Galerie

Danzig and its Postal History.

Correspondence of the 16th Century, no postmarking yet, see laquer seals wich carry the Danzig code of arms as well the Corsini correspondence and other various 17th Century correspondence.

Danzig was part of ancient Poland, then capital of the Dukes of Pomerania and later under control of the Teutonic Knights. In 1454 became part of the Hanseatic League. It was a Free City, under the protection of Poland, from 1464 to 1793, although it was captured by Russia for a brief time in 1793.

The third partition of Poland ceded Danzig to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1807 Napoleon besieged the city and established the Republic of Danzig. The city was restored to Prussia in 1815. Prussia, and Danzig along with it, became part of the North German Confederation and than part of the German Empire.

At the end of World War I Danzig and adjacent areas became a Free State under the League of Nations with economic ties to Poland. In 1935 the Nazi party gained control of Danzig and in 1939 it was annexed by Germany.
Following World War II Danzig became part of the new Poland and known as Gdansk.