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.

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/