 thousand. killed.
On October
28, 1945, the swearing-in ceremony of the 14th Infantry Division, formed
in Bydgoszcz, was held, attended by Marshal Michał Rola-Żymierski[368].
In 1945, the Command of the Military District No. II - Pomerania was
located in Bydgoszcz, renamed in 1953 to the Pomeranian Military
District, in the years 1953-1992 one of the three military districts in
the country (Warsaw, Silesian, Pomeranian). Until 1989, the district
consisted of units with a total of about 100,000. soldiers. In 1957, the
command of the 2nd Air Defense Corps was also located in Bydgoszcz,
whose aviation and air defense units (including the 2nd Radio
Engineering Brigade) were responsible for defending the airspace in the
northern part of the country. Thanks to Bydgoszcz's important military
function, two housing estates were built in the 1950s: Leśne, among
others for the staff of POW and Kapuściska. The Zawisza Bydgoszcz sports
complex, the Garrison Hotel and, in 1974, the Land Forces Museum were
also built.
With the disappearance of the structures of the
Warsaw Pact and Poland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty, there
were great changes in the Bydgoszcz garrison. Since 2001, the Pomeranian
Military District has covered the entire northern half of the country,
and after its dismantling in 2011, its duties and traditions were taken
over by the Inspectorate for Armed Forces Support located in Bydgoszcz.
In 2004, the 1st Pomeranian Logistics Brigade was established, which
also carried out its tasks in UN peacekeeping missions and NATO allied
operations outside Poland. In 2004, the first NATO military structure in
Poland was located in Bydgoszcz: the Joint Forces Training Center
(JFTC), in 2015 also the operational unit of the so-called NATO spikes.
Bydgoszcz is an important religious center of the Catholic Church in
Poland. In 2004, John Paul II created the Diocese of Bydgoszcz within
the metropolis of Gniezno. The traditions of religious worship date back
to the mid-thirteenth century, when the church of St. st. Go. On the
present territory of the city there was also the church of St. Mary
Magdalene in Wyszogród, mentioned in 1198, one of the oldest parish
temples in the region. The Bydgoszcz Wyszogród is also associated with a
legend about the stay of St. Adalbert in 997, which is reflected in
church documents from the 16th century.
There are four
sanctuaries in Bydgoszcz:
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Beautiful Love
- the Bydgoszcz Cathedral, where the object of worship is the gothic
image of the Mother of God, known as the Bydgoszcz Madonna, famous for
its graces. It was founded in 1466 by the starost of Bydgoszcz, Jan
Kościelecki, and King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk as a votive offering for
the end of the Thirteen Years' War. The image was crowned twice: in 1966
by Primate Stefan Wyszyński (in the presence of Archbishop Karol
Wojtyła) and in 1999 by Pope John Paul II.
The Sanctuary of the New
Martyrs - a church built on the personal initiative of Primate Stefan
Wyszyński (also called the church), where his last Holy Mass was held.
before being murdered by SB officers (October 19, 1984), Fr. Jerzy
Popieluszko. The sanctuary was established on June 7, 2000 in response
to the Pope's appeal, articulated a year earlier during the papal mass.
in Bydgoszcz. The sanctuary commemorates the martyrdom of Poland,
related to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mementoes of the presence of John
Paul II in Bydgoszcz were also deposited in the papal chapel.
The
Sanctuary of Our Lady Thrice-Amazing - the Schoenstatt Sanctuary of
Entrustment, built as a gift of the Jubilee Year 2000, consecrated on
June 16, 2001. It is located in the Piaski district of Bydgoszcz, in
accordance with the assumptions of the Schoenstatt Movement - in a
non-urbanized environment, picturesque landscape, conducive to silence,
prayer and reflection.
Sanctuary of the Queen of Martyrs, Bydgoszcz
Calvary - Golgotha of the 20th century - a martyrdom sanctuary, located
in the Fordon district at the gate of the Valley of Death - the place of
Nazi executions. They were created on October 7, 2008 in response to the
Pope's appeal, which he expressed during the Holy Mass. at the airport
in Bydgoszcz on June 7, 1999. Apart from the temple, an important
element of the sanctuary is the Way of the Cross made in the form of a
Calvary in the Death Valley and on the surrounding hills. Since 2001,
Mysteries of the Lord's Passion have been staged here.
The most
important Roman Catholic churches in Bydgoszcz include the Cathedral and
the Minor Basilica.
There are several historic temples in
Bydgoszcz:
Gothic churches:
Bydgoszcz Cathedral (Fara) of St. st.
Martin and Nicholas (1466–1502)
Garrison Church of Our Lady Queen of
Peace (1552–1557),
the church of the Poor Clares of the Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary (1582–1645), from the tower of which the bugle
call of Bydgoszcz sounds every day at 9, 12, 15 and 18
Neo-Gothic
churches:
st. Peter and Paul (1872–1876),
st. John the Evangelist
(1877–1879)
st. Andrzej Bobola (1903, former Evangelical parish),
Divine Mercy (1905)
st. Joseph Craftsman (1905),
Our Lady Queen of
Poland (1910–1911),
Neo-Baroque churches:
st. Nicholas
(1927–1930, presbytery from the 17th century),
Sacred Heart of Jesus
(1910–1913),
Holy Trinity (1911–1913),
st. Wojciech (1912–1913).
Other churches with historicizing architecture:
Basilica of St.
Wincenty à Paulo, built in 1925–1937, the largest church in Bydgoszcz,
one of the largest in Poland, the only one built in a style modeled on
the Roman Pantheon,
st. Stanisław Bishop and Martyr (1923–1925),
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (1926–1928),
There are also
many churches built in the post-war years of the 20th century in
Bydgoszcz. The solids of some of them are interesting architectural
designs.
The oldest patron of Bydgoszcz is St. Mikołaj, both
Bydgoszcz and Fordon. The second patron of the city is also from 1502
St. Martin. Both saints are also the patrons of the oldest church in
Bydgoszcz, the so-called parish. The patron saint of Bydgoszcz since the
beginning of the 16th century is the Mother of God in the image from the
parish church, famous for its beauty and graces.
In 2008, there
were 40 Roman Catholic parishes in 6 deaneries in Bydgoszcz. There are
15 religious congregations (6 male and 9 female) in 19 houses (8 male
and 11 female) in the city, of which since 1921 the priests have been
the seat of the Polish province. There are two higher theological
seminaries: diocesan (Bydgoszcz diocese) and spiritual.
In
addition to Roman Catholic parishes, pastoral activity in the city is
also carried out by the Greek Catholic pastoral facility in Bydgoszcz,
belonging to the Poznań deanery of the Wrocław-Koszalin eparchy of the
Greek Catholic Church, as well as the Polish Catholic parish of
Resurrection of the Lord, belonging to the Diocese of Warsaw of the
Polish Catholic Church in Poland.
In Bydgoszcz, there is a parish church of St. st. Nicholas belonging to the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
Evangelicals, who in the years 1815-1920 constituted the majority of
the city's inhabitants, wrote an extensive page in the history of the
city. At the beginning of the 20th century, in today's Bydgoszcz there
were 12 Evangelical churches, while only 6 Catholic ones. The
Evangelical-Union church had the largest number of followers. In the
interwar period, Bydgoszcz was the largest outpost of this church in
Poland and, next to Poznań, the most dynamic center of activity of
German Evangelicals. From 1921, there was a Polish Evangelical-Augsburg
parish and a number of churches of other denominations (Baptists,
Adventists, Methodists, Old Lutherans, Pentecostals, Irvingians).
After World War II, only three temples were left to the Evangelicals
(the Lutherans received two temples and the Baptists one), mainly due to
the significant shrinking of the range of these denominations in the
city. The Evangelical-Augsburg parish in Bydgoszcz today uses the church
of St. Zbawiciela at Plac Zbawiciela, built in 1896–1897. Other
Protestant churches operating in the city are: Kanaan Christian Center
(local church - "Betezda" mission), "Nowa Fala" Christian Center (ICF
Bydgoszcz), Evangelical Christian Community (Polish-speaking and
English-speaking Bydgoszcz institutions), Seventh-day Adventist Church
in Poland (congregation in Bydgoszcz), Baptist Church "Łaska", Church of
God in Christ (Christian Center "Dobra Nowina", Community "Przystań"),
Baptist Church in Poland (congregation in Bydgoszcz), Church of Saturday
Christians (congregation in Bydgoszcz) , Evangelical-Methodist Church in
Poland (parish in Bydgoszcz), Evangelical Church in Poland (Christian
Community "Fordon"), Church of Evangelical Christians in Poland
(congregation in Bydgoszcz), Pentecostal Church in Poland (congregation
"Betel", Everyone"), Messian Zbory Boże (a mission point in Bydgoszcz
subordinated to the church in Warsaw).
Jehovah's Witnesses:
14 congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses
(Błonie, Fordon, Leśne (including the English language group),
Mariampol, Miedzyń, Migowy, Nowy Fordon, Północ, Prądy, Russian,
Śródmieście (including the Romani language group), Szwederowo,
Ukrainian, Wyżyny). They use 4 Kingdom Halls.
Bible Students
Association:
church
Secular Missionary Movement "Epiphany":
church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
Commune of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bydgoszcz
From the Middle Ages, Jews also lived in Bydgoszcz and Fordon, who built their own religious buildings (synagogues). The splendid synagogue in Bydgoszcz (the largest in the Poznań province) was destroyed by the Nazis in 1940. The older synagogue in Fordon survived because the Germans turned it into a cinema. Since 2007, it has been adapted into a cultural center. There is a Jewish cemetery in the town.
Karma Kagyu Lineage Diamond Way Buddhist Association
meditation
center
There are several cemeteries in Bydgoszcz, historic, communal, parish
and other denominations. The oldest two cemeteries come from the late
18th century (St. John's Cemetery) and 1809 (Starofarny Cemetery), and
most of them were established in the interwar period.
There are
also cemeteries of martyrdom victims in the city: the post-war cemetery
of the Heroes of Bydgoszcz (established in 1946) and the cemetery of the
Heroes of World War II hidden in the forest in Smukała (0.2 ha).
However, the most important center of Bydgoszcz martyrdom is the Death
Valley in Fordon, a place of mass burial of the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz
and the surrounding area, murdered by the Germans during World War II.
There are soldiers' quarters in five cemeteries, in which approx. 3.5
thousand are buried. soldiers: Polish, Russian and French, who died as a
result of military operations in the period 1870-1945. In many places in
the city and the surrounding area, you can also find abandoned
Evangelical cemeteries used until 1945.
In 2012, there were 100 sports clubs with 158 sections in Bydgoszcz,
which were used by over 9 thousand. members. Two-thirds are men and
three-quarters are under the age of 18. Classes in the clubs were
conducted by 508 trainers and instructors. The city has traditions in
water sports (rowing, canoeing), speedway and athletics.
In 2017,
the following Bydgoszcz teams played in the top leagues for seniors:
PlusLiga men's volleyball – Łuczniczka Bydgoszcz
Women's Volleyball
League - Palace Bydgoszcz
Women's Basket League – Artego Bydgoszcz
Polish Table Tennis Superleague – Zooleszcz Gwiazda Bydgoszcz
National Wrestling League - Lotto Wrestling Bydgoszcz
Baseball
Extraleague – Dęby Osielsko
In the lower senior league classes
there are, among others:
men's basketball – Astoria Bydgoszcz (1st
league), Novum/Astoria Bydgoszcz (3rd league)
men's football – Chemik
Bydgoszcz (4th league), Polonia Bydgoszcz (4th league), BKS Bydgoszcz
(4th league), SP Zawisza Bydgoszcz (4th league), Wisła Fordon (class B),
Piaski Bydgoszcz (class B), KP Amator Bydgoszcz (class B), Golden Goal
Bydgoszcz, ADP Bydgoszcz (class B).
women's football – KKP Bydgoszcz
(1st league), KKP II Bydgoszcz (3rd league)
speedway sport –
Abramczyk Polonia Bydgoszcz (1st league),
men's volleyball – Chemik
Bydgoszcz (3rd league)
women's volleyball – Palace II WSG Bydgoszcz
(II league)
men's handball – AZS UKW Bydgoszcz (2nd league)
women's handball – BKS Bydgoszcz (II league)
ice hockey – BKS
Bydgoszcz (II league)
women's table tennis – MKS Emdek-Eltech
Bydgoszcz (1st league)
futsal – ADP Bydgoszcz (2nd league)
chess –
BKS Bydgoszcz (II league)
sports bridge – Chemik Bydgoszcz (1st
league), BTG Bydgoszcz (2nd league)
rugby union – Alfa Bydgoszcz (II
league)
billiards – Maximus BSB Bydgoszcz and Maximus BSB II
Bydgoszcz (II league)
American football – Bydgoszcz Archers (1st
league)
paintball – High Five Bydgoszcz (3rd league)
ultimate –
Astro Disco Bydgoszcz (II league)
In the team championships of
Poland and points for the club champion of Poland, high places are
occupied by:
rowing – Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz
athletics league –
Zawisza Bydgoszcz
In the Summer Olympic Games (1928–2020), Poland was represented by about 170 athletes from Bydgoszcz clubs. Mikołaj Burda (rowing, 2004–2020) participated in the Olympiads five times, Alfons Ślusarski (rowing, 1964–1976), Dariusz Białkowski (canoeing, 1992–2004) and Daniel Trojanowski (rowing, 2004–2016) four times. The first Olympic medal in the history of Polish rowing - bronze in the coxswain four, was won in Amsterdam in 1928 by a team of members of the Bydgoszcz Rowing Society. From 1928 to 2020, players from Bydgoszcz clubs won 32 Olympic medals, including 6 gold, 9 silver and 17 bronze. This is 10% of all medals won by Poles at the Summer Olympics. As many as 22 medals were won by rowers and kayakers.
The Regional Rowing Association Bydgostia Bydgoszcz has been the team champion of Poland for 25 years (1993–2017), which is an unprecedented result in Europe. In 2014, the Zawisza football team won the Polish Cup and Super Cup in football, the basketball team of Artego Bydgoszcz in 2015 and 2016 won the 2nd place in Ekstraliga Women, and in 2018 - the Polish Cup in women's basketball, and Zooleszcz Gwiazda Bydgoszcz - the Polish cup in table tennis. In 2014, Bydgoszcz took fifth place in the general classification of municipalities of the Youth Sport System (behind Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and Kraków), and the Zawisza Bydgoszcz club for the third year in a row (2012-2014) took first place in Poland in the category of sports training for children and youth.
One of the first international sports events held in Bydgoszcz was
the European Rowing Championships in 1929 on the regatta course in
Brdyujście.
Since 1999, many international athletic events have
been held in Bydgoszcz, including:
1999 World Junior Championships in
Athletics
2003 European Youth Athletics Championships
European
Athletics Cup 2004
European Athletics Festival – annually 2004–2013
World Junior Championships in Athletics 2008 - over 1.5 thousand people
took part in them players from 167 countries
2010 World Cross Country
Championships and 2013 World Cross Country Championships
Pedro’s Cup
athletics meetings – annually in 2005–2014
2016 World Junior
Championships in Athletics - 3,000 people took part in them players,
coaches and VIPs from 160 countries, broadcasts were watched by 100
million viewers around the world
2017 European Youth Athletics
Championships – 1093 players from 43 national teams took part
Bydgoszcz was the first city in Poland to organize Speedway World Cup
Grand Prix tournaments from 1998 continuously until 2010. This event
selected the Individual Speedway World Champion. The Polonia stadium
also hosted the Team and Individual Speedway Championships of Poland,
and the Criterion of the Aces of the Polish Speedway Leagues named after
Mieczysław Połukard, every year since 1982, traditionally opens the
speedway season on Polish tracks.
In turn, the Łuczniczka sports
and entertainment hall hosted, among others:
international meetings
of the Polish national volleyball team, both men's and women's, e.g.
World League and World Grand Prix Tournament,
international matches
of the Polish national basketball team for men and women,
international matches of the Polish men's handball team - qualifying and
friendly matches,
Women's European Volleyball Championship 2009,
European Men's Basketball Championship 2009,
European Championships
of Juniors and Seniors in Karate - Oyama IKF 2009,
Women's European
Basketball Championship 2011,
2014 Men's Volleyball World
Championship and others.
World Junior and Senior Shōtōkan Karate
Championships - 2007 and 2016
Artego Arena, on the other hand,
hosted the following events:
2014 Men's Volleyball World Championship
(warm-up hall)
1st U-23 Wrestling World Championship - November
21-26, 2017; 850 players from 54 countries participated in them,
including 24 representatives of Poland
International football
events at the Zawisza Bydgoszcz stadium:
10 international matches
of the Polish National Football Team (since 1972) – statistics: 5-3-2;
17:9
1 match of the women's team
2017 UEFA European Under-21
Championship - 3 group matches; Bydgoszcz was one of the 6 host cities
of the European Championships.
Since 1992, the Great Rowing
Competition for the Brda Cup has been held on the Brda River in
Bydgoszcz. settlements of British universities Cambridge, Oxford,
Henley.
According to the studies of the Municipal Urban Planning Studio, in
2012 there were 111 sports facilities in Bydgoszcz (excluding gyms at
educational institutions), of which 97 facilities are publicly
available. The largest sports facilities in Bydgoszcz include:
Stadium Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (1957) with a capacity of 21.5 thousand.
spectators, meeting the technical and organizational requirements of
PZPN, UEFA and FIFA, Zawisza Bydgoszcz plays matches there, in the years
2005–2011 it was the only one in Poland that met IAAF athletics
standards;
Hala Łuczniczka (2002) with a capacity of 8.7 thousand.
spectators (including 6,000 permanent seats); performs sports, concert
and exhibition functions; has, among others a 53 × 33 m pitch, a bowling
alley, a restaurant and a fitness club, where volleyball teams
Łuczniczka Bydgoszcz and KS Pałac Bydgoszcz play their matches;
City
Stadium Marshal Józef Piłsudski (1924) with a capacity of 20,000.
spectators; it has a football field measuring 105 × 66 m, surrounded by
a speedway track with a length of 343 m, where Polonia Bydgoszcz teams
play their matches;
Sisu Arena (2014) with a capacity of 1,500
spectators, the place of the league games of the basketball players of
Polskie Przetwory KS Basket 25 Bydgoszcz and the basketball players of
Astoria Bydgoszcz;
Regatta track (1920) 2 km long near the mouth of
the Brda to the Vistula; the oldest regatta course in Poland, the
national center of water sports in the interwar period; national and
international competitions are organized here in the following
disciplines: rowing, canoeing, canoe polo, sailing, motorboating and
water skiing; on the premises there is a start tower with catering
facilities and a press office, competitors have rest rooms at their
disposal, and the stands can accommodate about 1,000 spectators.
Torbyd - an ice skating and ice hockey hall opened in January 2018
The city has 7 stadiums, 14 sports halls, 14 tennis court complexes,
12 indoor swimming pools, 23 Orlik 2012 complexes, 10 multifunctional
sports fields, 2 beach volleyball courts, 4 shooting ranges, 5 marinas
for sailing, 6 rowing and 7 canoeing, 2 golf course (9 holes), 2
skateparks, a karting track (1017 m), a speedbike track, an archery
track, a whitewater kayaking track and other facilities for various
sports disciplines.
The Polish Federation of Speedrower Clubs has its seat in Bydgoszcz, and moreover, regional and district branches of most sports organizations and associations are located here, including Kuyavian-Pomeranian Football Association, Polish Athletics Association, Polish Volleyball Association, Polish Basketball Association, Polish Association of Rowing Societies (composed of 19 societies, including: Bydgoszcz Rowing Association, Bydgostia Bydgoszcz and Zawisza Bydgoszcz; in the years 1945– 1950 until the transfer of all sports associations to Warsaw, the headquarters of the Polish Association of Rowing Societies was located in Bydgoszcz), Polish Canoe Association, Polish Sailing Association, Polish Tennis Association, Polish Table Tennis Association, Polish Wrestling Association, Polish Weightlifting Association, Polish Archery Association , Polish Gymnastics Association, Polish Hockey Association, Polish Mountaineering Association (Climbing Club in Bydgoszcz), Polish Olympic Taekwondo Association, Polish Karate Federation, Polish Motor Association, Polish Baseball and Softball Association, Polish Sports Bridge Association, Polish Angling Association, Polish Sports Shooting Association, Polish Bodybuilding and Fitness Association and others
Local government
Bydgoszcz (a city with poviat rights) is headed
by the Mayor of the City, Rafał Bruski. Together with 4 deputies, it
constitutes the executive body. The legislative body is the city council
consisting of 31 councilors (headed by the chairman - Monika Matowska).
In earlier times, this function was performed by, among others, (during
World War II) mayors, mayors or City Commissioner (German:
Stadtkommissar, in the interwar period) presidents of the city or
shortly after regaining independence, the General Commissioner. Before
1920, when Bydgoszcz was under the Prussian rule, the city was ruled by
mayors (German: Oberbürgmeister).
Foreign cooperation
In 2006,
Bydgoszcz signed a partnership agreement with 12 cities on 3 continents:
2 Asian (Ningbo and Pawłodar), 2 North American (Hartford and Tempe) and
8 European (Czerkasy, Kragujevac, Krzemieńczuk, Mannheim, Patras, Perth,
Reggio Emilia, Wilhelmshaven).
Cooperation with the Italian
Reggio Emilia began in the early 1960s (an agreement was signed in
1962), and with the Serbian (then Yugoslavian) Kragujevac in the early
1970s (agreement from 1971). These two cities have been cooperating with
Bydgoszcz "for centuries", but in the early 1990s the city began to sign
partnership agreements with other cities: 1991 Mannheim, 1992 Tempe,
1996 Hartford, 1997 Pawłodar, 1998 Perth, 2000 Czerkasy, 2004
Krzemieńczuk and Patras, 2005 Ningbo and Wilhelmshaven 2006, which for
many years had the status of friendly cities with Bydgoszcz.