Baszta Łabędź, Gdańsk

Baszta Łabędź is a Gothic tower beside the Fish Market, on the Motława waterfront. It forms the northernmost surviving reach of the Main Town’s medieval defensive line. The tower rises from the foundations of an earlier Fishermen’s Tower, built by the Teutonic Order during the latter part of the fourteenth century beside their former castle.

That predecessor also guarded traffic entering the Motława harbour. In fourteen fifty-four, Gdańsk’s townspeople destroyed the older tower. The replacement gained an added storey, and its weapons were then aimed toward neighbouring Zamczysko.

Notice the compact masonry body below the ceramic cone roof: it was rebuilt as a brick, cut-off cylinder. When warfare no longer needed the tower, small townhouses crowded closely around it. Heavy damage came in nineteen forty-five, but the wartime loss of those surrounding homes exposed the tower in the cityscape again.

Restoration followed in nineteen sixty-seven. Today, this maritime landmark houses the Polish Maritime Club, while the river beside it carries the water tram.