Gdańsk on the UNESCO World Heritage List - 20 years of attempts and missed opportunities

The abstract of this article presents efforts undertaken during the last two decades, to put Gdańsk – one of the oldest cities of the Republic of Poland – on UNESCO World Heritage List and, based on archival materials and the author’s own experience, analyses the reasons for the ineffectiveness of those attempts. The criteria to achieve this goal have been subject to a number of changes and modifications. The development of conservation concepts of the last decades, especially seeing the intangible heritage values, has created an opportunity for a broad appreciation of places, typically attributable to the reflexive points of modern history. It is the Solidarity Shipyard, perpetuated in the public consciousness, which still remains such a place. Whether it will prove worthy of the World Heritage List, should be decided by the persons responsible for its contemporary protection.