To Those Who Did Not Return from the Sea

The monument To Those Who Did Not Return from the Sea, designed by Professor Sławoj Ostrowski, was unveiled on 14 January 2007 on Ołowianka Island near the Kamieniarski Bridge, close to the seat of the National Maritime Museum.

Object: Viewed frontally, the monolith takes the form of a rectangular marble block with a rectangular, openwork slot located one-third of the way up from the base. When facing the monument with the Crane Gate (Brama Żuraw) in the background, the opening is filled with a rectangular bronze plaque inscribed with the words: TO THOSE WHO DID NOT RETURN FROM THE SEA. From the opposite side, above the slot, at two-thirds of the monument’s height, there is a horizontal bronze strip with the Latin inscription: NAVIGARE NECESSE EST (‘Sailing is a necessity’). Although the stone block is not transparent, one can easily imagine that the two bronze plates intersect symbolically, forming the shape of a cross. A significant feature of the design is that part of an anchor passes through the slot at ground level and extends beneath the stone block. Viewed from the side, the monument’s components form the shape of the letter ‘L’. On the same plane at the bottom is an engraved inscription: AUTHOR: PROF. SŁAWOJ OSTROWSKI, MADE BY: MURKAM LEON CZERWIŃSKI.

The stone used in the monument is green in colour, with a natural pattern of lighter and darker streaks resembling waves on the Baltic Sea and frothing sea spray.

The monument was unveiled on the 14th anniversary of the maritime disaster involving the ferry Jan Heweliusz, which tragically sank in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Rügen Island. While it commemorates the victims of that specific tragedy, it also honours all those throughout Gdańsk’s history who have lost their lives at sea: sailors, fishermen, seafarers, and passengers.  As such, the monument serves as a place for paying tribute to the victims of maritime disasters.

The anchor, an integral part of the monument, was an emergency anchor from the Jan Heweliusz ferry, salvaged from the wreck by a team from Polish Maritime Rescue in Gdynia. Before the monument’s creation, it was stored at the Central Maritime Museum – an institution that initiated the project. The monument was funded by the Gdańsk City Council.

Location: To Those Who Did Not Return from the Sea is located on Szafarnia Street by the Kamieniarski Bridge, near the granaries housing the National Maritime Museum. This area is known as Ołowianka. Originally, Ołowianka was a region of marshlands and shallows, but in the 14th century, it was developed into economic grounds for the castle, called Szafarnia, where granaries were located, including the Small, White, Grand Master’s, Drągowy, New, and Szkarpawski Granaries. In the mid-16th century, the Ciesielski Canal (now the Na Stępce Canal) was dug, transforming Ołowianka into an island. By the 17th century, lead was stored there, giving the area its name (‘ołów’ means lead in Polish). By the early 20th century, Ołowianka hosted not only granaries but also offices, companies, and even residential buildings. During World War II in 1945, the area suffered significant damage. The granaries were later rebuilt to house the National Maritime Museum, while the buildings of the former power plant were repurposed to become the Baltic Philharmonic.

Information about the author: Sławoj Ostrowski (b. 14 December 1943 in Słupca, d. 9 March 2018) was a sculptor and pedagogue. Between 1963 and 1969, he studied at the State School of Visual Arts in Gdańsk at the Faculty of Sculpture. He was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and headed the Sculpture Studio. He received a professorship in 1996. Ostrowski is the author of numerous works in public space: statues, sculptures, memorial plaques, commemorating such figures as Zbyszek Cybulski, Zbigniew Herbert, Antoni Abraham, Jakub Wejher, or Günter Grass, including monument to Mayor Leon Barciszewski in Bydgoszcz, monument to Antoni Abraham in Puck, monument to Jakub Wejher in Wejherowo, Günter Grass’s Bench in Gdańsk and Waterbirds Fountain in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz. He mostly worked with polychromed wood, stone and bronze and took part in many exhibitions in Poland and abroad. and won multiple sculpture competitions.

Dimensions: 2.75 m × 1.36 m × 0.42 m

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority

Author of the entry: Kinga Jarocka