ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a register of fires in the Main Town and its suburbs in the late Middle Ages and details one of specific political importance, i.e. the fire of 1442 of the Crane, a city gate that functioned also as a harbour crane. In the second part of the chapter, the author focuses on City Council's endeavours aiming at rebuilding the damaged structure. The Teutonic Order did not want the big Prussian cities to strengthen their importance and that is why opposed the reconstruction proposed by Gdańsk. Municipal authorities finally reached an agreement with the Teutonic Order in 1444. The Crane reconstruction was financed from extraordinary property tax (schoss).
