History of JKM Gryf

On October 30, 1928, the "GRYF" Sports Club was founded in Gdynia, the continuation of which is today's Yacht Club "GRYF".

Initially, it seemed that this fact would be difficult to document. In the memories of the pre-war Gryfiaków, many events lost their focus. The dates, surnames and important moments of club life were discussed. In this situation, finding an indisputable proof of the birth of "GRYF" has become indispensable. Persistent search was crowned, in 1978, with full success. Because of the war conflagration, many Gdynia documents from the interwar years were saved, and luckily - the most important ones survived: founding acts and in a quite complete set. They are located in Archiwum Państwowym w Gdańsku, w roczniku 1928, pod sygnaturą nr 124/1367 . Based on these documents, we can now say with certainty that "GRYF" was the first sports club founded in Gdynia. It was brought to life by the builders of the Gdynia port and representatives of the community developing at the back of this port - the new city - GDYNIA.

The list of founder members, preserved in state files on the card number 603, is not long and contains 41 names. However, there are names of people who were not only pioneers in the development of the Gdynia port and city center, but such have been recorded in the history of development of the entire Polish maritime economy. We pride ourselves on the fact that among the founders, there are such names as: Eng. Tadeusz WENDA - designer and Chief of Port Construction and Eng. Marian Bukowski - the builder of the Gdynia port. Among the first club activists, we also find: Dr. Stanisław Darski - professor and former Minister of Shipping; commo Józef UNRUG - fleet commander, later commander of the Navy; directors of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego - Wacława Wejersa i Maksymiliana Bergera; Eng. Antoni Garnuszewski- the director of the National Maritime School in Tczew and Gdynia, and the legendary one commandant s/y DAR POMORZA - Konstanty Maciejewicz. They were active in "GRYF" in those early years as well Capt. Mikołaj Domaradzkilater captain of the port in Gdansk; Julian Rummel -the director of the first Polish shipbuilding company "ŻEGLUGA POLSKA"; Hilary Ewert–Krzemieniewski – ówczesny prezes gdyńskiej palestry, bojownik o polskość Pomorza. O znaczeniu i potrzebie utworzenia klubu sportowego dla Gdyni świadczyć może również fakt osobistego zaangażowania w powstanie „GRYFU” ówczesnego Starosty Grodzkiego – Władysław Staniszewski and the director of the Maritime Office - Józef Poznański.

Jak wynika z zachowanych w Wojewódzkim Archiwum Państwowym dokumentów, inauguracyjne zgromadzenie odbyło się on 30 October 1928 at the "Grand Cafe" in Gdynia, at ul. Świętojańska at 19.00 (Card No. 601, document No. 124/1367). Certain evidence confirming the creation of this day the "GRYF" SPORTING CLUB is preserved (card No. 595) denouncing the leader of the SADOWSKI investigation service for the department of safety and public order in Gdynia, who even informed about the composition of the club elected at the meeting: the president - director BGK Wacław Wejersand the secretary and treasurers were employees of the then Maritime Office - Leopold Mistat and Karol Kraszewski.

Z zachowanego statutu dowiadujemy się, że pierwszy sportowy klub Gdyni jest… (kropki pochodzą z okresu tzw. „Władzy Ludowej”) organizacją apolityczną i ogólnodostępną. Skupiał w swych szeregach przede wszystkim ludzi zatrudnionych przy budowie portu i miasta: pracowników Urzędu Morskiego, Zarządu Budowy Portu, pracowników kolei i poczty oraz pierwszych przedsiębiorstw shipchandlerskich.

W nowopowstałym klubie nie brakowało oficerów marynarki wojennej i handlowej. Znaczna także była, jak na owe czasy, liczba kobiet, przeważnie żon i córek założycieli oraz członków „Gryfu”.