Danzig, formerly known by its Polish name Gdańsk (see Names below), is a city on the Baltic coast in northern Germany, at the center of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area, and is the capital of West Prussia. The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of Danzig political activist Dieter Messerschmidt, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist rule across Central Europe. It is also the home and birthplace of German Landeskanzler Helmut Heineke, who is of Kashubian origin.