Posts

Showing posts with the label Poland

Necropolis memorials to French and German figures from Glasgow industrial history

Image
The Glasgow Necropolis is a fascinating location and there is a huge amount of historical information that has been gathered and can be found on this website:  https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/ Three particular people we have highlighted here are the German Henry Dübs , the F renchman  Pierre  Jacques Papillon  and Professor Coats, who did some training in Wurzburg. All highlight the importance of European links in Glasgow's heritage. _____________________ Henry Dübs  At the Necropolis you can find a Memorial to Henry Dübs (1816 – 24 April 1876), a 19th century German-born engineer who worked in Glasgow. He was Works Manager and Company partner at Neilson and Company in Springburn, who built this locomotive for Finland : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_D%C3%BCbs . This exquisite technical drawing from Neilson & Company from the Science Museum collection: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110094432/drawing-of-5-0-gauge-6-wheel...

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and 1990, when Glasgow was European Capital of Culture

Image
Glasgow has a thriving musical and artistic scene. In fact, the European Commission commented in 2019: "As the UK’s top cultural and creative city, Glasgow is home to world-class museums, galleries, family-friendly attractions and an edgy contemporary art scene that shows the city at its energetic finest." Photos : J. Wilson "Glasgow crowned UK’s top cultural and creative city", Sunday Post, 2019:  https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/396198/ The concert hall was built when Glasgow was designated as European Capital of Culture for 1990. Designed by Sir Leslie Martin, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was officially opened on 5 October 1990 by Princess Anne. Photo: J. Wilson It was also the venue for a famous speech by Gordon Brown about the benefits of being in the EU: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/uk-politics/188045/eu-offers-safety-net-tory-devastation-claims-gordon-brown-glasgow-rally/amp/ Being European Capital of Culture really gave the Glasgow arts scene...

Scottish Jewish Archives Centre - historical links to Lithuania, Latvia etc

Image
This centre, which is situated at Garnethill synagogue, has archives of the history of the Jewish people who have arrived in Scotland, most arriving over the last couple of centuries.  The first record of Jews in Scotland dates back to the late 1600s. The Jews who came to Scotland in the late 1600s and early 1700s came in small numbers and tended to be academics, who were attracted by the fact that in the Scottish Universities they were not required to swear a Christian oath, unlike those in England and the continent. These early arrivals were then followed by businessmen and merchants of Dutch and German descent. And more recent history has included the arrival of refugees, in particular during the years of WW1 and WW2. This interesting document ( https://www.scojec.org/resources/files/jewish_experience.pdf ) produced by the archive centre has a few of the stories of people who have been very much involved in Scottish history and communities, including: Benno Schotz (see the ...

Did you know that Chopin played in Glasgow?

Image
Chopin played a concert in 1848 in the Merchants' Hall - which at that time was situated in the building later known as the Sheriff Court on the corner of Hutcheson and Ingram streets.  The date was September 27, and anyone who was anybody was there. The cream of west of Scotland society and the aristocracy turned out for the occasion, including the Duchess of Argyll, countless countesses, lords, ladies, and baronesses. The occasion was extremely well-documented. Diarists, commentators, and all the papers were there. The Herald recorded the nineteenth-century equivalent of a city-centre traffic jam as the ''large concourse of carriages began to draw up in Hutcheson Street and the streets adjoining''  The matinée musicale given by Chopin on the 27th of September 1848 in the Merchants? Hall, Glasgow, attracted many a music-lover. The organizer of the concert - John Muir Wood - was told that "so many private carriages had never been seen at any concert in the town...

St Simons Church - a Polish connection

Image
The Roman Catholic Parish Church of St Simon which is linked with St Peters in Partick and host Polish Masses. (similarly with St Anne's in Dennistoun). In front of church there is a Memorial Stone in Polish which translates: During the second World War Polish soldiers on leave from the battlefields came to this church to attend Mass together to hear the word of God in their native tongue, to sing their Polish hymns, and to thank Our Lady, Queen of Poland, for this touch of home the Polish community of Glasgow has. Through the years they felt deeply grateful to Father Patrick Tierney for the privilege he has accorded them of celebrating the Polish Mass in this Church and for the many kindnesses received from him and the parishioners. and in English: “I was a stranger and you took me in” Matthew 25:35 Two stained glass windows feature: GOOD CONQUERS EVIL Fr Jerzy Popieluszko died a martyr's death at the hands of people who has created a political system based on hatred and l...