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.
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
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.
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.
