In 2025, to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the CBH PAN, in cooperation with the German-Polish House, intends to address the question of post-war (re)construction. Renowned experts from Poland, Germany, and other countries are invited to engage in a comparative discussion on urban planning ruptures and continuities, while shedding light on the underlying political, social, and cultural contexts.
The most famous example of reconstructing historical architectural substance is Warsaw's Old Town. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980, it became a model for similar projects across Europe and Asia in the second half of the 20th century. However, the reconstruction of Warsaw came partly at the expense of other destroyed Polish cities—including those in the so-called 'Recovered Territories.' Within the tension between the social (and political) needs for historicization and the creation of tradition on one hand, and modernization and new social visions on the other, we can read time through the prism of spatial urban transformations.
The colloquium offers a European and comparative perspective: sessions are mostly dedicated to two cities in different countries. Speakers will present renovation and restoration projects from the immediate post-war period, as well as those initiated many decades after World War II or—as in the case of Ukraine—those currently being planned. In doing so, questions regarding the politics of history and cultures of remembrance during topographical transformations will also be raised.
This year, the Klaus Zernack Colloquium of the Centre for Historical Research Berlin of the Polish Academy of Sciences is being held as a collaborative event with the German-Polish House.
A Sea of Ruins – Reconstruction in Gdańsk and Hamburg
The event took place on June 24, 2025, at the Centre for Historical Research Berlin as part of the Klaus Zernack Colloquium 2025: From Ruins – War, (Re)construction, and Transformation. More information can be found here.
Hubs at the Fringe: Strasbourg and Poznań
The event took place on May 27, 2025, at the Centre for Historical Research Berlin as part of the Klaus Zernack Colloquium 2025: From Ruins – War, (Re)construction, and Transformation. More information can be found here.
(Re)constructing Historical Mortgages – Malbork and Vilnius
The event took place on April 29, 2025, at the Centre for Historical Research Berlin as part of the Klaus Zernack Colloquium 2025: From Ruins – War, (Re)construction, and Transformation. More information can be found here.
»Their Ghosts Don't Disturb Me«: On the Handling of Synagogues in Western and Northern Poland after 1945
The event took place on March 25, 2025, at the Centre for Historical Research Berlin as part of the Klaus Zernack Colloquium 2025: From Ruins – War, (Re)construction, and Transformation. More information can be found here.
Never Such a New Beginning? The Reconstruction of Berlin and Warsaw after 1945
The event took place on February 25, 2025, at the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall) as part of the Klaus Zernack Colloquium 2025: From Ruins – War, (Re)construction, and Transformation. More information can be found here.