Zoppot ceramic porcelain notgelds coins tokens

Page with other casino chips in Sopot : KASYNA

"The Sopot casino was opened in June 1920. It was located in the main building of the Spa House (today DZ stands in the same place). Over time, an entire wing was added in its southern part (in the place where the band shell stands today), and there were There are two large halls - Yellow and Blue. In the latter, roulette was played, and in Yellow - baccarat. The casino was established because at that time - after World War I, when there was an economic crisis in the world and rampant inflation - in popular resorts in building casinos became fashionable throughout Europe.
It was an idea to attract as many holidaymakers to the city as possible. And Sopot followed this trend. Politicians, high-ranking officials, artists, writers, but also "ordinary" wealthy holidaymakers appeared in the casino. - There were, among others, Maria Pawlikowska - Jasnorzewska and Magdalena Samozwoniec. They spent "with a light hand" and, in fact, lost large sums of money here. But they did not care about it at all.
Visiting the casino was part of their stay at the resort, it was a form of spending free time - says Karolina Babicz with the Sopot Museum, adding that this was the nature of this era - everything seemed temporary, so people didn't worry about what would happen in the future. The interior of the casino was richly decorated, the walls were full of various paintings. There was also no shortage of elegant furniture.
Some patrons took with them "souvenirs" in the form of porcelain tableware or tokens. The latter can be found in many Sopot homes. It is not known exactly how it happened, but residents still report finding old casino chips in their backyards or basements. Some were made of porcelain, others of plastic or bakelite. - Those with larger denominations were rectangular, and those with smaller denominations were round - explains Wojciech Fułek from the Society of Friends of Sopot, head of Sopot councillors. To enter the casino, you had to dress appropriately and elegantly.
Due to the fact that the games were played mainly in the evenings, evening attire was required. The building could accommodate up to 200 people at one time. In 1921, part of the shares in the casino were taken over by the city. Thanks to the fact that it generated considerable income, Sopot was able to develop. The city built, among others: waterworks and gasworks. The profits from the casino also allowed the creation of the Kasino-Hotel (today's Grand Hotel). The construction of this facility was carried out in the shadow of great scandals. There was probably a competition for the architectural appearance of the hotel. For this reason, the then mayor of Sopot, Erich Laue, was accused of misappropriating part of the money intended for the construction of the hotel.
Due to this, he was arrested in 1933 and committed suicide a day later. In the Sopot casino it was easy to get people to cooperate... with German intelligence. Polish reps also worked here. - Intelligence knew exactly who was losing a fortune there. When a person lost, someone appeared and offered a loan on "good terms," says Zbigniew Okuniewski, a member of the Society of Friends of Sopot. Such offers were most often made to officials in high positions. In this way, they obtained, among others: information about trade secrets or supplies. Over time, people talked about these activities more and more loudly. Mainly Scandinavians, British and Poles came to the casino in Sopot. It was said that the Polish language was treated on an equal footing with other languages, especially German, which was official in the Free City of Gdańsk (Sopot was within the borders of WMG).
This was a rarity, because the Polish language was not welcomed, among others. in hotels and cafes of the resort. In the 1930s, Poles began to boycott this "temple of debauchery", which also caused scandal, especially among believers and holidaymakers. It was no secret that the rich men were accompanied there by women they met by chance. Lists with the names of officials who played in the casino began to appear in the press.
As a result, anonymous reports began to reach workplaces that a given employee was untrustworthy because he played in a casino in Sopot. However, the inhabitants had their own ways of dealing with it. It happened that married women entered the facility under their maiden name and, often, won large sums of money. More often, however, huge fortunes were lost. Promenade at the Spa House, today al. Mamuszki, was called the hanged men's avenue. Every morning, guards checked whether anyone was hanging from the lamps there. Many losers took their own lives by jumping into the sea with piers. The casino was destroyed in March 1945 when the Red Army entered the city.
Dziennik Bałtycki 2013