The earliest known mention appears in Johann Lindau's chronicle of the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466), which reports for the year 1455: "On the Thursday before St. Martin's Day, the Teutonic Knights and their guests came from Dirschau before Danzig and burned several buildings at the Ohra, on the Hoppenbruch, and in Petershagen."

In 1563, following the expansion of the city's fortifications, St. Gertrude's Hospital -- previously located outside the Holztor (Timber Gate) -- was relocated to the northern end of Petershagen. As late as the second half of the 16th century, Petershagen consisted of only a single row of houses on the right bank of the Radaune river. When the Bischofsberg and Hagelsberg were fortified in the 17th century, the new defensive works cut off a part of Petershagen. The section lying within the newly erected Petershagener Tor (Petershagen Gate) was henceforth called "First" or "Petershagen within the Gate," in distinction from the "Second" or "Petershagen outside the Gate."

Only from the second half of the 17th century onward was the area around the Salvatorkirche (Church of the Savior) on the left bank of the Radaune gradually built up more densely. By the mid-18th century, the names of most small cross-streets here were already established. Only for the present-day streets Petershagen hinter der Kirche (behind the church) and Petershagen an der Radaune (on the Radaune), as well as for properties named after the Petershagener Tor, did the old collective designation "Petershagen" without any distinguishing addition remain in use until 1854.

The old name derives from the personal name Peter. The second element, "Hagen," means enclosure, and over time came to refer to the enclosed area itself -- suggesting that a certain Herr Peter once held a fenced property here.

History