Strasburg i Poznań. Pogląd na dzielnice cesarskie w czasach Cesarstwa Niemieckiego

Prace realizowane w ramach międzynarodowego projektu naukowego zatytułowanego „Strasburg i Poznań. Pogląd na dzielnice cesarskie w czasach Cesarstwa Niemieckiego” („Strasbourg et Poznan. Regards croisés sur les quartiers de l’époque impériale allemande”), część I: „Niechciane przestrzenie. Transgraniczne i międzykulturowe uwarunkowania ochrony architektonicznego dziedzictwa współczesności” były początkiem badań nad transgranicznym dziedzictwem kulturowym – ważnym współcześnie zagadnieniem ochrony współczesnego dziedzictwa kulturowego. W pracy zaprezentowano autorskie studia i rozważania na temat wybranych zagadnień dotyczących kontekstu zjawisk modernizacyjnych, tak ważnych dla rozwoju architektury i budownictwa na obszarach transgranicznych w Polsce. Zawarte w niej treści są efektem systematycznych badań prowadzonych przez autorski zespół badawczy. Zebrany materiał ikonograficzny został zebrany spośród dostępnej literatury, a także z archiwów polskich i niemieckich.

Strasbourg and Poznań share a cultural heritage associated with Germany that has still not been fully researched. Under Germany’s rule, in both cities new premiere districts were built, and both acquired the status if imperial residential cities. The project is devoted to the existence and perception of this heritage and to the ways it has been assimilated: from the time of its inception to the present. Germany as a common “third party” is regarded as an intermediary in the European affinity, which is presented in the form of research publications and a Polish-German-French travelling exhibition. The expansion of the two cities happened at different moments in time (Strasbourg from 1878, and Poznań after 1900) and in different political circumstances (in Alsace-Lorraine, the emperor was a representative of the nation, and in Poznań, he presented himself as ruler in his own country). Despite this, their urbanisation processes reveal numerous similarities, starting with a similar population of 180 000 inhabitants before World War I, through the imperial palaces as a hub for the cities’ development and the establishment or expansion of cultural institutions (a museum, an opera, a library and universities), to a modern transportation, hygiene, defence and education infrastructure. Furthermore, in many cases the same people were associated with both cities, namely the urbanist Josef Stübben, the director of the imperial museums Wilhelm v. Bode and the Prussian Minister of Post Heinrich von Stephan. The research on the spatial structure and places of memory of German provenance is an important aspect of establishing an understanding between two nations, and in the recent years, it has been the subject of some significant publications. The project “Strasbourg and Poznań. Different Views on Imperial Districts during the German Empire” is an attempt to place the Franco-Polish dialogue in a broader context, and to inscribe the spatial expansion of two European cities, Strasbourg and Poznań, into the common European cultural heritage.