Historical Context and Political Conditions of Revitalization of Degraded Military Areas: Case Study “Garnizon” in Gdańsk

This article was created as a result of research on historical and political factors influencing the revitalization process of “Garnizon” in Gdańsk. The authors assumed that historical and political processes, leading to changes in the political system or changes in state borders, also influence changes in spatial development, including changes in the functions of objects originally intended for military purposes. This article presents the history of the creation and use of the “Garrison” for the needs of the German army before World War I, and then analyzes the historical changes in the uses of the discussed spatial complex in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Political processes become the background for historical analysis: reconstruction policy, historical policy (politics of memory) and revitalization policy inscribed in the context of Poland’s integration policy with the European Communities. In a broad assessment of the revitalization processes, it was emphasized that thanks to the use of EU funds, it was possible to make the “Garrison” a multi-functional and, in the broad meaning of this statement, a self-sufficient part of Wrzeszcz with a prestigious and attractive character. The case of the “Garrison” in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz is part of the list of successful initiatives to transform post-military areas of a historical nature, and the very idea of revitalizing the garrison increased the attractiveness of the district as a place of residence and life.