18 Waterways in Poland – The History, Present State and Future
359
institutions. Based on data collected by the Central Statistical Office [1] information
on the degree of use of inland waterway transport in Poland over the last 20 years
(1998–2017) has been compiled.
18.2 Mythologized Past – Outline of Waterways Usage
History in Poland
The history of using rivers for purposes of transport in the Polish lands dates back
to the Middle Ages [2]. Over the past few centuries, the key role in the country
played its longest river – Vistula, which, through its network of tributaries, connected
main regions, namely: Greater Poland, Kuyavia, Mazovia, Podlachia, Little Poland,
Podolia, and Volyn, with the largest Baltic port at that time – Gda´ nsk. The significance of the Vistula as a transport route for goods has systematically increased
from the fourteenth century, from the point of view of the interest of the Polish
state for the heyday of the Vistula transport is the period from 1466, when under
the Second peace of Toru´ n Poland gained full control over the Vistula estuary, up
to a year 1772, when it was lost as a result of the First Partition. At the turn of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the number of transports recorded on the Vistula
in the case of the Rhine was achieved only two centuries later, which clearly shows
the importance of the Vistula route in Europe at that time. The Vistula trade was
very important for the economy of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
contributing to the economic and spatial development of numerous towns along the
river, such as Sandomierz, Kazimierz Dolny, Warsaw, Płock, Toru´ n, Bydgoszcz, and
Grudzi˛ adz. The goods transported by the river included mainly grain, but also wood,
salt, beer, handicrafts, etc. For transport, units with low draft and rowing, sailing or
mixed propulsion were used, while wood was floated in the form of rafts. In addition to the Vistula, inland navigation also developed on other rivers, such as Nogat,
Pregoła, D´ zwina, San, and Oder. The latter river was connected with Havel and
Spree already in the seventeenth century. Starting from 1795 (after the Third Partition of Poland), the current main communication artery of the country of Vistula was
divided between three partitioners. The upper section of the Vistula was the border of
the Austrian partition, the central section ran through the Russian partition, and the
lower section was located within Prussia. Vistula was the most important for Prussia.
The Bydgoszcz Canal, the missing part of the waterway running through Spree,
Oder, Warta, Note´ c, Brda, Vistula, Nogat and the Vistula Lagoon, which connected
two historical centers of the kingdom, Berlin with Königsberg (now Kaliningrad,
Russia) and at the same time two main basins on Polish lands, Oder and Vistula,
was built in years 1773–1774. The increase in hard coal mining in the Upper Silesian Basin resulted in the construction of the Kłodnicki Canal in years 1792–1812,
which was running from Zabrze (Kłodnica River) to Ko´ zle (Oder), and was replaced
with a wider and deeper Gliwice Canal only in years 1933–1939. A complicated
system of shipping canals was created in the middle of the nineteenth century in
359
institutions. Based on data collected by the Central Statistical Office [1] information
on the degree of use of inland waterway transport in Poland over the last 20 years
(1998–2017) has been compiled.
18.2 Mythologized Past – Outline of Waterways Usage
History in Poland
The history of using rivers for purposes of transport in the Polish lands dates back
to the Middle Ages [2]. Over the past few centuries, the key role in the country
played its longest river – Vistula, which, through its network of tributaries, connected
main regions, namely: Greater Poland, Kuyavia, Mazovia, Podlachia, Little Poland,
Podolia, and Volyn, with the largest Baltic port at that time – Gda´ nsk. The significance of the Vistula as a transport route for goods has systematically increased
from the fourteenth century, from the point of view of the interest of the Polish
state for the heyday of the Vistula transport is the period from 1466, when under
the Second peace of Toru´ n Poland gained full control over the Vistula estuary, up
to a year 1772, when it was lost as a result of the First Partition. At the turn of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the number of transports recorded on the Vistula
in the case of the Rhine was achieved only two centuries later, which clearly shows
the importance of the Vistula route in Europe at that time. The Vistula trade was
very important for the economy of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
contributing to the economic and spatial development of numerous towns along the
river, such as Sandomierz, Kazimierz Dolny, Warsaw, Płock, Toru´ n, Bydgoszcz, and
Grudzi˛ adz. The goods transported by the river included mainly grain, but also wood,
salt, beer, handicrafts, etc. For transport, units with low draft and rowing, sailing or
mixed propulsion were used, while wood was floated in the form of rafts. In addition to the Vistula, inland navigation also developed on other rivers, such as Nogat,
Pregoła, D´ zwina, San, and Oder. The latter river was connected with Havel and
Spree already in the seventeenth century. Starting from 1795 (after the Third Partition of Poland), the current main communication artery of the country of Vistula was
divided between three partitioners. The upper section of the Vistula was the border of
the Austrian partition, the central section ran through the Russian partition, and the
lower section was located within Prussia. Vistula was the most important for Prussia.
The Bydgoszcz Canal, the missing part of the waterway running through Spree,
Oder, Warta, Note´ c, Brda, Vistula, Nogat and the Vistula Lagoon, which connected
two historical centers of the kingdom, Berlin with Königsberg (now Kaliningrad,
Russia) and at the same time two main basins on Polish lands, Oder and Vistula,
was built in years 1773–1774. The increase in hard coal mining in the Upper Silesian Basin resulted in the construction of the Kłodnicki Canal in years 1792–1812,
which was running from Zabrze (Kłodnica River) to Ko´ zle (Oder), and was replaced
with a wider and deeper Gliwice Canal only in years 1933–1939. A complicated
system of shipping canals was created in the middle of the nineteenth century in