When talking about Szczecin, it is very quickly associated with the post-war name “Wały Chrobrego” (Chrobry Embankment). It is one of the most recognizable places in the city. It constitutes a beautiful complex of public utility buildings, especially the current West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office. This building, along with its surroundings in the past and present,…
Twilight of the former order and geopolitical changes In November 1918, World War I was drawing to a close. Western Pomerania, much like the rest of defeated Germany, found itself facing transformations that were extremely painful for both the state and society. However, the end of prolonged military operations did not mean an immediate…
Western Pomerania on the Threshold of the Industrial Revolution Before railway routes diversified the landscape of Western Pomerania (the Province of Pomerania), traveling across it frequently resembled a struggle with the elements. In the first half of the 19th century, Pomerania was an agricultural region where the rhythm of life was dictated by the seasons…
Museums of West Pomerania after World War II In the spring of 1945, West Pomerania found itself in a state of deep social and material crisis. The fighting at the end of the war had led to the destruction of many towns, and a significant portion of the former public institutions ceased to function. The…
Until 1945, today’s West Pomerania was part of the Prussian, and subsequently German, province of Pomerania (Provinz Pommern). Just as in other regions of Germany, a well-developed network of regional museums emerged here as well. Both in district towns and in many smaller localities, there existed regional museums of the Heimatmuseum type or memory rooms…
At the beginning of the 19th century, Pomerania for the most part formed a province of the Prussian state. Only the north-western borderlands, a small fragment of the former Duchy of Pomerania (Western Pomerania north of the Peene River, including the island of Rügen), remained under Swedish rule. In terms of its political system, Prussian…
From seasonal labor to forced exploitation for the economy of the Third Reich The labor market in the German Empire, proclaimed in 1871, was characterized by a distinct wage gap between the western and eastern parts of the country, as well as between urban and rural areas. The rural depopulation (Landflucht), which escalated…
On July 13, 1988, Szczecin was visited by the top leader of the USSR: Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At that time, he was one of the most recognizable and widely discussed world leaders. The reasons for Gorbachev’s popularity lay in his…
On June 11, 1987, Szczecin was on the route of John Paul II’s third pilgrimage to Poland. The pope’s only visit to the city was a major religious celebration and at the same time a massive organizational undertaking. The election of Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyła as pope in 1978 was met in Poland with…
The birthplace of the V1 and V2 rockets. History and the politics of memory regarding World War II Peenemünde is not just one of many charming tourist municipalities on the island of Usedom in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Until the mid-1930s, this small fishing village—known only as the place where Swedish King Gustavus…
