Szczecin in the morning

Early morning is the best time to visit. Before the rush hour. And so it was today; arriving in Szczecin at half past five, ahead of an event that started at 10am, I had lots of time for further exploration. Other than two brief trips in 1995 and another in 2016, it's only been recently that I've had the time to get to know the centre of Szczecin well. And the quickest and best way to get to know any place well is on foot. And without too much boasting, I'd add that my knowledge of the city is vastly greater than the typical Pole's, as most of whom have never visited Szczecin – and more's the pity - there's much to see.

My sightseeing yesterday focused on the waterfront and the Oder river boulevards, which I've not previously seen.

Below: seen in dawn's light from the railway station, the Szczecin skyline looking towards the ports.

Below: half an hour later and nearer the port; a skyline of wires, towers and cranes.

Below: Szczecin goes to work. The vehicle in the foreground is a regular bus rather than a trolleybus, but it sharing the tram stop, rather as in Warsaw along aleja Solidarności. In the background, Szczecin Cathedral, dating back to the 12th century.

Below: the 'Red Town Hall' – or new town hall – this one was built in 1879 to replace a smaller building; today it's home to the Maritime Office and Inland Navigation Office, the city hall itself is located in an even bigger building (that from 1933 to 1945 served as the headquarters of the local branch of the NSDAP).

Below: the 'Bastion of the Seven Coats', rebuilt after WW2 in its original form (cylindrical rather than octagonal). The name come from a legend of a tailor, who had been asked to sew seven coats for a princess. He stole some of the material to make his wife a coat too – and for this he was imprisoned in the bastion. It has been allowed to become overgrown with ivy in recent years

 

Below: the half-kilometer-long Chrobry Embankment (Wał Chrobrego), built along the river's escarpment, completed in 1921. Originally named after Stettin's late mayor, Hermann Haken, it was renamed after Poland's first crowned monarch, Bolesław Chrobry (968-1025), son of Mieszko I, first ruler of a unified Polish state. The return to Poland after 1945 of territory up to the Oder and Neisse rivers was followed by a re-naming of many geographical places after the Piast dynasty (of whom Mieszko I was the first). Under the Piasts, Poland extend this far west.

Below: the building of the national museum in Szczecin, which dates from 1913; it was built to house the city's museum.

The national museum building is flanked on either side by a pair of rotundas. Below: this is the one to the left of the museum building (as seen from the front); the other one, its architectural mirror, houses a coffee shop. 

Below: at the north end of the boulevard, beyond the national museum lies the office of the West Pomerania voivodship office.  It's now around half past seven, and a large queue is already forming outside; mostly women, some older men – Ukrainians legalising their stay in Szczecin.

Left: look closely at its weathervane; N-O-S-W – Nord, Ost, Süd, West. Before the war, the building served in a similar role as a German regional administrative headquarters. 

A magnificent maritime structure with lookout tower, observation gallery, and beneath the weathervane, there used to be a time-ball that dropped at midday, so mariners could set their chronometers. [To this day, a time-ball clock is still in use in Edinburgh]

After the conference, I return to Szczecin Główny station. Not, I must add, to catch a train back to Warsaw, no – for the next train from here to Warsaw departs at 22:56. (Would you believe there's not a single direct train for Warsaw from Szczecin between 12:29 and 22:56?) However, I will be on that 22:56 train – except I will have boarded it in Świnoujście where it starts its journey from. More about that in the next post. Below: a local train belonging to Deutsche Bahn, about to set off for Lübeck Hauptbahnhof. Incidentally, the Hanseatic port city of Lübeck, formerly Liubice, was originally a Slavic town, despite lying nearer to Denmark than to the current Polish border. The retaining wall and the building atop it have a Bricktorian Britain vibe to them!

A big thanks to my hosts, the kind folks from Agencja Rozwoju Metropolii Szczecińskiej, in particular for the book Szczecin krok po kroku by Małgorzata Duda, illustrated by Edyta Przystupa, from which I gathered much information about the places I'd visited earlier in the day. A lovely book that I recommend whether you've been to Szczecin or not – yet!

This time four years ago:
Poland, the UK, Covid-19, lockdown and economic recovery

This time five years ago:
Electric cars for hire by the minute

This time eight years ago:
Mszczonów - another railway junction

This time 12 years ago:
The Devil is in Doubt - short story, part I

This time 13 years ago:
Stormclouds are raging all around my door

This time 14 years ago:
Floods endanger Warsaw

This time 15 years ago:
Coal line rarity