Thousands of people watched in shock Sunday as a man rushed on stage and stabbed Pawel Adamowicz, 53, in the heart and stomach. He died a day later despite emergency surgery.
Crowds followed his coffin on a funeral procession Friday through the chilly streets of the city he had served for more than two decades to its main church, St. Mary's Basilica.
European Council President Donald Tusk, a Gdansk native and friend of Adamowicz, was among those to attend a mass there on the eve of the funeral.
Polish President Andrzej Duda declared a day of national mourning Friday into Saturday.
Somber marches and vigils have been held this week in Gdansk and other Polish cities in solidarity with the mayor and against the increasingly toxic nature of rhetoric in Polish politics.
The funeral procession began from the European Solidarity Center, a museum dedicated to Poland's pro-democracy Solidarity movement. Long lines of mourners earlier waited outside the museum in the cold to pass through and pay their last respects before his flower-banked coffin.
The brazen attack took place during the finale of a children's hospital charity event, known as the Great Orchestra of Christmas, when Adamowicz was thanking everyone who had helped raise funds for medical equipment.
The 27-year-old suspect, who was arrested, is a Gdansk resident with convictions for bank robbery and had spent time in prison. Gdansk city press officer Dariusz Wołodźko said the suspect came onstage shouting, and blamed the mayor and his party for his conviction and imprisonment.
Born and raised in Gdansk, Adamowicz had long been a fixture of public life in the Baltic port city. He entered local politics in 1990 as a local councilor before serving as Gdansk's mayor, a position he held for more than 20 years.
He was known as a progressive voice in a country ruled by a populist, staunchly right-wing government. He was a steadfast supporter of LGBT rights, immigrants, and minority groups.
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