ŁÓDŹ

Łódź was once a small settlement that first appeared in 14th-century records.
The Second Industrial Revolution brought rapid growth in textile manufacturing and in population owing to the inflow of migrants, notably Germans and Jews. Ever since the industrialization of the area the city has struggled with multinationalism and social inequalities.
The contrasts greatly reflected on the architecture of the city, where luxurious mansions coexisted with red-brick factories and dilapidated tenement houses.

The industrial development and demographic surge made Łódź one of the largest cities in Poland. Under the German occupation during World War II Łódź was briefly renamed Litzmannstadt. The city's population was persecuted and its large Jewish minority was forced into a walled zone known as the Łódź Ghetto, from where they were sent to German concentration and extermination camps.

Łódź experienced a sharp demographic and economic decline after 1989. Łódź is ranked by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network on the “Sufficiency” level of global influence and is internationally known for its National Film School, a cradle for the most renowned Polish actors and directors (Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski).
In 2017, the city was inducted into the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and named UNESCO City of Film.

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