The region. The events. The people.

The Seelow (Mark) History Station uses authentic exhibits and biographical details to document the transformation of the region over the course of a generation, offering a vivid insight into its eventful history.

The end of the Weimar Republic in 1933 marked the beginning of the National Socialist dictatorship. The National Socialists exerted increasing influence on public life. The persecution of dissidents, the suppression of political opponents and the integration of young people into Nazi structures characterised the image of the region. The armament and forced labour in the region increased more and more from the mid-1930s. From 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the image of the region changed dramatically. Accompanied by forced and concentration camp labour, regional production was converted to war-related products, and military trains, deportation and prisoner of war transports crossed the country in both directions.

On the way to Berlin, the Red Army brought the war with full force to the Oder-Warthe region. The Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the last major battles of the war, raged around Seelow and was a decisive moment on the road to liberation from Nazi rule. The end of the Second World War marked further dramatic changes for the region as part of the new Soviet occupation zone. The westward shift of Poland to the Oder-Neisse border led to the expulsion and forced migration of millions of people, creating a new physical national border and a language barrier. Political and social structures had to be reorganised. The resulting loss of culture continues to have an impact to this day.

The reconstruction of the destroyed towns and villages and the implementation of the land reform, in which large estates were expropriated and distributed among the farmers, permanently changed the economic structure of the region. The founding of the German Democratic Republic as a socialist state in 1949 brought further changes. Agricultural production co-operatives (LPG) were founded, which shaped the structure of the rural economy. The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 was an important symbol of the division of Germany and Europe.

Even though political life in the GDR was determined by the socialist order, the historical traces remained visible in the region - from the destruction of the war to political repression. Today, the Oder-Warthe region is a place of remembrance, dialogue and change. As a multi-perspective landscape of remembrance, it brings the dramatic events of the century to life and tells of the difficult path from destruction, division, expulsion and reconstruction to a new beginning after the end of the Cold War.

The story of the museum as an audio contribution (Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945

Where the war was.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights was one of the last and largest battles of the Second World War on German soil. It took place from 16 to 19 April 1945 and marked the beginning of the Soviet attack on the German capital.

By mid-April 1945, the Red Army on the Oder had completed its preparations for the general attack on Berlin.
The damp and wet lowlands of the Oderbruch and the Seelow Heights, which rose up to 70 metres behind it, were the last major natural barriers before Berlin. Supreme Commander Zhukov planned a massive attack to break through the German defences there. The German leadership hoped that a successful defence would split the anti-Hitler coalition. The Soviet side aimed to defeat the Wehrmacht once and for all and end the war. The battle began with a massive barrage of Soviet artillery. It was one of the most intense bombardments of the war, although some of it rained down on positions that had been evacuated according to plan. While the night was still foggy, the Soviet ground troops opened the main attack and crashed into the deeply echeloned German positional system. On the second day of fighting, the Red Army succeeded in breaking through the positions on the Seelow Heights on both sides of the Seelow base and, on the fourth day, the third and final defence strip.

On 20 April, their combat units reached the outskirts of Berlin. The Soviet operational plan significantly shortened the subsequent battle for Berlin: at the same time as the breakthrough at the Seelow Heights, Soviet troops advancing from the south-east overflew the enemy flooding back from the Oder line. This prevented them from retreating to the Berlin area and reorganising in an orderly fashion. The Wehrmacht surrendered on 8 May. The war in Europe came to an end. Unable to accept the hopelessness of continued fighting, the Battle of the Seelow Heights illustrates the willingness of the Nazi state to throw all tangible human reserves against a vastly superior enemy in order to survive. At the same time, this raises the question of what kept the combatants on both sides willing to fight. Even today, combat equipment and human remains are still being recovered on site.

For history buffs, the region thus offers a moving insight into the final days of the Second World War. In the memorial, visitors can experience a permanent exhibition with exhibits, maps and recorded eyewitness conversations that illustrate the dramatic course of the fighting. The open-air site, which is always accessible, includes tank and gun emplacements as well as a Soviet war cemetery with a representative memorial. Guided tours and information boards offer in-depth insights into the historical events and the significance of the site.

The history of the Battle of the Seelow Heights as an audio report (Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945