Artykuł ukazuje Gdańskie Towarzystwo Przyrodnicze (Danziger Naturforschende Gesellschaft) w XIX i na początku XX w. na podstawie kilku wybranych przez autora subiektywnych zagadnień, takich jak: astronomia, obserwatorium, biblioteka, siedziby. Tekst przedstawia poszczególne etapy rozwoju Towarzystwa od czasów napoleońskich, kiedy to niemal uległo likwidacji, poprzez problemy z budżetem i siedzibą w pierwszej połowie XIX w., a następnie stopniowe odradzanie się i złote lata działalności na początku XX w., kiedy to zanotowało rekordową liczbę członków, a nadwyżki budżetowe pozwoliły na inwestycje. Ukazuje także problematykę funkcjonowania Towarzystwa w okresie Wolnego Miasta Gdańska w latach 1920–1939, przekazanie zbiorów bibliotecznych bibliotece politechniki, likwidację obserwatorium i stopniowe obniżenie rangi Towarzystwa w życiu naukowym Gdańska.

The activity of the Gdańsk Nature Research Society (Danziger Naturforschende Gesellschaft) in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries: Selected aspects

This article presents the Gdańsk Nature Research Society (Danziger Naturforschende Gesellschaft) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on several aspects of its activity selected by the author, including astronomy, observatory, library and premises. The study presents the various stages of the Society’s development from the Napoleonic times, when it was almost liquidated, through problems with the budget and premises in the first half of the nineteenth century, to the gradual revival and the golden years at the beginning of the twentieth century, when it had the highest membership and the budget made it possible to finance large-scale projects. The article also considers issues related to the functioning of the Society in the period of the Free City of Gdańsk in 1920–1939: the transfer of the library collection to the polytechnic, the closure of the observatory, and the gradual decline of the Society’s standing in the scientific life of Gdańsk.

Keywords: Gdańsk Society of Natural Sciences, Danziger Naturforschende Gesellschaft

This article presents the Gdańsk Nature Research Society (Danziger Naturforschende Gesellschaft) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on several aspects of its activity selected by the author, including astronomy, observatory, library and premises. The study presents the various stages of the Society’s development from the Napoleonic times, when it was almost liquidated, through problems with the budget and premises in the first half of the nineteenth century, to the gradual revival and the golden years at the beginning of the twentieth century, when it had the highest membership and the budget made it possible to finance large-scale projects. The article also considers issues related to the functioning of the Society in the period of the Free City of Gdańsk in 1920–1939: the transfer of the library collection to the polytechnic, the closure of the observatory, and the gradual decline of the Society’s standing in the scientific life of Gdańsk.