European Solidarity Centre (ECS)

The European Solidarity Centre stands at Plac Solidarnosci 1 in the shipyard district of Gdansk, Poland, beside the gate and grounds of the former Lenin Shipyard. The strikes of August 1980 began in the shipyard and led to the Gdansk Agreement of 31 August 1980, in which the communist authorities accepted the creation of the independent trade union Solidarity. The movement, led by Lech Walesa, grew to millions of members and was suppressed by martial law in December 1981, but it returned to negotiate the Round Table talks of 1989 that opened the path to democratic elections. The Centre opened in 2014 in a rust-coloured steel building whose design recalls a ship's hull and the shipyard's industrial past. Its permanent exhibition tells the story of Solidarity and the opposition movements of Central and Eastern Europe through objects, film, documents and reconstructed spaces. Displays include the original shipyard gate boards with strike demands, items from the underground press, photographs from martial law and personal objects of participants. The approach is chronological and immersive, with sections on the pressures of the communist system and the events of 1980, and the following years. The building also holds a library, archive and research facilities. Around the Centre, parts of the shipyard remain, including the historic Gate No. 2 and the former health and safety training hall where the strike committee negotiated, and the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 stands in the square. Guided tours of the shipyard area are offered separately. The site is among the most important modern history locations in Poland, and the exhibition is considered to be of high museum standard.