With a population of a little over half a million, Poznań could maybe even be called a big city. What sights and attractions are there Not many, i.e. this isn’t a real tourist destination. In the main square, you will find the famous buildings, and in the streets that lead away from it, there are plenty of entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, and pubs.
The city is very much alive, not only during the day but also at night, every day of the week. That's what I really liked. There are no 24-hour shops, but there is a shop called ‘Zabka’ where you can buy anything until 11 pm. We were also in an adventure pool, a zoo, historic parks, cemeteries, and, next to the larger bus stops, you can rent a bike for pennies at any time if you want to get around the city.” (2018)
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"From the station, a very long and very busy road, the Swiety Marcin, leads to the old town – this is actually one of the main arteries of the city. Walking down this road, I felt as though I was in a real big city, and in fact that’s true – the city has half a million inhabitants, so it comes just after Wrocław as the fifth largest Polish city. While we’re on the subject, and just for the sake of completeness, the top three are Warsaw, Łódź and Krakow, followed by Wrocław, Poznań and then Gdańsk.
So there are a lot of old buildings, high-rise apartment buildings, cars, buses, trams, pedestrians – a real metropolitan hustle and bustle. I photographed the sights – the university, the academy of music, Monument 56, the Palace of Culture, the opera house, and the imperial castle. Poznań, like Wrocław and Gdańsk, was a German city for centuries. As such, the main square of the city did not disappoint, with colorful, arcaded houses here as in so many other cities in Poland, and a monumental town hall. I will not say that Poland has the most beautiful town halls, but it must be admitted that they are beautiful and dignified.” (2017)
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“Words fail one when one enters the main square, which is at least twice the size of the famous main square in Brussels. And though I’m not saying it’s more beautiful – that’s a matter of taste – the houses around it and the buildings in the middle of the square are definitely more varied and exciting. The old town hall is decorated with portraits of important figures from Polish history, and several houses are painted in intriguing geometric patterns.
On the other side of the magnificent Renaissance square, there are two cube-shaped buildings that don’t look the part at all. The Arsenał Gallery was once the site of a 17th-century gunpowder depot, and the Wielkopolska Military Museum was built on the site of a 14th-century hall after the Second World War. Many don’t like these ugly cubes in the city, but since they are also part of the city’s history, they live with them.
The 19th-century brewery building has not been demolished either, although it is located in a valuable area close to the city center. As part of a gigantic project, the red brick building of Stary Browar was transformed partly into a shopping center and partly into an art center. Even old iron tools found in the factory were used as part of a steampunk installation.” (2017)
