Amber & Jewellery

Gdansk - The amber city

Gdansk used to be the centre of European amber craftsmanship and one of the richest cities of northern Europe. Unfortunately, because of that, the greedy Teutonic monks decided to conquer and occupy the city. They attacked suddenly on 14 November 1308. Teutonic monks took over the city, killed a lot of its inhabitants and burnt their houses as a revenge for their attempts of defence. The event is called “The Gdansk Massacre.

The Gdansk events were supposed to be a warning for other Pomeranian cities. Teutonic Knights planned to add a few more cities under their control against the will of their citizens. The monks were exceptionally cruel; they murdered even children and the elderly hiding in churches.

With their cruelty Teutonic monks caused the crash of amber craftsmanship market in Gdansk. It was forbidden to work with amber without a special permission. Amber provided by fishermen was taken away from them and sent to Brugge and Lubec or transported through Lvov to the East where it was very valuable. Hiding amber or amber crafting was illegal and considered to be a crime, often the consequence was a death sentence.

There were amber workshops working in Gdansk at Kramarska Street but they mainly produced rosaries for the Teutonic monks to sell. The most beautiful and valuable amber pieces were used by the monks as royal gifts for their visits in Europe.

This sad period in the history of Gdansk lasted over 100 years. The situation changed only after The Battle of Grunwald when the Teutonic monks agreed to leave the city. Gdansk citizens were full of hate for the monks and as revenge completely destroyed their castle.

Gdansk governors and citizens as an act of gratitude for help from Polish king, Wladyslaw Jagiello, decided to give the city under his rule. Jagiello in return for their loyalty cancelled the obligation to give all amber to the king. This way he started the renaissance of amber craftsmanship in Pomerania. In 1477 there was the Amber Craftsmanship Guild founded in Gdansk. It was then that the production of amber caskets, jewellery , spoons, bird cages, wine glasses and oil lamps started. Amber craftsmen also made boxes, ship miniatures and mirror frames of amber and silver. It is interesting that it was only legal for 40 amber workshops to work within the city area. The law was obviously being broken.

The rich women living in Gdansk used amber jewellery as it was against the law to wear gold or other valuables. Beads and necklaces made of amber were very popular among them. It was also a commonly known fact in Kurpia that amber adds to a woman’s beauty. All girls wore amber necklaces which was a guarantee of luck in love and getting married quickly. The tradition was for a boy to give an amber heart on a blue ribbon to his beloved one.

After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 Gdansk was detached from Poland and given under Prussian rule. The city lost its high status and trade and craftsmanship collapsed. There were no longer rich clients to buy amber works of art so this field of craftsmanship had to collapse too. Instead of remarkable and valuable amber works of art, the market was taken over by the mass production of cheap tacky memorabilia popular among Germans.