"Gdansk Yearbook" ("Rocznik Gdański") began to appear from 1927, although his idea was born earlier, in 1922, when the Society of Friends of Sciences and Art was founded on the initiative of priest Kamil Kantak. The traditions of this Society today are cultivated by the Gdańsk Society of Science and the Gdańsk Society of Art Friends.

As you can read on the pages of the Copernicus Library, the staff and material background of the Society of Friends of Sciences and Art was the Polish Gymnasium in Gdańsk (Junior High School run by the “Polska Macierz Szkolna”), which also opened in 1922. The professors of this school, at the same time members of the Society, decided to start publishing the "Gdansk Yearbook". The president of the Society of Friends of Sciences and Arts was Dr. Marcin Dragan. The editorial board consisted of Marcin Dragan, Władysław Pniewski and Adam Czartkowski for the longest time.

Before the Second World War, 12 volumes of "Rocznik Gdański" were published. At the time, 57 authors wrote to "Rocznik Gdańskie". 187 different texts were published - including 72 dissertations and sketches, 24 source materials, 83 reviews and polemics. The "Chronicle of the Society of Friends of Sciences and Arts in Gdańsk" held a permanent place in the pages of "Rocznik Gdański".

 

"Rocznik Gdański" was printed at Drukarnia Gdańska. The office of the editorial office was located in the building of the Polish Gymnasium in Gdańsk (today: Jana Augustyńskiego 1). The historical themes prevailed; in addition, literature, art, linguistics, ethnography, sociology and geography were represented.

A special place in the pages of "Rocznik Gdańskiego" was found in Kashubian themes.

 

Two editors of "Rocznik Gdańskiego" Władysław Pniewski and Franciszek Kręcki were murdered by the Nazis in the Stutthof concentration camp in 1940.

 

All volumes of "Rocznik Gdański" are available in the Library of the Gdańsk Society of Science.

 

Pre-war editions of "Rocznik Gdańskiego" - volumes 1-11 - are available in a digitized form, on the pages of the Wielkopolska Digital Library and - partly - in the Baltic Digital Library (see: ARCHIVE). Unfortunately, not all volumes of the "Rocznik Gdański" have been digitized. The Gdańsk Society of Science has made efforts to complete the digital archive of the magazine with missing volumes. Since the volume LXXV-LXXVI published in 2017, all subsequent volumes have their own digital version, available on the journal's website (see: ARCHIVE).

 

"Rocznik Gdański" will be available soon in the online database of scientific magazines of the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw (BazHum).

 

Volume I of the "Rocznik Gdański" had 153 pages and contained five dissertations and a “Chronicle of the Society” from 1922-1927. From the "Society Chronicle" in volume II-III for the years 1928-1929, we know that it was "distributed among members of the Society" at the meeting on January 27, 1928.

 

After the war, the publication of the "Rocznik Gdański" resumed in 1954 (from 1956 under the auspices of the Gdańsk Society of Science). The first issues were edited by: Marian Pelczar, Irena Fabian-Madeyska, Marian des Loges and Alina Szafranowa.

 

In 1958, the editor-in-chief became prof. Andrzej Bukowski. "Rocznik Gdański" was at the forefront of scientific regional magazines. In 1992, the editor-in-chief became prof. Edward Breza, whose term of office included the largest number of articles on Kashubian issues and linguistics. In 2008, the editor-in-chief became a historian, prof. Edmund Kizik, in January 2016 - also a historian - prof. Józef Arno Włodarski, and in July 2017, prof. Maria Mendel, dealing with city pedagogy.