The old exists in the new. Transformations of the city in Polish Gdańsk in works by Günter Grass

Abstract

In his works Günter Grass often tackles the subject connected with metamorphoses of Gdańsk/Danzig. In this article I will talk about transformations in Polish Gdańsk which Grass writes about. The post-war reconstruction of the Old Town described by Grass in “The Flounder” is discussed as the first one. In the 1970s the transformations which lead to the rise of Solidarity and the transformation from a communist to a capitalist country begin. The events of December of the year 1970 were described by Grass in “The Flounder” and the turn of the year 1990 – in “The Call of the Toad”.