Die Geschichten hinter den Objekten ("The stories behind the objects")

Schlesische Lebensschicksale zwischen Kaiserreich und Volksrepublik ("Silesian life stories between the Empire and the People's Republic")
In the blog “Die Geschichten hinter den Objekten” ("The stories behind the objects"), HAUS SCHLESIEN brings to light Silesian life stories from the time between the German Empire and the People's Republic. Here you can discover, for example, how previously commonplace objects used in daily life – such as a suitcase or horse carriage – could become a person's or family's most important possession from one moment to the next.
The first half of the 20th century in 
Silesia
deu. Schlesien, ces. Slezsko, pol. Śląsk

Silesia (Polish: Śląsk, Czech: Slezsko) is a historical landscape, which today is mainly located in the extreme southwest of Poland, but in parts also on the territory of Germany and the Czech Republic. By far the most significant river is the Oder. To the south, Silesia is bordered mainly by the Sudeten and Beskid mountain ranges. Today, almost 8 million people live in Silesia. The largest cities in the region are Wrocław, Opole and Katowice. Before 1945, most of the region was part of Prussia for two hundred years, and before the Silesian Wars (from 1740) it was part of the Habsburg Empire for almost as many years. Silesia is classified into Upper and Lower Silesia.

 was an eventful time. The decades between the outbreak of the First World War, when Silesia was still a province of the German Empire, and the beginning of the 1950s, when large parts of the region in effect belonged to the People’s Republic of 
Poland
deu. Polen, eng. Republic of Poland, pol. Polska, lit. Lenkijos Respublika, bel. Polʹŝa, bel. Polʹšča, bel. Польшча, . Pòlskô, yid. republyq pyn pojln, yid. republyk pyn pojln, yid. rʿpublyq pyn pojln, yid. pojln, yid. רעפובליק פון פוילן, yid. polin, yid. פוילן

Poland is located on the Baltic Sea and is the largest state (population in 2023: 37,636,508, area: 313,964 km²) in East Central Europe. The name of the state is derived from the West Slavic Polans, who brought more and more territories under their rule from the 9th century onwards, which were known as Duchy of Poland in the 10th century. Under Mieszko (ca. 960-992), the extent of the country reached approximately its current borders. He was at times subject to tribute to the German Emperor, at least for parts of his land. Poland probably adopted Christianity in 966 and from 1025 it was a kingdom. Between 1138 and 1295, the country was fragmented as a result of inheritance disputes. The extinction of the ruling Piast dynasty led to a Polish-Hungarian personal union in 1370, which was replaced by a Polish-Lithuanian dual monarchy as early as 1386 due to pressure from the Polish nobility. The growing role of the nobility resulted in an elective monarchy in 1572. However, the disunity of the nobility led to the three partitions of Poland (1772-1795) between Prussia, Russia and the Habsburg Monarchy. Poland only became independent after the end of the First World War in 1918 and lost its independence in 1939 after the German attack from the west at the beginning of the Second World War and the Russian invasion from the east. From 1945-1989 it was a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004.

, were marked by conflicts, upheaval and shifting borders.
In 1914, the Silesians, like most Germans, went to war for the Emperor with a mood of euphoria, however, by the winter of 1917, with famine spreading throughout the region, the atmosphere had changed, bringing strikes and protests. The longed-for end of the war not only brought the Poles a country of their own again and the Germans a new form of government, but also a peace treaty, which the latter found humiliating. Turbulent years of uprisings and strikes, the division of 
Upper Silesia
deu. Oberschlesien, pol. Górny Śląsk

Upper Silesia (Polish Górny Śląsk, Czech Horní Slezsko) is the southeastern part of Silesia in modern Poland and the Czech Republic. The area lies on the Odra River and a part of the eastern Sudeten Mountains. Opole (Polish: Oppeln) is regarded as the historical capital of Upper Silesia.

 and hyperinflation were followed by the "Golden Twenties", which, however, came to an abrupt end with the world economic crisis in 1929. The rapid rise of the NSDAP led to the National Socialists' seizure of power in 1933 and the establishment of a dictatorship that had at its core a contempt for human life. The invasion of Poland by the German Wehrmacht on 1 September 1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War, an unprecedented war of annihilation that lasted for six years and cost the lives of more than 60 million people. Until mid-1944, Silesia was largely spared the immediate acts of war. During the final months of the war, however, when the Red Army made a very rapid advance to the Oder River, Silesia became a combat zone and hundreds of thousands fled. After the end of the war the region was placed under Polish administration and the majority of the German population was forced to leave. In their place, Poles came to the region, which was completely foreign to them.
 
The purpose of the blog is not to give a chronological outline of Silesian history, nor to explain major political events, but rather to focus on exemplary individual life stories and single events, report on them and put them into their historical context. On the basis of exhibits and archival materials from the collections of HAUS SCHLESIEN and some of its foreign partner museums, the aim is to tell about everyday and family life, about culture, economy and politics, and about the joys and sufferings of the people of Silesia in the period between the Empire and the People's Republic. The aim is to make the stories behind the objects visible and to give the silent witnesses a voice.
 
A further aim of the blog is to offer an opportunity to capture a range of very different perspectives through individual, personal stories, and thus to provide a multifaceted view of the everyday life, culture and history of Silesia in the first half of the 20th century. In addition, it shows the potential of the museum collections and draws attention to the important role that even comparatively unspectacular exhibits can have in conveying information, helping us to understand how everyday objects can also be worth collecting.

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