Teutonic Castle and Royal Navigation School

Near the Limestone Bridge, on Karpia Street, from 1826 until the 1920s there was the Royal Navigation School – the first college in Gdansk to train future sailors. The school was established as early as 1817, but at that time it did not yet have permanent premises. In addition to strictly navigational skills, the school also taught geography, mathematics, drawing, foreign languages and operation of ship equipment. Theoretical classes were also accompanied by maritime practice. The school was equipped with sailing ships, which initially sailed on the Baltic, but by the 1840s further voyages were also made – to the Mediterranean and even across the Atlantic to New York. A dormitory for out-of-town students functioned alongside the school, and a fee was charged for tuition. After a year of training, students passed the exam to become helmsmen, and after two years they were certified as skippers. After World War I, the academy – now called the School of Navigation – was moved to the former barracks. It operated there until 1945. The building on Karpia Street, like all the buildings in the area, was destroyed during World War II.