The riverside triangle - the former Bermuda triangle: Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz, Toruń

Mateusz Zmyślony

10 of August '23

Grudziądz granaries - so big that it is difficult to take a photograph reflecting their scale

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Lemara 's magnificent barge - there used to be hundreds of such ships here

The natural rivalry between these cities is no secret. Too close to each other, they are inherently borderline opposites. Stereotypically working-class Bydgoszcz versus stereotypically intellectual Toruń.

I remember from the early 1990s that ugly, awful Bydgoszcz, whose only bright spot was probably the cult pub Brain. I still remember that city from a dozen years ago, when I was working on its strategy. One would run away from that Bydgoszcz with a shout. If only to beautiful Toruń - for which I was also developing a strategy at the same time - what a schizophrenic situation it was!
But a dozen years passed. I escaped from the stagnant Toruń, from the old gingerbread houses and Copernicus, straight into the embrace of the amazing Bydgoszcz. Because I am unable not to burn right away - but what a bombastic city it has become! Bombastic not only for the immediate reason, which is the Explodeum telling the story of Bydgoszcz's munitions production. Just as Torun for me has hardly changed, Bydgoszcz - completely.

Lemar 's magnificent barge - there used to be hundreds of such ships here

Bydgoszcz's metamorphosis is shocking. From an ugly duckling grew a magnificent urban swan. The city on the Brda River has become beautiful, it is surprising, it has momentum, it is fresh, dynamic and very inspiring. The past years have not been wasted here. I rode around this Bydgoszcz completely transformed more and more enthralled for two whole days, from my bicycle admiring the magnificent architecture. What was it that so captivated me, captivated me even in this city? It took me a while to realize it. Because, after all, it's not about specific, single completed investments. Such things are in today's Poland in every city, at every turn. It's about that general impression, the perceptible character of the city, its vitality.

magical is this Brda River, with clean and dynamic water, and along it there are still many buildings to be renovated - things are going to happen in Bydgoszcz!

In the new Bydgoszcz you want to live, you want to live, you want to act. This city is one big reason to be proud. Of course, it has, like every place on the planet, its problems and still much to do, but clearly there is a smell of success here.
My key Bydgoszcz observation: unlike other riverside cities, Bydgoszcz literally grows out of water. It is the water that is most important here - the entire center is located on islands, a bit like Wrocław, only Bydgoszcz is not isolated from its water by floodwalls. Here the buildings grow out of the shore itself, the first floors are adjacent to the current of the Brda, the facades are reflected in the water, creating a magnificent waterfront. Bydgoszcz is like Amsterdam. Such waterfronts have port cities; people love Copenhagen for this very effect.

Rother 'sMills - bigger ones I've never seen in my life; a beautiful renovation that has transformed the entire city center

This is probably due to the hydrological characteristics of the Brda River and the infrastructure of the Bydgoszcz Canal - this water does not spill so easily. As a result, Bydgoszcz is perfectly integrated with its water. And the water in this Brda is also somehow different than usual - clean and dynamic. Not cloudy and lazy like in Krakow, but swift and clear like in a mountain stream. This purity probably comes from the fact that it flows through a large forest, the majestic Tuchola Forests, unsoaked by excessively flushed fertilizers from farm fields. This gives a specific effect of freshness, simply a WOW effect!

Bydgoszcz waterfront: clear, brisk water merged with architecture - something wonderful

This water combined with the restoration of historic buildings, booming economy, and new investments is very impressive. A visit to Bydgoszcz is a great idea for a weekend, which you should definitely start with the Mill Island, the monumental Rother Mills, and then the opera house, museums, the Bromberg Kaffee coffee roasting plant, a pint from the Beer Brewing Plant, a stroll past the granaries and Lemar's barge, the Chamber Theater, Jatki Street and all along Długa Street.

Bydgoszcz's waterfront: clear, brisk water merged with architecture - something wonderful

At the latter, a visit to the Museum of Soap and Dirt History is a must. This fragrant and colorful tabernacle is rightly a tourist hit in Bydgoszcz. I took advantage of it exceptionally - for here I found a clue to a city secret that I always look for intensively. Preferably one that not even the locals know about. So it's time for entelechy. What is the origin of Bydgoszcz? Why was the city created?
It is known that it was made by the dynamic Brda. The river provided propulsion for mills in the Middle Ages, making Bydgoszcz one of the largest markets for buying and processing grain. The river was also used to transport timber to Gdansk, and it should be remembered that the Brda flows through forests that are among the largest in this part of the world, so timber was in abundance here. The waters of the Brda also filled the Bydgoszcz Canal, connecting the city with Berlin and the rest of Germany, which had a huge impact on the city's development and its Art Nouveau architecture. This is all common knowledge. But the great forest probably also influenced Bydgoszcz's less recognized specialties - glass and soap making. In the Middle Ages, potash was necessary for their manufacture, which, like charcoal and tar, was then obtained by dry distillation of wood. So I hypothesize that today's highly diversified economy in Bydgoszcz is also built on competencies related to industries associated with glass and soap production, with potash and tar leading us to many contemporary industries and components of the city's identity.

Rother's mills - bigger I've never seen in my life; a beautiful renovation that has transformed the entire city center

One is the aforementioned excellent Museum of Soap and the History of Dirt. The other - the great Unilever home chemical factory, yes, that's the former "Pollena 2000" with the iconic "Father, wash?". I believe that these historical chemical competencies of the city may also have influenced the development of other related industries, such as local pyrotechnic production.

Since the Middle Ages, Poland has been one of Europe's largest exporters of potash and tar. Today we probably do not fully know how to appreciate the momentousness of this fact. Tar was the most important lubricant and impregnant of plant origin of those times, without it there were no waterproof fabrics or windproof sails, and without tar there were no cart axles or mill mechanisms, and it also had hundreds of other uses. I'm curious if, in addition to export, these two strategic commodities didn't provoke more advanced final productions here locally, in Bydgoszcz. That would be logical. If this material is read by someone who knows something about this subject, please contact me, as it is difficult to confirm the actual fate of the former Bydgoszcz potash and tar in the available sources.

Bydgoszcz waterfront: clear, brisk water merged with architecture - something wonderful

At that time, Western Europe was almost stripped of older and larger trees. Thus, the Polish reality developed perhaps the continent's greatest competence in the use of wood as a strategic commodity and raw material for the manufacture of many more sophisticated products. It can be found at the very top of any encyclopedia: in addition to salt, grain, construction timber (and the lesser-remembered dye - Polish red), our ancestors were probably the largest European exporters of potash and tar precisely. The entire world of the time revolved around these commodities, and most of them flowed down this way, down the Brda and Vistula, to Gdansk, providing work for thousands of rafters and merchants, building the power of the Riverside Tercet.

the building of the District Museum's Gallery of Modern Art, in keeping with Bydgoszcz's good standards, is beautifully reflected in the water, and from behind it emerges the impressive Opera Nova, which is being expanded; - in the spirit of functionalism, it was designed by Józef Chmiel and Andrzej Prusiewicz

Bydgoszcz is a city incredibly stretched along its river - I was surprised by the length of the trip to Bydgoszcz's largest district, Fordon. More than 70,000 residents and this distance - it's obvious that we are in a multi-city area. In the past, Fordon was a separate organization, and one with quite an interesting history of almost seven hundred years - it only became part of Bydgoszcz in 1973. Today, impressive boulevards are being built here on the Vistula River, a piece beyond the mouth of the Brda.

It's time to set off for Grudziądz.

Arguably, it was water connectivity with Berlin that contributed to the development of this delicious architecture; transportation is not just business - it also means the transfer of ideas, including fashion and aesthetics

The most beautiful city skyline in Europe?

This is, unfortunately, the end of this part of our journey through the development of Polish cities, this time primarily riverside cities. So about Grudziądz in the finale succinctly, briefly. This beautiful city grows out of the Vistula River in its own original, monumental style. In my opinion, the Grudziądz skyline is Poland's "number one". The huge medieval granaries are magnificent, you have to see it with your own eyes. Then carefully examine what the brand-new, recently opened and very cool FLIS Museum of Vistula Trade has to share. Then take a stroll through the beautiful old town. Finally, sit over a cup of coffee at Grudziadz's capital Fado Café, sigh and appreciate the uniqueness of thirty years of transformation of our urban spaces.

Nordic Haven apartment building also peeks through the waters of the Brda River, proj.: Nizio Design International

Grudziadz is one of a kind! - be sure to see for yourself

Bydgoszcz - goods, around which the world once revolved, flowed down the Brda and Vistula, to Gdansk, giving work to thousands of rafters and merchants, building the power of the Riverside Tercet