Before the war, Polish beaches hosted royal families and emperors, as well as the era’s icons of dance and cinema. Kings, emperors, Mata Hari, Marlena Dietrich, and Poland’s own stars of the artistic and political scenes all took to the sandy coast of the Baltic sea, as well as the wilder cliffs of the Dniester river.

We present you with a series of images that capture the most beautiful beaches and summer resort destinations of the past. Did you know that the notorious wicker beach chair actually began its career on the Baltic coast?

Before the Second World War, Jurata was the town known as the most beautiful, luxurious, elegant and the most modern summer resort destination. The first season was inaugurated in 1931, a couple of years after the opening of a railway onto the Hel peninsula. Hailed as the Polish "Palm Beach”, Jurata buzzed with life, and numerous Polish dignitaries built their summer villas there. President Ignacy Mościcki, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Józef Beck, the Potocki and Tyszkiewicz aristocratic families, as well as Count Czetwertyński and General Władysław Sikorski were all regulars.

The most popular Polish artists of the era also visited Jurata, among them Eugeniusz Bodo, the Halama sisters, Tola Mankiewiczówna, Jan Kiepura, Wojciech Kossak and his daughters, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska and Magdalena Samozwaniec. The latter recalled an image from the 1930s, with elegant ladies stepping out of their limousines all dressed up in their own dogs. Cafe-Cassino was a popular dancing club, and another venue was the "Juratka" gallery.

Wojciech Kossak created his painting called Zaślubiny Polski z morzem (Poland’s Marriage with the Sea) during his stay in Jurata.

The Imperial Świnoujście

Central Europe’s creme de la creme met up at the beaches of Świnoujście. The port city was visited by the tsar Nicholas II, as well as the Emperor Frederick William II. The beaches of Świnoujście were also a destination for writers, artists, diplomats and the authorities. Kings, chancellors and emperors also paid visits. The Plażownik Zachodni (Western Beach-guide) magazine tells us that their presence was nothing out of the ordinary. The nearby islands of Wolin and Uznam provided wild terrain for game hunting, reserved only for the royal families and the authorities.



After the victory over Napoleon and the resultant political proximity between Prussia and Russia, the royal families of the two countries were very frequent guests of Świnoujście. Other monarchs whose vacation time in the city has been documented include the Swedish heir to the throne Prince Oscar, the Prussian King Frederick William IV, the kings of Portugal and Denmark, and the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.



The writer Theodor Fontane is said to have seeked out his literary landscapes here, and the New York-born cubist Lyonel Feininger – painterly inspiration. The most famous woman spy, Mata Hari, also paid a visit to Świnoujście as she toured across the continent with dance performances. In the 1930s, Świnoujście was also visited by Marlena Dietrich.

Gdynia as the Sea City of writers and fishermen

In 1920, just a few years prior to Poland’s marriage with the sea, the writer Stefan Żeromski confessed in a letter to the writer Bernard Chrzanowski: "I dream as if of a paradise, of some kind of a villa by the sea, because here in Warsaw I was sick for so long with the Spanish flu, and it is by the sea that the doctors advise me to live, because of my heart and lungs".

Chrzanowski recommended Żeromski go to the picturesque resort and fishing village called Orłowo. And Żeromski’s villa of choice was a pink fisherman’s cottage right by the beach, near cliffs and the estuary of the Kacza river. In 1920, Żeromski came here for the very first time. Together with his wife Anna and his daughter Monika, he made his home in the rented house. He was frequently visited by other writers and poets, among them Jan Kasprowicz, Jan Lechoń, Antoni Abraham and Aleksander Majkowski. Żeromski noted: "I travelled a lot around the world, but I haven’t seen such a beautiful little nook anywhere, with such a combination of the sea, the forests and the hills and cliffs. I feed peaceful and happy here".

While in Orłowo, Stefan Żeromski wrote the novel Sambor and Mestwin, in which he told the story of two huge beech trees that he spotted during one of his walks in the Witomno area. He is known to have gone on horseback and trekking excursions in the area, and he once also travelled by boat to Hel.

Sopot: The Northern Monte Carlo

Europe’s longest wooden pier, stretching some 512 charming metres into the sea constituted Sopot’s flagship attraction. The very first pier raised in the area was modest, only 30 metres long, and it was constructed as early as 1827, on the initiative of Jerzy Heffner. In the late 19th century, more piers begans popping up on Baltic beaches, including Orłowo, Westerplatte, Jelitkowo and Brzeźno. Sometimes they were little more than wavebreakers adorned with lanterns.