REMEMBRANCE CONNECTS

ODER-WARTA REGION

Author: Dirk R

Fortress heritage Oder-Warthe region
Europe has a rich and varied fortress architecture. It represents the European history of various eras and is an excellent basis for exciting cultural tourism.

The European Cultural Route for the Fortress Heritage -FORTE CULTURA- currently unites more than 60 stations in 14 countries. It was founded in Kostrzyn nad Odra (Küstrin Fortress) in 2014.

The Oder-Warthe region is also home to numerous fortified monuments waiting to be conquered. These include medieval castles, fortified castles, the Küstrin fortress system and bunkers and defence lines from the Second World War and the Cold War.

Fortress map of the Oder-Warthe region, ©ECCOFORT

Today, fortresses have lost their military functions. They are monuments full of life and culture that can be peacefully conquered by tourists. Visit concerts, festivals, re-enactments, children's parties, art exhibitions or sporting events
in fortresses, e.g. as part of the European Fortress Summer. Learn about the history of fortresses, their builders, inhabitants and conquerors in museums and virtual worlds. Enjoy great experiences along the European Cultural Route FORTE CULTURA and especially in the Oder-Warthe region.
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of FORTE CULTURA, in November 2024 in Kostrzyn nad Odrą a International specialist congress with excursions took place. In addition, an information brochure on the fortress heritage of the Oder-Warthe region was published, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the INTERREG VI A Brandenburg - Poland 2021-2027 cooperation programme and the PRO EUROPA VIADRINA Euroregion small project fund.
August 4, 2025
Active Remembrance Youth Programme Workshop

The Active Remembrance Youth Programme (ARYP) comprises nine different youth exchange events throughout Europe. The project is organised by Liberation Route Germany and runs from 2024 to 2026. It is funded by the EU and includes partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

The aim of the project is to actively involve and inspire young Europeans from different backgrounds to explore and commemorate the Second World War from different perspectives. Through a series of youth encounters, participants will visit significant World War II sites across Europe and engage with history first-hand. This immersive experience encourages active learning, including conducting interviews, curating historical content and creating podcasts and videos, all of which will feed into an online exhibition.

In October 2025, a youth exchange week will take place in the Oder-Warthe region. 25 young people from all over Europe will learn about the special history of our region at locations such as Slonsk, Kostrzyn nad Odra, Seelow, Klessin and Berlin-Karlshorst. Their task is to then reflect on the history in podcasts and videos, scrutinise it in interviews and interpret it from their own perspective.

The German-Polish Youth Exchange Week is organised by the Liberation Route Europe in cooperation with the Liberation Route Poland, the Liberation Route Germany and the city of Seelow, funded by the European Union and the German-Polish Youth Office. The preliminary programme and further information can be found at https://www.lre-youth.eu.

July 17, 2025
Expulsion, forced migration, loss of culture 1945
Effects of Poland's westward shift on the Oder-Warthe region

Sub-project of the Interreg 6A project "Remembrance Connects", funded by the European Union (INTERREG VI A Brandenburg-
Poland 2021-2027)

Specialist workshop "Expulsion, forced migration, loss of culture in 1945 in the Oder-Warthe region"
Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Słońsk (PL), 25 June 2025

The workshop served to prepare the content of a symposium planned for the end of September 2025 in Küstrin-Kietz. It focussed on the complex German-Polish history in the border region, particularly after the Second World War, and discussed methods for communicating this history to younger generations. The participants, including representatives from Germany and Poland, exchanged views on various aspects such as museum work, cultural heritage and the culture of remembrance and emphasised the importance of coming to terms with the past together. Several projects and initiatives were presented that aim to promote understanding of the shared history and strengthen the German-Polish dialogue.

On the basis of initiative presentations and experience reports, topics of remembrance were discussed in connection with the effects of the events of 1945 on the population on both sides of the Oder, including the westward shift of Poland, flight, expulsion, forced migration, ideology-based changes in German and Polish cultures of remembrance, loss of culture, interpretation today - lessons for tomorrow.

In the stimulating discussion that followed, various perspectives and topics were added, including
- Looted artefacts from all over Poland in manor houses in the region
- "scorched earth" by the Soviet army as revenge for the attack and destruction of the Nazi Germans beforehand
- Recommendation for a dialogue between German-Polish museums to provide impetus for joint education
- Choice of title for the symposium: a positive connotation
- "Cultural appropriation processes"
- Films, culture and art as tools for communicating history
- Recommendation for 2 films on the history of the town of Landsberg (YouTube)
- many personal stories of the participants with family roots in the region.
The last item on the programme was a visit to the Słońsk Martyrdom Museum with a detailed guided tour by Prof. Smolinski. Here, various participants also reported on their personal experiences in conversations with contemporary witnesses in their families.
May 22, 2025
900 years of the diocese of Lebus (2025)

Sub-project of the Interreg 6A project "Remembrance Connects", funded by the European Union (INTERREG VI A Brandenburg-
Poland 2021-2027)

An extensive cross-border research and exhibition project has been realised at the Viadrina Municipal Museum in Frankfurt (Oder) since January 2025 in connection with the 900th anniversary of the founding of the medieval bishopric of Lebus. It is part of the Interreg project "Remembrance connects - Pamięć łączy" (BBPL0100043), which is being realised together with the city of Seelow and the municipality of Słońsk and which reappraises important chapters of German-Polish regional history across borders.

The sub-project based at the Frankfurt City and Regional Museum is dedicated to art and architecture in the area of the historic diocese of Lubusz. German and Polish academics are currently working on recording and analysing the architectural and artistic monuments of the diocese, which once united the areas to the east and west of the middle Oder.

The research results were presented on 12 and 13 June 2025 in a German-Polish symposium in Frankfurt's St Mary's Church presented.

They are due to be published in a bilingual anthology in autumn 2026.

At the same time, a German-Polish travelling exhibition is being developed at the Viadrina Museum. Its aim is to familiarise the inhabitants of the former diocese area with its eventful history and its multifaceted artistic monuments. From January 2026, the richly illustrated panel exhibition will be travelling through the historic diocese of Lubusz on both sides of the Oder and will be presented for one month at a time in 12 different German and Polish cities, including Frankfurt (Oder), Ośno Lubuskie, Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Fürstenwalde, Zielona Góra, Lubusz, Międzyrzecz, Müncheberg, Neuzelle, Sulęcin and Witnica.

If you are interested in exploring the history of the Diocese of Lebus at a historical site and learning more about its eventful history, we recommend this year's Culture.Landscape.Excursion organised by the Viadrina Museum. This will take place on Friday, 9 May 2025, in the former episcopal town of Lebus.

Current information on the project "900 Years of the Diocese of Lebus" can be found on the website of the Viadrina Museum at: www.museum-viadrina.de/Kurzmenü/Projekte/

May 22, 2025
Villa Wagener, Kostrzyn nad Odra

Villa Wagener is a former factory owner's villa, built in 19th century Küstrin by the Wagener family (machine, steam boiler and copper factory in Cüstrin-Neustadt). It was one of very few buildings to survive the heavy bombardment by the Red Army in the spring of 1945 and was subsequently used as the administrative centre of the Soviet occupying forces and later the town of Kostrzyn nad Odrą.

Vacant since 2006, it has now been converted into a modern German-Polish communication and creative centre.

May 11, 2025
Seelow (Mark) railway station building
The former Seelow (Mark) railway station building is a representative functional building from the 19th century in typical railway architecture. The reception building from the German Empire has permanently lost its function, although the station on the Frankfurt (Oder) – Eberswalde line is still in operation. The metropolis of Berlin and regional memorial sites can be reached by rail. The site also serves as a stop for regional bus services, and cycling and hiking trails (E 11) pass directly by the station.

As part of the funding project, the building was extensively renovated and converted into a history workshop with a documentation centre. On 200 barrier-free square metres on the ground floor, a modern museum-like place of learning and experience for recent regional history has been created, corresponding with the "Seelower Höhen" memorial site 300 metres away. A project flat and office and archive rooms are located on the upper floor.
The organisation responsible for the content of the new memorial site is the Geschichts- und Heimatverein Gusow-Platkow e.V. (Gusow-Platkow History and Local History Association). The exhibition concept deals with the decisive epoch of the pre-war, war and post-war years between 1930 and 1960:

"The exhibition focuses on the fate of a region in Brandenburg in the mid-20th century. It deals with the experience of the Nazi regime and war, flight, reconstruction and socialism. Like a magnifying glass, the exhibition examines how “big history” affected the small-scale Oder region and its inhabitants, what conditions the war found here and how it had a lasting impact. The planned exhibition offers a change of perspective compared to the established commemoration of the Battle of Seelow. The focus is on artefacts and eyewitness accounts from the region."

The city of Seelow pursued the following primary objectives with the project approach:
- Establishment of a history workshop focusing on the unique history of today's border region since 1930.
- Thematic and spatial addition to the museum exhibition at the Seelow Heights Memorial and expansion of its sphere of influence
- Establishment of a permanent exhibition and special themed exhibitions
- Establishment of a documentation centre for further research and presentation of this period of history
- Establishment of an office for network management for the cross-border tourism cluster ‘Remembrance connects’
- Networking with other places of remembrance as a tourist brand and overall package for the Oder-Warta region, in particular with the communication centre in Kostrzyn nad Odra and the centre for historical education in Słońsk.
- Sustainable change of use for a historically significant building
In 2023, the Seelow History Station Museum (Mark) was officially opened: www.geschichtsstation-seelow.de

Not far from the station is the Seelow Heights Memorial. The (victory) memorial to the Soviet soldier, including the war graves of his brothers in arms at his feet, provides a limited perspective for the memorial, which also contains a small museum and an exhibition of military equipment. This internationally significant site is to be expanded to include a regional perspective with the ‘History Station’ in the immediate vicinity, serving as an important addition to the ‘global view’ offered by the Seelow Heights Memorial.
May 11, 2025
Słońsk House of Culture

The building - a former town house - is located in the centre of the village and was built in the 4th quarter of the 19th century in an eclectic style. No archives have been preserved about the builders of the building. Due to the impressive character of the building, it is assumed that the owners were among the wealthiest inhabitants of the town. In the 1920s and 1930s, the building housed the savings bank. In the post-war period, the building was home to the municipal cultural centre. Since around 1980, the building has stood empty and deteriorated rapidly.

Between 2018 and 2020, as part of the "Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe" project, the cultural centre was extensively renovated and equipped with barrier-free access. The new "Cultural, educational and meeting centre for regional history - House of Culture in Słońsk" now conveys the diverse history of the city and the region and complements the Martyriums Museum and the St John's Castle in Słońsk. The ground floor houses a large conference room with booths for interpreters, among other things. The upper floor houses exhibition rooms, rooms for workshops and research work, a library and a computer lab. The top floor houses dormitories for students and project staff.

May 11, 2025
Remembrance connects - discovering German-Polish history in the Oder-Warta region
Interreg VI A funding project 2024-2027

The German-Polish border region of the Brandenburg-Lubuskie funding area has a unique, multi-layered shared history that continues to have a strong influence on German-Polish understanding and mutual relations between the neighbouring countries to this day. The common challenge lies, among other things, in recognising this history mutually, preserving and presenting it in a comprehensible way for future generations and opening up scope and respect for the respective perspectives and individual interpretations.

With the Interreg VA project "Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe", a conceptual basis was laid for the MULTIPERSPECTIVE LANDSCAPE OF MEMORY Oder-Warthe, supported by the new network "Remembrance connects" Oder-Warthe and marketed via the umbrella brand of the same name, managed by the LP Stadt Seelow.

The main objective of the proposed project is to strengthen the young cross-border network "Remembrance unites" through cross-border knowledge and competence exchange and support for best practice transfer as well as through the deepening of two remembrance topics with special significance for the common German-Polish history in order to make them a cross-border tourist experience at various cultural sites:

a) 900 years of the diocese of Lebus (founded 1124/25),
b) Poland's shift to the West: expulsion-forced migration-loss of culture in 1945.

900 years of the diocese of Lebus (2025)
Expulsion, forced migration, loss of culture 1945

The development of the tourism offers is based on in-depth analyses, specialist conferences and concepts that are carried out or created as part of the project with the "Remembrance connects" network.

Project partner:
- City of Seelow
- Municipality of Slonsk
- Viadrina Municipal Museum, Frankfurt (Oder)
- History and local history association Gusow-Platkow e.V.
January 29, 2025
Remembering together - 80 years since the end of the Second World War in 2025
Small Projects Fund (KPF) 2021-2027

IIIn the context of a German-Polish co-operation the history trail was created "Events of the war 1945"initiated with the City of Seelow as lead partner and the Municipality of Słońsk as project partner. The aim of the project was to open up the historical heritage of the region surrounding the end of the Second World War in 1945, make it accessible and communicate it across borders.

In addition to the main partners, other institutions and municipalities were actively involved in the realisation: the municipality of Letschin, the town of Kostrzyn nad Odrą, the Küstrin Fortress Museum in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, the Wuhdener Heimatverein e.V., the Seelow Heights Museum and Memorial, the Gusow-Platkow History and Local History Association e.V. and the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst.

Supported by the Euroregion PRO EUROPA VIADRINAtotal budget of 39,683.27 EUR available, of which EUR 31,746.62 were covered by subsidies.

The project pursued several key objectives:
- Strengthening awareness of the common culture and history in the German-Polish border region,
- Improving cross-border usability and accessibility existing cultural and tourist offers,
- Supra-regional networking and international marketing from seven regional memorials to significant war events of 1945.
In the project, the educational tourism potential of these places of remembrance, networked with each other and promoted nationally and internationally. Partners such as the Liberation Route Europe (LRE) - a cultural route certified by the Council of Europe for the liberation of Europe in 1944-45 - contributed significantly to the realisation with their expertise. Multilingual print and audio information was displayed on weatherproof acrylic signs at the respective locationsto provide visitors with barrier-free access to background knowledge and stories in several languages.

A special event was the Presentation of the history trail at the annual forum of the Liberation Route Europe in Kraków (Poland)where the project will be international trade visitors and specialised travel providers was presented.

As part of the implementation process, the locations Słońsk, Kienitz, Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Klessin, the Seelow Heights Memorial, the Seelow History Station and the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum the Liberation Route Europe vector stamps ceremoniously presented and permanently affixed. These vector brands were designed by the renowned architect Daniel Libeskind and symbolise the connection between the places of remembrance along the route as artistically designed landmarks.

Finally, the Spring 2025, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Commemorative events along the history trail were held to commemorate the many victims of the events of that time.

31.01.2025 Słońsk
31.01.2025 Kienitz
10/03/2025 Kraków
22/03/2025 Klessin
30/03/2025 Kostrzyn nad Odrą
16/04/2025 Seelow
05/05/2025 Berlin-Karlshorst

The development and establishment of the "History Trail War Events 1945" was funded as part of the project "Remembering Together - 80 Years of the End of the Second World War 2025" within the framework of the Small Projects Fund (KPF) 2021-2027 of the PRO EUROPA VIADRINA Euroregion as part of the INTERREG VI A Brandenburg-Poland 2021-2027 cooperation programme.
January 29, 2025
Places of Remembrance Oder-Warthe
Interreg VA funding project 2019-2023

With the "Sites of Remembrance OderWarthe" funding project, the project partners aimed to City of Seelow (lead partner), City of Kostrzyn nad Odra and Municipality of Słońsk The aim was to jointly maintain and strengthen the unique landscape of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region and to capitalise on it as a special tourist feature. The measures planned in the project should, among other things, strengthen and supplement the tourist offers of existing memorial sites, link them thematically and market them nationally under a new cross-border tourist brand. This will increase the market presence and visitor appeal of all the sites, with economic effects for those involved.

Various outputs were realised in joint cross-border project work.

Cross-border tourism brand

Around 200 places of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region offer individual and multi-layered insights into the region's eventful history. Taken together, they have great potential for sustainable tourist attractions with international appeal. The Oder-Warthe region should be understood as a shared, cross-border historical cultural area. The speciality of the project was to promote the exchange of the different perspectives on the culture of remembrance in Germany, Poland and internationally.

As multi-perspective memory landscape The Oder-Warthe region offers unique and authentic destinations for educational and remembrance tourism, cultural trips, exchange and dialogue for the special history of the German-Polish border region, especially from 1944 onwards. "The common concern and the content guideline of the new brand can be summarised in the statement "Memory connects" back together. The aim is a peaceful future together and a deeper mutual understanding.

Cross-border network of places of remembrance

Places of remembrance, monuments and museums are actively working together as part of a joint regional brand to create a shared space of remembrance, encounter and discovery that supports a better understanding of the multi-layered worlds of remembrance on both sides of the border and openly communicates them to the outside world.

Further project outputs:
- Analysis and categorisation of memorial sites in the Oder-Warthe region
- Development of a common database
- Marketing concept
- Meeting, exchange, supra-regional networking and cooperation
- Development of multilingual marketing tools (travel guide, image brochure, flyers, posters, roll-up displays, website)
Three new places of encounter and remembrance

Three historical buildings were also renovated as part of the project in order to preserve the buildings and put them to new uses. Three new tourist attractions were created for the cultural tourism brand "Remembrance connects", which can be used to inform visitors and attract them to the region.

Villa Wagener, Kostrzyn nad Odra
Seelow (Mark) railway station building
Słońsk House of Culture

Project news "Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe"

Final conference "Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe"
Dirk RMar 21, 20233 min read
The new network and the "Remembrance connects" Oder-Warthe brand are intended to present the unique history of the German-Polish border region as a multi-perspective landscape of remembrance to an international audience. In addition, three historical buildings have been [...]

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Project workshop "Tourism development and transnational cooperation"
adminJul 19, 20212 min read
The workshop held on 19 July 2021 focused on the places of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region as a basis for tourism development and transnational cooperation. The Liberation Route Europe (LRE) is a European [...]

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Opening of the Słońsk Culture Centre
adminFeb 14, 20201 min read
On 14 February 2020, Mayor Janusz Krzyśków opened the new cultural centre in Słońsk in the presence of over 100 invited guests. A conference hall with interpreting booths, exhibition rooms, a library, archive rooms and digital [...]

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German-Polish funding project on the culture of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region launched
Dirk RMar 11, 20191 min read
Project conference "Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe" Investments for thematic expansion, increased attractiveness, modern communication and effective marketing of the culture of remembrance 53 representatives from memorial sites, politics and regional tourism associations gathered at the [...]

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January 29, 2025