This lane, laid out like most of the Lower Town in the first half of the 17th century after the construction of the bastion fortifications, was traversed lengthwise by a water ditch. The two sides of the street were treated as separate lanes and therefore often bore different names. In this case, the northern side was initially called Papegogengasse, while the southern side was already called Alamodengasse. In the course of the 18th century, this name then spread in various forms to the entire lane. The origin of the name does not seem entirely clear. In any case, it has nothing to do with the von Allmonde family, as this family only appeared in Danzig in the 18th century and owned no demonstrable properties in this area. It seems rather to be yet another ironic name. This area appears to have always been inhabited by poor working people whose clothing was anything but fashionable. It was probably because of these ragged figures that their residential area was called Allmodengasse (à la mode = fashionable). Another possible derivation of the name is from the word Moder (muck), more precisely from its West Prussian dialectal form Mottgasse, as a designation for a poorly paved, dirty suburban lane. Given the fact that several members of the Polish Renaming Commission spoke good German, the post-war name (translated as Alms Lane) is quite baffling.

History