Activity Report: Walkative Warsaw Walking Tour
By far, one of our favorite activities is a good old fashion walking tour. Thanks to our great time with Walkative while in Krakow, we also joined their Walkative Old Town tour.
We meet by the old castle in front of the giant statue and they even had tours on Christmas Day for other lonely tourists. Usually, there are tours at 10am and 12pm. Today, we had the awesome Andy as our guide!
General “Fun” Facts
Similar to other Polish cities after WW2, Warsaw was devastated. Throughout the city, there are approximately 7 stones remaining from the historic city. As one can now infer, 85% of the entire city and 97% of the old town was destroyed. Thus, everything we now see today has been reconstructed and rebuilt shortly after the war.
History of Warsaw
Ignoring the horrific WW2 history, Warsaw has a storied past similar to Poland’s own illustrious past. When Poland was in search of their next king, they borrowed and brought a king from Sweden. Once the king came to Poland, he decided Warsaw should be the capital rather than Krakow. Thus, the capital moved permanently to Warsaw! He also brought his Swedish architecture with him which makes sense!
Fast forwarding to post-WW2, Warsaw was absolutely flatten. Over 80% of the city was destroyed and the Polish were not their victors so rebuilding was a challenge. To rebuild, the government said no, but the people said yes. Thus, bricks throughout Poland were shipped to Warsaw to help build their Old Town. In the end, the government said yes as long as the east facing section remained “open” as a sign of respect to others.
Each of the rebuilt homes has an authentic facade. However, inside the building is completely modern. While the exterior looks amazing and perfect, it does give off a sense of the impossible as there surely can’t be too many places with perfect buildings!
Few Famous Buildings
In Old Town, one of the few famous buildings is the grand church. Obviously, it is reconstructed but a surprise nonetheless considering the Soviets did not appreciate religion! Rather than the former grand architecture, the builders went for subtlety. In theory, less is more supposedly? Although I would have loved to see the old building!
For every medieval capital, one needs a royal castle! In the main Old Town Square, the giant “pink” building is the royal castle. Obviously, it was completely destroyed and then rebuilt after WW2. Unlike the Old Town, the Royal Castle was not built until the 1980s because the government did not want anything associated to past Polish history or royalty. Similar to the Old Town, the people built it! They found the old designs, raised the money, and built it!
Historic Warsaw Ghetto
In Warsaw, one of the saddest memorials is the Warsaw Ghetto. Created in 1940, it caged over 400,000 Jews in a 3km space. They also had 2 separate ghettos depending on your assignments. Over the course of the war, they were slowly taken out to the various concentration camps. By 1942, 100,000 died due to starvation. Then, the great deportation in 1942 saw the death tally to over 300,000. The news did not get better toward the latter stages of the war. The 1943 Jewish Warsaw Uprising helped move out the rest to concentration camp.
Currently, in Warsaw, there are bricks noting the former walls of the ghetto along with plagues and memorials along the pathway. The story is incredibly sad, but also one of perseverance for those few who survived the Warsaw Ghetto.
Warsaw Uprising of 1944
On 1 August 1944, the Soviets were rapidly advancing and the Germans were badly retreating. Warsaw had to decide whether to live under Soviet rule after the war or have their own country. They wanted freedom.
Unfortunately, there was still a large contingent of the German army, well over 25-50k that weren’t their top shelf army but still a powerful force. The Poles launched their attack on 1 August with the intention of a 48 hour battle while the Soviets hopefully continued their push and distracted the great German forces. However, the Soviets just stood there across the river and watched Warsaw burn….
For the Poles, it was not good news. Badly outmatched and outgunned, they were slowly pushed from the city. Most fighters said they should stand there and fight for their homeland. For the survivors, they tried to retreat through the sewers. Even if they survived the Nazis, hardly any Poles survived the Soviet regime. Sadly, most were killed or imprisoned during and after the uprising - confirming the fighters standing there theory.
The current memorial is such an inspiration. Located near the current political scene, the giant memorial at the back shows the Poles fighting back with whatever they had - even German helmets! The last memorial shows them retreating through the sewers. In my opinion, the memorial is a powerful image.
A Lighter Ending
For the grand finale and a lighter ending, our guide discussed one of the greatest musical talents and famous Chopin. Scatter throughout Warsaw are musical benches which play his music if one hits the various buttons. It is quite an unique way to remember him!
Chopin is the darling of Warsaw now, but in his time, he was actually banned from Poland after he went to France. People were not happy and neither was Chopin! His songs were described as Polish love songs as he longed for his home country. In the end, I think Warsaw missed him as well because now they have his heart.
The UnChartered Summary
Warsaw is postcard perfect! From the colorful buildings to the rich and dark history, Warsaw is a great city to have a walking tour!
- Andy the Guide was perfect for this Christmas Tour. He provided light humor for such a dark Warsaw history - especially on Christmas Day!
- Although I don’t particularly fancy the reconstructed old town, the tour was able to provide much needed context as we walked.
- Meeting at two convenient times, 12pm and 2pm, during winter, I would highly recommend the Walkative Tour!