Świętego Ducha Street

• Here, the creator of the astronomical clock, Hans Duringer, and the graphic artist Daniel Chodowiecki had their homes. This is where the great sculptor of the European Baroque Andrzej Schluter created his first works. Today, this place still enjoys the fame of the street of artists.
• It is no coincidence that during the annual Dominican Fair, it is here where stalls of handicraft artists, sculptors, people of art and graphics are set up. To this day, this street enjoys exceptional fame among tourists and residents.

Street gates

The Holy Spirit Street was terminated at both ends by gates. The upper gate, called the Bell-founder’s Gate, closed the streets from the side of the Timber Market, while the lower one, separated the street from the port on the Motlawa River.

For safety reasons, both gates were still closed at the beginning of the XIXth century, and their opening and closing hours were announced by a bell located on the Prison Tower. In 1806, the Bell-founder’s Gate was dismantled, leaving only a break in the wall, while the lower gate did not survive World War II.

In 1945, only the arch of the passage and shreds of walls remained. The lack of photographic documentation showing the appearance of the gate contributed to its reconstruction in a simplified form.

We start our walk along the Holy Spirit Street from the side of the Timber Market. The backstage of the Wybrzeze Theatre and the “Wolne Miasto” Hotel are buildings worth paying attention to on this section. Moving towards the Motlawa River, we come across a corner house at number 19, where the famous sailor, Paweł Beneke, lived until his death. It was thanks to his efforts that Memling’s greatest painting, “The Last Judgement”, came to Gdansk. This three-storey tenement house built in an eclectic style attracts attention due to its rich window decorations and bas-reliefs of angel heads and the coat of arms of Gdansk.

• Another building that once served an interesting function is the tenement house marked with number 27, the so-called Kartuski House, which was an inn for the Carthusian Monks coming to the city.
• In the area of ​​the former Bread Market, where you used to be able to buy baked goods every Saturday that did not pass quality control, there is a unique building. It is the Royal Chapel, built on the site of demolished tenement houses, and was intended to serve as a place of prayer for Gdansk Catholics.
• The tenement houses located on plot no. 43 are one of the most beautiful houses on this street. The Renaissance façade topped with a statue of Athena catches the eye of every passer-by.
• Right next door, at number 47 (formerly 114), Karol Gotfryd Henrichsdorff once lived. He became famous for the fact that as an 18-year-old young man, he married the owner of the liqueur factory “Dom Pod Lososiem” and there would be nothing strange about it, if not for the fact that the bride was 65 years old! A memento of this event are the slabs on the threshold showing the intertwined letters DH.
• The corner house along the Holy Spirit Street 107 was once owned by the famous Gdansk builder Hans Strakowski. He was the creator of, among others, the Lowland Gate and the Zulawska Gate.
• Right next to the famous artist’s house are two of the most outstanding buildings on the street: the Sailors’ House (no. 109) with a beautiful portal, which belonged to the Skippers Gild , and the “Under the Turtle” tenement house.
• The facades of the houses at no. 115 and 119 are probably the work of Hans Kramer from Dresden. The first one is probably his first work built in Gdansk, and the porch showing a funny scene of a boy trying to bribe a dog with a bun to be able to approach a girl was moved to another Gdansk street. The street is closed by the Holy Spirit Gate, rebuilt after the war damage, which separates the street from the Motlawa riverbank.