The Rising of Glasgow

The town that fascinates me most is Glasgow why I’d like to give you a short outline of its rising to a modern service metropolis.

Glasgow is the biggest town of Scotland with nearly seven hundred thousand inhabitants. When you arrive in the port you first see the dull tenements made from prefabricated slabs of the Gorbals but this negative impression deceives as soon as you reach the city centre where you are surrounded by historical and modern sights why the Glaswegians have provided the recovery with the phrase: »Glasgow smiles better!«

However, hardly anyone knows that the roots of this Scottish town go back to the sixth century; the Celtic monk Kentigern – nowadays better known as Saint Mungo – founded a monastery called Glas Cu at the banks of the river Clyde. In 1136 the Scottish king David I started to build a splendid cathedral on its foundation and with the building of St. Mungo Cathedral he initiated the rising.

Let us now move to the late Middle Ages; in 1451 the second university in Scotland was established in Glasgow and when the Tobacco Lords set up their commerce with the New World three hundred years later they brought some wealth to the town. At the same time a lot of cotton manufactories were created and during the Industrial Revolution came the heavy industry so that Glasgow became the most flourishing city after London in the nineteenth century.

But with World War II the rising was over. One after another shipyard and steel hut went bust. For the Glaswegians followed a time of unemployment and depression so that nobody was surprised when the government in London decided to close Ravenscraig – the last steel hut – with which the golden era finally ended in 1992, five years before the referendum for an own Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

As I already indicated Glasgow bucked the recession in the mid eighties and changed to a modern service metropolis with a lot of new jobs. Thanks to the election as ‘European Capital of Culture’ (1990) and United Kingdom ‘City of Architecture and Design’ (1999) more and more tourists discovered the historical sights and diverse museums in the native town of the actor Gerard Butler – known from movies like ‘Tomorrow never dies’ and ‘Lara Croft – the cradle of life’

But without the different sport and entertainment programs this recovery would be over by now, however, the curling competition in the cold season, the spring flower shows and the international jazz festival in June and July lure a lot of people in the town. Even the major soccer teams – Celtic and Rangers – have a big influence on today’s life. With the confession to environmental protection the importance of such attractive events will rise.

I would like to end with a statement which should remind every visitor on the hostility with Edinburgh, the Scottish capital: »Glasgow’s miles better!«

Glasgow smiles better; Glasgow's miles better

You can read it on very city wall

Written by yound and old in proud letters

So that there never will be doubt at all

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You can read it on every city wall

An innocent declaration of love

So that there never will be doubt at all

A modern city fallen from above

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An innocent declaration of love

Proud Scottish people living in the past

A modern city fallen from above

To start to rise again and stay to last

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Proud Scottish people living in the past

Written by young and old in proud letters

To start to rise again and stay to last

Glasgow smiles better, Glasgow's miles better!