Experience a tribute to Poland’s Solidarity movement and global adversity to communism at the European Solidarity Center (Europejskie Centrum Solidarności or ECS). Here, multimedia and genuine artifacts retell the nation’s fight for freedom and its effect on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This cultural center opened in 2014, on the 34th anniversary of the August Agreements, an accord signed between the Polish government and Gdańsk dockworkers.
A major highlight of the cultural center is the permanent exhibit. Visit its seven galleries charting the success of the Solidarity movement, Poland’s first non-communist trade union, established at Gdańsk Shipyard.
Learn about the 1980 dockworker-led protests that paved the way for nationwide shipyard strikes. Watch archive footage of talks between workers and communist leaders and the signing of the August Agreements. Discover the role that Pope John Paul II played in the road to democracy. Appreciate how the changes in Poland helped democratic revolutions throughout the East bloc countries.
Spot displays of the helmets, tools and welding masks of shipyard workers. See examples of life prior to 1980, including mock-ups of interrogation cells and traditional family homes. Sit in an original police riot van and the cab of a crane. Check out the bullet-ridden jacket of a fallen dockworker and see the Nobel Peace Prize to Lech Wałęsain 1983.
Browse the temporary Polish-themed exhibits. Visit the library, which stocks audio, documentary and video material. Complete your visit at the rooftop terrace, which offers views over the remains of the shipyard where the Solidarity movement began.
The cultural center is a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk from Gdańsk’s Old Town. If you arrive by car, park in the large underground metered parking lot. Parking is free for 4 hours for visitors to the permanent exhibit.
The European Solidarity Center is open daily and admission to the building and temporary exhibits is free. An admission fee is applicable for the permanent exhibit. Audio guides in English are included in the ticket price. Find full details on the museum’s official website.
