The former gate of Granary Island. This is how Gdańsk has changed

Until 1945, the architectural gateway to Granary Island stood by the Green Bridge in Gdańsk. It consisted of a stately tenement house on the southern side of Milchkannengasse (now Stągiewna Street) and the magnificent building of the Municipal Savings Bank, which adorned the opposite abutment of the bridge. Today, only archival photographs remain of these buildings, and the view from the Motława has changed beyond recognition.

The Gate to Granary Island on the Motława

The abutment of the Green Bridge looked completely different 80 years ago. After passing through the area of the Green Gate, one entered the former Milchkannengasse, now known as Stągiewna Street. At its start, two buildings stood opposite one another: on the northern side of the street, the Sparkasse der Stadt Danzig building at numbers 33/34, and on the southern side, the tenement house at Milchkannengasse 1. Together, they formed a sort of architectural gateway to Granary Island. In photographs and postcards from the 1920s and 1930s, they can be seen alongside the Green Bridge, trams and the Milk Tanks in the background. The buildings formed a very striking composition, so it is hardly surprising that they were quite often featured on postcards from Danzig.

Brick and sandstone buildings

The Municipal Savings Bank building was opened in 1885. It was built as a three-storey structure in a lavish Neo-Renaissance style, with facades of exposed brick and numerous sandstone decorations. The façade had a highly elaborate composition. The red brick contrasted with the light-coloured stone, whilst the windows were given striking frames and arches. The section facing the Green Bridge was particularly impressive. The building provided the perfect backdrop for the entrance to Granary Island and must have made quite an impression on merchants and sailors arriving in pre-war Gdańsk.

The Municipal Savings Bank held a treasure

The Städtische Sparkasse (Municipal Savings Bank) was the headquarters of a financial institution, so its functional purpose went hand in hand with its representational character. In the basement lay a massive vault. Its brick and concrete walls were around 1.5 metres thick, and the entrance was protected by a steel door. It was there that an extraordinary treasure was discovered after the war. On 27 June 1945, Soviet soldiers forced their way into the vault and found over 14,000 numismatic items: coins, medals, orders, badges, plaques, seals and seal moulds. This was the collection of the Numismatic Cabinet at Malbork Castle. The collection included, amongst other things, artefacts associated with the mints of Royal and Ducal Prussia and the State of the Teutonic Order. The collection was treated as spoils of war and transported to the Soviet Union.

The Gate of Granary Island disappeared in 1949

Heavy fighting for Gdańsk in the spring of 1945 burnt out the interior of the Sparkasse and caused parts of the ceilings to collapse. The outer walls, however, largely survived. Despite this, the building was not rebuilt. In the early post-war years, 19th-century historicist architecture did not enjoy the same esteem as the older architecture of the Main Town. The decision to reconstruct the building was further complicated by a reluctance to embrace German heritage. The ruins of the Sparkasse were therefore demolished in 1949. On the other side of Stągiewna Street, the aforementioned tenement house at number 1 also disappeared; together with the Sparkasse, it had formed the striking gateway to Granary Island. It was a 19th-century building serving both residential and commercial purposes, with shop premises on the ground floor and flats and offices above. In 1934, the firm R. Schroeder & Co., which traded in and exported timber, operated from this address, amongst others. However, no records have survived to identify the building’s architect or the exact year of its construction.

History did not return to Stągiewna

After the war, almost all the dilapidated buildings on Granary Island were demolished. The buildings on Stągiewna Street had to wait several decades to be restored to Gdańsk’s skyline. The change did not take place until the 1990s, when a complex of around 40 stylised townhouses was built on Stągiewna, Chmielna, Spichrzowa and Motławska Streets. It was designed by, amongst others, Stanisław Michel, Kazimierz Jarosz, Stefan Philipp and Andrzej Sotkowski. The architects utilised the former plot divisions and façade forms, but did not reconstruct individual tenement houses on a one-to-one basis. This is an example of ‘retroversion’ – that is, the contemporary recreation of urban scale and historical motifs without literally copying the past. In this way, the southern frontage of the street has regained its urban character, but the tenement house at Milchkannengasse 1 has not been restored. In its place stands a low-rise building housing a restaurant.

The Granary Island Gate could have been rebuilt

Following a change in approach to 19th-century architecture, an opportunity arose to reconstruct the Municipal Savings Bank building. In the 1990s, the architect Stanisław Michel drew up a concept for the reconstruction of the northern part of Granary Island. The Sparkasse was included in this plan in its original form and on its former site by the Green Bridge. However, the project was never carried out. The site of the former savings bank was eventually developed with a contemporary complex that completely ignores the history of the property. Deo Plaza at 10 Chmielna, on the other hand, echoes the scale and form of the old granaries, creating a coherent composition with the rest of this part of the island.

A new view of the Motława

The war did not spare Danzig. During the conflict and immediately following the fighting for the city, over 90 per cent of the priceless city centre lay in ruins. This architectural gem on the Baltic coast thus lost a great many beautiful sites. Although the buildings on Stągiewna Street and a significant part of Granary Island were later rebuilt, today’s landscape was created according to a completely different concept. The former view from the Green Bridge and the Motława River is one of those sights that is particularly missed in today’s Gdańsk.

Source:gedanopedia.pl,gdansk.pl,trojmiasto.pl

See also:Architecture in Poland|Metamorphosis|Renovation|History|Gdańsk

A view of the gate to Granary Island in the early 20th century and today. Source: dziedzictwo-gdansk.pl and Mateusz Markowski/WhiteMAD

The Green Bridge in 1935 and 2025. Source: muzeumpomorza.pl and Google Maps

View of the Sparkasse der Stadt Danzig, 1920s and today. Source: muzeumpomorza.pl and Mateusz Markowski/WhiteMAD

A view of Stągiewna Street from the western bank of the Motława – a photograph from the late 20th century and a contemporary shot. Source: polona.pl and Mateusz Markowski/WhiteMAD

The Green Gate and the Municipal Savings Bank just before demolition, late 1940s and today. Source: NAC – National Digital Archives and Mateusz Markowski/WhiteMAD