A peninsula at the mouth of the Dead Vistula, where a garrison of 182 Polish soldiers held out for seven days against a German force of several thousand in September 1939 — the first battle of the Second World War. The ruined guardhouse and barracks have been left largely as they were. A monumental socialist-realist monument dominates the site; the newer Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939, opened in 2022, provides the historical context. Take tram 9 or a summer boat service from the Motlawa waterfront.
Westerplatte
Where World War II began, now a solemn memorial