Central Europe/
Central Poland
[wuʨ̑]
literally "boat"
4th in Poland
670,642
Łódź is a city of contrasts which intrigues almost at every step. It is full of factories and, at the same time, it is very green; eclectic but also avant-garde. Lodz dazzles with the lavishness of factory owners’ palaces and astonishes with artistic installations.
Łódź was once a small settlement that first appeared in
14th-century records.
The Second Industrial Revolution brought rapid growth in
textile manufacturing and in population owing to
the inflow of migrants, notably Germans and Jews. Ever since the
industrialization of the area the city has struggled with
multinationalism and social inequalities.
The contrasts greatly reflected on the architecture of the city,
where luxurious mansions coexisted with
red-brick factories and dilapidated tenement
houses.
The industrial development and demographic surge made Łódź one of the largest cities in Poland. Under the German occupation during World War II Łódź was briefly renamed Litzmannstadt. The city's population was persecuted and its large Jewish minority was forced into a walled zone known as the Łódź Ghetto, from where they were sent to German concentration and extermination camps.
Łódź experienced a sharp demographic and economic decline after
1989. Łódź is ranked by the Globalization and World Cities
Research Network on the “Sufficiency” level of global influence
and is internationally known for its National Film School, a
cradle for the most renowned Polish actors and directors (Andrzej
Wajda, Roman Polanski).
In 2017, the city was inducted into the
UNESCO Creative Cities Network and named
UNESCO City of Film.
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