Poland's Wedding to the Sea was a nationalist ceremony meant to symbolize restored
Polish access to the
Baltic Sea that was lost in 1793 by the
Partitions of Poland. It was first performed on February 10, 1920, by General
Józef Haller at
Puck (Putzig). In the early spring of 1945, following the Polish-Soviet
advance into Pomerania, a number of such ceremonies took place in several locations. The most famous 1945 Weddings to the Sea were performed by the soldiers of the
Polish Army on March 17, 1945 in
Mrzezyno (Regamünde), and on March 18 in newly captured port of
Kolobrzeg (Kolberg).