The thirteenth commemorative 2-zloty coin from the Poland Cities series with an image of Łódź.
Obverse:
The image of the eagle established as the state emblem of the Republic of Poland. At the sides of the eagle the year of issue: 20-11, under the eagle an inscription: ZŁ 2 ZŁ. Along the rim an inscription: RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA (REPUBLIC OF POLAND), preceded and followed by six pearls. Under the eagle, on the right-hand side, the symbol of the mint: M/W.
Reverse:
Underneath, against the background of a stylized element of an elevation, a stylized image of a fragment of the Palace of Izrael Kalmanowicz Poznański in Łódź. At the top, on the right-hand side, a semicircular inscription: ŁÓDŹ.
On the edge: eight inscriptions: NBP, every second one reversed by 180 degrees, separated by stars.
Coin designer: Ewa Tyc-Karpińska
Łódź saw its growth only in the 19th century, although it dates back to the Middle Ages. The first mention of a village by the name of Łodzia comes from 1332. The town was chartered by King Władysław Jagiełło in 1423. Until the end of the 18th century, however, Łódź remained a small agricultural town. For nearly 400 years, it had several hundred inhabitants engaged in agriculture, crafts and trade. It was only in 1820 that the decision of the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland on transforming Łódź into a center of the textile industry brought about a dynamic growth of the city.
Weavers from the Greater Poland, Silesia, Saxony, Bohemia, Brandenburg and Moravia arrived in the city, and the settlers received building plots and government loans. Between 1821 and 1823, the city authorities delineated a cloth settlement called the New Town, with a centrally located marketplace, today’s Liberty Square (plac Wolności). Between 1824 and 1827 another factory settlement was created – Łódka, which is located at today’s Piotrkowska street where the first linen and cotton mills were established close to the numerous mill streams and ponds.
In the mid-19th century, a dynamic growth of Łódź started – within several dozens of years a small town developed into an industrial metropolis, which, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, counted over 300 thousand inhabitants. The beginnings of the industrial Łódź are related to the creation of great manufactories, e.g. Ludwik Geyer’s factory complex (the White Factory), the industrial empire of Karol Scheibler or the competing company of the third “king of cotton”, Izrael K. Poznański, and many other establishments belonging to well-know industrialist families. The traces of their activities can still be seen in the city landscape in the form of great factory complexes, eclectic palaces and Art Nouveau tenements. One of the symbols of the industrial power of Łódź is the palace of Poznański, referred to as the “Łódź Louvre”, which since 1975 has been hosting the Museum of the City of Łódź.
In the 19th century, Łódź became the proverbial “promised land” for the resourceful inhabitants of this multinational and multicultural city. Until 1939, the city was inhabited by over 600 thousand people – including 52% of Polish people, 33% of Jews, 10% of Germans and lesser groups of other nationalities. Only very few members of the Jewish and German diasporas, which previously counted over 200 thousand and 60 thousand respectively, survived the war.
Despite numerous crises and historical turbulences, for over 150 years Łódź was the center of the Polish textile industry. The most difficult time was the transformation period at the beginning of 1990s. It was not possible to prevent hundreds of Łódź cotton, wool, silk, clothing and leather factories from becoming insolvent. In the last decades, the city was forced to seek new paths of development. The emphasis was placed on other types of industry: electro-technical industry, production of home appliances, business services or logistics, but also the cultural and artistic traditions of Łódź, especially in the area of film-making (the famous film school) and avant-garde (Museum of Art).
At present, due to the use of new technologies and innovative solutions, former factory buildings host top quality office spaces, hotels, galleries and commercial centers. In the former Scheibler spinning mill in Księży Młyn, original lofts were created, and Poznański’s factories (then “Poltex”) is now a great trade and entertainment complex Manufaktura which is always vibrant with life.
Łódź focuses on modern industries and creativeness and the development of fashion, design and art. In the upcoming years, the city will see an investment which is likely to open a new chapter in Łódź’s history. Construction of an underground train station and the New Center of Łódź with participation of renowned architects, e.g. Daniel Libeskind (who was born in Łódź) is a 21st century challenge. In the former EC1 power station, a modern museum of science and technology is being created and the multilevel train station is to be ready by the end of 2014. Above the station, in 90 hectares, the new heart of the city is to be created, e.g. Katarzyna Kobro’a Marketplace with the following streets: Polish, Jewish, German and Russian, referring to the four cultures of pre-war Łódź, and the Special Art Zone.
Hanna Zdanowska
Mayor of the city of Łódź
