Poznań International Fair
At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, organising huge trade shows became very popular in Europe. In 1911, when Poznań was still under the Prussian rule, the Eastern Germany Exhibition was opened, at which not just German but also Polish exhibitors had a chance to present themselves. Among them were, for example, industrialists from the Hipolit Cegielski company.
After Poland regained independence, Poznań traders wanted to create an annual trade fair event in the city. The first fair in 1921 was organised on the national level but soon exhibitors from many countries in Europe and the rest of the world came to Poznań. Traders who arrived in the city for Poznań International Fair (named that way in 1928) during the interwar period mostly came from Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain and the United States. During the Polish People’s Republic the Fair was also a window to the world for the city. Today it is still one of the biggest institutions of the kind in Europe.
For a long time the modernist Upper Silesia Tower was the symbol of Poznań International Fair (here pictured during the General National Exhibition in 1929). The Tower was destroyed during the war and then replaced with today’s spire, photo by Henryk Poddębski, public domain
