Editing Sopot (section)

=== Free City of Danzig ===
Following the signing of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in 1919, Zoppot became a part of the [[Free City of Danzig]] in [[customs union]] with the re-established [[Second Polish Republic|Polish Republic]]. Due to the proximity of the [[Second Polish Republic|Polish]] and [[Germany|German]] borders, the economy of the town soon recovered. The new [[casino]] became one of the main sources of income of the free-city state. In 1927, the city authorities rebuilt the Kasino-Hotel, one of the most notable landmarks in Sopot today. After [[World War II]], it was renamed as the [[Grand Hotel (Sopot)|Grand Hotel]] and continues to be one of the most luxurious hotels in Poland.

A [[Richard Wagner]] festival was held in the nearby [[Opera Lesna|Forest Opera]] in 1922. The festival's success caused Zoppot to be sometimes referred to as the "[[Bayreuth Festival|Bayreuth]] of the North". As a result of the influx of Germans in the previous decades, who took over the most important functions in the city, some Poles became [[Germanisation|Germanized]], however a significant indigenous Polish community was still present in the city, and there was also a Jewish community.<ref name=hm2/> In 1928, the [[Pier in Sopot|pier]] was extended to its present length of 512 metres. Since then it has remained the longest wooden pier in Europe and one of the longest in the world. In 1928, the city was visited by 29,192 visitors, mostly Poles<ref name=hm2>{{cite web|url=https://histmag.org/Historia-Sopotu.-Czesc-II-lata-1914-1945-3491|title=Historia Sopotu. Część II: lata 1914-1945|website=Histmag.pl|author=Piotr Pelczar|access-date=11 February 2020|language=pl}}</ref> and in the early 1930s it reached the peak of its popularity among foreign tourists&nbsp;— more than 30,000 annually (this number does not include tourists from Danzig itself). However, by the 1930s, tensions on the nearby Polish-German border and the rising popularity of [[Nazism]] in [[Germany]] and also among local Germans saw a decline in foreign tourism. The [[Nazi Party]], supported by many local Germans, took power in the city.<ref name=hm2/> Local Poles and Jews were discriminated against<ref name=hm2/> and in 1938 local German Nazis burned down Zoppot's [[synagogue]].<ref name=his/>