Baroque sacred architecture in Vilnius: Decay and renewal Today's Lithuanian capital Vilnius was not only part of a hybrid Polish-Lithuanian state for a long time, but was also shaped by a wide variety of cultures over the centuries. This is exemplarily visible in the city's sacral architecture – buildings that are often multi-ethnic and...
Background article Capital of the Saxon Garden Baroque on the Vistula River The cartographic drawings of Warsaw from 1730-1762, preserved in the Dresden and Warsaw collections, illustrate the architectural garden city where the artistic ideas of the Saxon Baroque were crystallized. These exceptional documents bear testimony to a golden era where the urban landscape and cultural life of the city grew and flourished, stimulated by the patronage of the Saxon royal court, the great families of the Polish nobility, and the cooperation of Polish and Saxon craftsmen and artists.
Introduction Jews in Poland in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times The article offers an overview of Jewish history and the development of Jewish settlement in medieval and early modern Poland from the first recorded mentions of Jewish centers in the 11th century through to the end of the 18th century. As in the neighboring countries of Hungary and Bohemia, the Polish monarchs were also interested in Jewish settlement; the privilege of 1264 and its confirmations created the legal framework for this. Jews were involved in the economic and demographic development of Poland. The Jewish percentage of the urban population also grew, and their formative influence was particularly visible in the south-eastern provinces, which found expression in the concept of the Jewish "shtetl". In modern times, Poland-Lithuania also became a center of Jewish scholarship. The crises and wars in the mid-17th century brought an influx of messianic movements. In the 18th century, the impulses of the Jewish Enlightenment and the emancipation of the Jewish population were the subject of lengthy and lively discussion.
Background article Poland as a Colonial Power? Poland as an object of colonial policy has been much discussed in recent research on the 19th and 20th centuries. But was Poland itself a colonial power in former times? We examine this possibility using two case studies.
Background article Ruthenia quasi est alter orbis "Rus' is almost another world" wrote the Krakow bishop Maciej around 1150. What was the basis of this differentiation? How powerful was it and how did it play out in reality? In search of answers, this article also discusses the dimensions and ambivalences of border demarcations.
Background article The “Polish Economy” and the “German Pig” The end of the First World War marked a turning point in the power relationship between Poland and Germany. But did traditional images of superiority and inferiority also change? Caricatures provide an interesting lens through which to answer this question.
