KASINO ZOPPOT

When the casino was opened from 1920 to 1945 Zoppot belonged to Germany, now it is on Poland. Sopot was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 in the first partition of Poland . Sopot fell under Prussian rule and was known as Zoppot.
After the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and the retreat of the French army from Moscow, a French military surgeon settled in Gdańsk, where he bought a piece of land and then in 1823 built a small bathing complex. A year later, the first Spa House was created there.
After the railway was extended to Gdańsk including Sopot in 1870 the town began to develop quickly. In 1901, Sopot was granted city rights by the German Kaiser and the resort began to become a very fashionable place in Europe – it was called the Riviera of the North.
The Treaty of Versailles incorporated the area of Sopot into the Free City of Gdańsk.
Sopot remained under German occupation until 1945. On March 23, 1945 the Soviet Army took the city, and Sopot became part of Poland , since than .
Zoppot is the German name to Sopot. Before the war, Zoppot was a very famous bath spa (Ostseebad), with nice hotels and casino.
After World War II in 1945, Sopot was incorporated into Poland, while the remaining German population was displaced and replaced by Poles from the eastern borderlands.

The Zoppot (Sopot ) casino was opened in June 1920. It was located in the main building of the Spa House. Over time, the whole wing was added in its southern part and there were there were two large halls - Yellow and Blue. In the Blue was played roulette, and in the Yellow was played baccarat.
The casino was established because it was at that time (after World War I, when the global economic crisis was prevailing and inflation was rampant ) in popular resorts throughout Europe was in a fashion to build casinos, as an idea to attract as many vacationers as possible to the city.
And Sopot succumbed to this trend. Politicians, high-ranking officials, artists, writers, but also common wealthy vacationers appeared in the casino. They basically lost large sums of money here.
The interior of the casino was richly decorated, the walls being full of paintings and equipped withelegant furniture.
To be allowed to enter the casino, you had to dress properly and elegantly. Due to the fact that it was played mainly in the evenings, an evening dress was required.
Huge fortunes were lost. The promenade at the Dom Zdrojowy, was called the alley of hangers. Many losers took their lives by jumping from the pier into the sea.
Mainly Scandinavians, British and Poles came to the casino in Sopot. And ogg course Germans. German, which was official in the language in the Free City of Gdansk.
From 1921, some of the shares in the casino were taken over by the city. Due to the fact that it generated considerable revenues, Sopot could develop. Profits from the casino also allowed the creation of the Kasino-Hotel (today's Grand Hotel).
In the 1930s, Poles began to boycott this "sanctuary of debauchery," which also scandalized especially among religious residents and vacationers.
The casino was burned down by the Russian army on March/23/1945, when the Red Army entered the city.











Sopot being now a part of the Free City of Danzig, the famous casino was born Initially, this just took up a couple of rooms on the first floor of the South Wing of the Spa House, with Roulette played in one, Baccarat in another (Yellow and Blue rooms)
and a Kasino bar in the third

THE JETONS and PLAQUES
Fantastic jetons, whose style is not seen in any other casino.
Some were made of porcelain, others made of plastic or bakelite. - Those with larger denominations were rectangular, and those with smaller denominations round
The collections made by the inhabitants of Zoppot in the cellars of the Casino allowed some specimens to escape the fire set by the Soviet troops.
The specimens that rarely appear on sale at auctions reach high prices, mainly the plaques, the jetons with golden and filigree inlays, and the porcelain jetons ( manufactured in Meissen- Germany- porcelain ).
For German collectors ZAZINO ZOPPOT jetons and plaques are the Saint Graal in their collections. I just have a few plastic jetons in my collection

Jetons and plaques from chipguide