The Legend Behind the City's Coat of Arms
The city's coat of arms depicts a fortified municipal gate with three towers, a lifted portcullis, and partly open doors. In olden days, however, such city gates remained closed and vigilantly guarded
Robert Sawicki
Those who arrived at the gates of Bydgoszcz without receiving a hospitable welcome would turn away and journey to neighboring Toruń. Consequently, merchants from afar, travelers, and wealthy knights bypassed a city so fortress-like and indifferent to strangers. The townsfolk suffered from this isolation, deprived of overseas goods and tidings from the world. In response, the city councillors decreed that the gates must always stand open. They commanded this very image to be set upon the coat of arms, where it remains to this day—a sign that Bydgoszcz and its people warmly welcome guests across their thresholds.
