The Story of Warsaw

Warsaw is a cosmopolitan city with a fascinating history. After suffering the devastating damage and loss of life in during WWII, the city has managed to reinvent itself through the persistence of its people.

With over 85% of its buildings destroyed during the war, the city had to be literally rebuilt piece by piece. The Old Town was carefully recreated according to city plans and paintings and was included on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1980. The city also offers three Royal Palaces, museums, beautiful churches, and the most diverse array of restaurants and entertainment in the country.

 

Rebuilding the Old Town:

Warsaw’s Old Town was rebuilt from the foundations up on what was, after WWII, nothing but a heap of rubble with approximately 90% of the original building destroyed. The monumental reconstruction took place between 1949 and 1963 with the aim of restoring the town to its 17th/18thcentury appearance.

Today there is not a single building in the area that looks less than 200 years old. UNESCO’s decision to include Warsaw’s Old Town in the World Heritage List is a testament to the superb quality of the work done by the Polish restorers.

Partially surrounded by medieval walls, the Old Town was founded at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, growing up around the castle of the Mazovian Princes. Its medieval urban layout survives to this day. The pride of the Old Town is the Old Town Square (Rynek Starego Miasta) with its colourful town houses. Today it’s one of the most attractive places in Warsaw – from spring to autumn it is filled with café tables and also becomes an open-air gallery of contemporary art. Other key sites are the Cathedral of St. John and the Royal Castle, destroyed by German forces in 1944 – rebuilt between 1971-1984.

Next to the Old Town is the more recent New Town (Nowe Miasto), which became a separate urban entity in 1408. The amazing reconstruction of both the Old and New Towns (also virtually wiped out during WWII) was on a scale unprecedented in the whole of Europe.

The New Town took shape at the beginning of the 15th century along the route leading from Old Warsaw to Zakroczym. Of interest here are the Pauline, Franciscan, Dominican and Redemption churches and the Church of the Holy Sacrament, which were all rebuilt after WWII. Ulica Mostowa, the steepest street in Warsaw, leads up to the fortress that defended one of the longest bridges in 16th century Europe.

 

World War II History

There were two uprisings in Warsaw during World War II and they are often confused. The Ghetto Uprising happened in the Warsaw Ghetto in the spring of 1943 when hundreds of Jewish fighters ferociously fought the German army in a desperate attempt to stop the mass deportation of Polish Jews to the extermination camps. The second – the Warsaw Uprising – mobilised thousands of Polish freedom fighters against the Nazis to liberate their capital city. It has been described as the single largest atrocity of the war, and was the greatest and bloodiest military operation undertaken by any resistance movement in World War II.

The battle lasted two months and the Germans were soon saying they had seen nothing like it since Stalingrad. But at Stalingrad the Germans had faced a professional army with air support. In Warsaw they were confronted by some 40,000 irregular volunteers led by a handful of professional soldiers, supported by children and civilians. Himmler called it the hardest battle he ever fought. At its end, around 200,000 men, women and children of Warsaw were dead and more than 80% of the city was destroyed.

 

The Warsaw Rising Museum

The Warsaw Rising Museum is a tribute of Warsaw’s residents to those who fought and died for independent Poland and its free capital during WWII. During the 63 days of the Uprising, an estimated 200,000 of Warsaw’s inhabitants lost their lives. The exhibition depicts fighting and everyday life during the Rising- it also charts the post-war years of the Communist regime and fate of Insurgents in the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL). Also represented is the story of Allied airdrops. Its highlight is a replica of a Liberator B-24J bomber.

 

Monument to Ghetto Heroes & Path of Remembrance(Warsaw)

The district of Nalewki was home to Warsaw’s large Jewish community before World War II. In 1940 the Nazi occupying forces turned this district into the Jewish Ghetto. The inhabitants – hundreds of thousands of Jews from Warsaw and surrounding areas – were forced to live in appalling, over-crowded conditions. Over 100,000 died from starvation and disease and a further 300,000 were deported to extermination camps.

In early 1943 members of the Jewish Fighters Organisation and the ghetto rose up against the Nazi occupiers, planned less as a bid for physical freedom than to show that acts of independence, defiance and will are a freedom in themselves. The Ghetto Uprising was violently suppressed and the whole of the ghetto demolished.

Today at the centre of the former ghetto is the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, erected in 1948 as a tribute to those who fought and died in the ghetto. It’s a very moving piece of sculpture and a sombre starting point to the Path of Remembrance– a walk through the former ghetto marked by 16 granite blocks commemorating those who lived and died in the ghetto and the extermination camps. Along the walk is the Bunker Monument marking the spot from where the rebellion was co-ordinated. The walk ends at the very moving Umschlagplatz Monument, at the site of the railway siding from where so many Jews were transported to their deaths.

Gifted to Poland by Stalin, the Palace of Culture & Science is one of the world’s finest examples of Socialist Realist architecture. A visit to the 30th-floor viewing platform is a must – it looks a bit like something King Kong might climb!

Built between 1952 and 1955 PKin was (then) Europe’s tallest building outside Moscow and is still the tallest in Poland at 231 metres – now fifth tallest in Europe. The palace was immediately hated by most of the city’s residents and soon earned a whole string of nicknames: from Stalin’s Palace, to Russian Wedding Cake, to Vertical Barracks. The best of them makes reference both to the building’s size and to the fussy sculptures that frill the parapets: the Elephant in Lacy Underwear. An old joke goes that the best views of Warsaw are available from the building – because it’s the only place in the city from where it cannot be seen!

It houses a huge congress hall – former meeting place of the Polish Communist Party – now a concert venue where the Rolling Stones once played – three theatres, a multiplex cinema, two museums, and hectares of office space. The basement levels are patrolled by a 50+ feral cats who keep the building clear of rats and mice. In return they receive pampering from an official vet.

Warsaw is more emblematic of a post-war reconstruction metropolis than a city boasting a plethora of sustainable design, yet hidden in the urban fabric are a few inspiring examples of environmentally responsible architecture. The Warsaw University Library showcases a remarkable blend of technology, aesthetics and function with wonderful integration of plant life as an integral part of the architecture. Within the structure vines have been integrated into a 4-story atrium while the building’s rooftop has been converted into a botanic garden with a maze of garden paths and playfully flying catwalks. From within and without the building is overflowing with life, making nature a vital element of the building’ and integrating the structure into its surroundings.

Walk the roof gardens for a unique view of Warsaw city centre.

 

Destination: Poland