Collected memory - from German local museum to Polish regional museum

How were German local museums transformed into local Polish museums in the postwar period? What role did the German collections play in this process? Were they instrumentalized to convey political messages? The aim of the research project is to investigate these questions on the basis of Polish local museums.

The diversity of museums existing today in the former German provinces (

OpenStreetMap / Open Database License (ODbL)

Ostpreußen

deu. Ostpreußen, eng. East Prussia, pol. Prusy Wschodnie, lit. Rytų Prūsija, rus. Восто́чная Пру́ссия, rus. Vostóchnaia Prússiia

Ostpreußen ist der Name der ehemaligen, bis 1945 bestehenden östlichsten preußischen Provinz, deren Ausdehnung (ungeachtet historisch leicht wechselnder Grenzverläufe) ungefähr der historischen Landschaft Preußen entspricht. Die Bezeichnung kam erst in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts in Gebrauch, als neben dem 1701 zum Königreich erhobenen Herzogtum Preußen mit seiner Hauptstadt Königsberg weitere, zuvor polnische Gebiete im Westen (beispielsweise das sog. Preußen Königlichen Anteils mit dem Ermland und Pommerellen) zu Brandenburg-Preußen kamen und die neue Provinz Westpreußen bildeten.
Heutzutage gehört das Gebiet der ehemaligen preußischen Provinz überwiegend zu Russland (Oblast Kaliningrad) und Polen (Woiwodschaft Ermland-Masuren). Das ehemalige sog. Memelland (auch Memelgebiet, lit. Klaipėdos kraštas) kam erstmals 1920 und erneut ab 1945 zu Litauen.

Ostpreußen in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)

Ostpreußen at Google Maps

and

OpenStreetMap / Open Database License (ODbL)

West Prussia

deu. Westpreußen, pol. Prusy Zachodnie

West Prussia is a historical region in present-day northern Poland. The region fell to Prussia as a result of the first partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1772 and received its name from the province of the same name formed by Frederick II in 1775, which also included parts of the historical landscapes of Greater Poland, Pomerania, Pomesania and Kulmerland. The Prussian province lasted in changing borders until the early 20th century. After World War I, parts fell to the Second Polish Republic, founded in 1918. The largest cities in West Prussia include Gdansk (Polish: Gdańsk, today Pomeranian Voivodeship), Elbląg (Polish: Elbląg, today Warmia-Masuria Voivodeship), and Thorn (Polish: Toruń, today Kujawsko-Pomeranian Voivodeship).

Westpreußen in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)

OpenStreetMap / Open Database License (ODbL)

Pomerania

deu. Pommern, pol. Pomorze

Pomerania is a region in northeastern Germany (Vorpommern) and northwestern Poland (Hinterpommern/Pomorze Tylne). The name is derived from the West Slavic 'by the sea' - 'po more/morze'. After the Thirty Years' War (Peace of Westphalia in 1648), Western Pomerania initially became Swedish, and Western Pomerania fell to Brandenburg, which was able to acquire further parts of Western Pomerania in 1720. It was not until 1815 that the entire region belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia as the Province of Pomerania. The province existed until the end of World War II, its capital was Szczecin (today Polish: Stettin).

Pommern in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)

Pommern at Google Maps

) is not only the result of Polish musealization tendencies, but also a consequence of developments in these regions prior to 1939. The collections of the German local museums, damaged and decimated by the Second World War, often formed the basis and starting point for the newly founded Polish local museums.

This project aims to shed light on the history of local history museums in the immediate post-war period and to demonstrate the process of integrating German collections into Polish exhibition practice. The focus is not on the comprehensive history of each of these institutions, but rather on the question of how German objects of various kinds, testimonies of art, culture and natural history, were dealt with in terms of remembrance policy.

At the same time, it should be pointed out which initiatives, activities and efforts were undertaken on the Polish side to save the German exhibits, to preserve them and to make them accessible to the museums' visitors.

To the project description (german)