Solo in the Most Dangerous Hood of Gdańsk | Poland

Exploring what I was told was the most dangerous district in Gdańsk. Biskupia Górka, 04/05/22

During World War II Germany established and operated a subcamp of the Stalag XX-B prisoner-of-war camp in the district, in which around 1,200 prisoners of war were held as of December 31, 1940.

On July 4, 1946, eleven guards of the Stutthof concentration camp were publicly hanged for what was described as "sadistic abuse of prisoners." Among those hanged were five women: Gerda Steinhoff, Wanda Klaff, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, Ewa Paradies and Elisabeth Becker, all of whom had been judged and sentenced during the first Stutthof Trial, at Gdańsk between April 25 and May 31, 1946.

Biskupia Górka is a moraine hill on the west side of Gdańsk, it owes its name to its medieval owners - the bishops of Włocławek, who had their castle here in the Middle Ages. In 1577 Gdańsk was shelled from Biskupia Górka by the troops of Stefan Batory, with whom the inhabitants of Gdańsk came into conflict. Therefore, in the first half of the 17th century, three earth bastions were built in Biskupia Górka, named "Zbawiciela, P middle" and "Ostroróg". Later, the bastions were modernized several times. During the Napoleonic Wars, two protruding earth ramparts, the so-called telescopes, one of which is preserved until today. At the end of the 18th century, Natan Wolf, a Gdańsk astronomer and alchemist, built an observatory on the Ostroróg bastion, where he was later buried.

Already at the beginning of the Prussian rule after the Napoleonic wars - in 1828-33, on the site of an earth rampart covered with three bastions, brick defensive barracks with two caponiers to defend the moat were built. The barracks had three residential wings for soldiers, also adapted for defense. A staff and residential building for officers was built next to the barracks. The whole was closed with a wall with arrowslits and two gates in front of which there were drawbridges. A vaulted tunnel with stairs connecting the top of the hill with the bridge on the Radunia canal was also built on the steep slope from the town side.

In the 1880s, the barracks were significantly rebuilt. BG fortifications were demilitarized in connection with the creation of the General City of Gdańsk after the Treaty of Versailles. In the interwar period, recreational and sports areas were arranged here for the inhabitants of Gdańsk. At the end of the 1930s, a youth hostel with the name of Paula Beneke - the captain of the famous 15th-century ship "Piotr of Gdańsk" was built on BG. The hostel had about 1,200 beds and was advertised as the largest in the world. During WWII the tunnel with stairs was converted into an air-raid shelter.

Earth fortifications - built in the first half of the 17th century, later rebuilt: Savior Bastions, Intermediate and Ostroróg, Cafarelli and Delzous Lunettes. Although heavily covered with trees and thus hardly visible, they have survived to this day. Easily accessible facilities (Zbawiciela Bastion and the Intermediate Bastion in the background) are located on the side of Zaroślak Street. After they left the Citizens' Militia (Militia Obywatelska), they were left unattended, neglected and devastated (although there is already a plan to revitalize these areas. Bastion Ostroróg, just like the former youth hostel with a tower - on the premises of the Police unit, are inaccessible to visitors.

In the 16th century, Biskupia Górka was included in the system of city fortifications by the decision of Gdańsk authorities. 3 Bastions and an underground staircase were built in 1626-1630. In 1634, the rampart was reinforced with a palisade, constituting the so-called a crown work, that is a group of three earth bastions: Zbawiciela (German Bastion Salvator - name from the nearby church in Zaroślak), Intermediate (Bastion Mittel) and Ostroróg (Bastion Scharfenort). From the north-east, the crown work was additionally covered with a small Vigilance Bastion.

Barracks Redoubt - built in 1828-33 on the site of the former Swedish Lair, referring to the unrealized French plans from 1811-12. The architectural design of the building (in the classical style) was approved by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It is a trapezoidal layout, with three wings of casemate barracks with a bombproof ceiling, originally surrounded from the outside by a moat flanked by two caponiers and sheltered by a covered road and a slope. The main barracks building has three floors, but originally there was one more floor in the middle wing, but it was pulled down during renovation in 1873-1875. On the eastern side (the slope facing the city), the redoubt is closed by a defensive wall, interrupted by two gates, in front of which there used to be drawbridges. In the middle of the wall there is an officer's building. Opposite the southern gate is the entrance to the underground staircase (currently closed), leading to the foot of the hill. Currently, the facility is the seat of the Gdańsk University of Humanities.