BURZYĆ CZY REKONSTRUOWAĆ „Die Schleifung. Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau historischer Bauten in Deutschland und Polen” (Wyburzanie. Zniszczenie i odbudowa historycznych budowli w Niemczech i w Polsce) Warsztaty, 11-12 stycznia 2002 r., Berlin

• Authors: Markiewicz Tomasz

Title variants

EN

TO DEMOLISH OR TO RECONSTRUCT “Die Schleifung. Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau historischer Bauten in Deutschland und Polen” (Demolition. The Destruction and Reconstruction of Historical Buildings in Germany and Poland), Workshops, 11-12 January 2002, Berlin

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Joint workshops held by Polish and German historians of art, architects and conservators of historical monuments - 'Die Schleifung. Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau historischer Bauten in Deutschland und Polen' (Demolition. The Destruction and Reconstruction of Historical Buildings in Germany and Poland) - took place on 11 and 12 January 2002 upon the initiative of the German Historical Museum (Deutschen Historischen Museum) in Berlin, the German Polish Institute in Darmstadt, and the Polish Institute in Leipizig. The topic of the event related to the twentieth- century destruction and reconstruction of historical buildings in Germany and Poland, with particular attention paid to the post-World War II period. A publication containing the workshop material, issued in Germany in 2005, was edited by Dieter Bingen and Hans-Martin Hinz. Germany and Poland were among those countries which, as a result of wartime hostilities, suffered greatest losses of their historical substance. After the war, the number of West German supporters of the reconstruction of historical monuments remained small, and the dominating view called for the necessity of loosening historical urban complexes and implementing the residential reform formulated by the left-wing architectural avant-garde from the 1920s and 1930s. A thus comprehended 'improvement' of the cities and their redesigning, caused by the development of motorization, was applied to justify the demolition of the preserved historical monuments, or those which were suitable for reconstruction. The conservators found it difficult to free themselves from the overwhelming 'to conserve and not to reconstruct' dogma. In Poland, the loss of historical monuments was the consequence of an intentional policy conducted by the German occupant. The total devastation of the Warsaw Old Town was an act of reprisal for the anti-German uprising and a consistent continuation of the extermination policy. Hence, right after the war, Polish historians of art and conservators of historical monuments, enjoying extensive social support, recognized, contrary to the binding doctrine, that not only individual buildings of significance for national culture but also entire Old Town districts were suitable for reconstruction. The papers presented in the course of the workshops and the ensuing discussions contributed to filling the information gap concerning the attitude towards the post-war reconstruction of historical monuments in Germany and Poland. The workshop themes were even more topical in view of the fact that at the turn of the twentieth century both countries experienced a second tide of the reconstruction of towns and historical monuments.

Keywords

EN

POLISH-GERMAN WORKSHOPS (2002); RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 2006
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 103-109
• Document type: REPORT

Dates

published

2006

Contributors

author

Markiewicz Tomasz

• historyk sztuki, Grupa Robocza Polskich i Niemieckich Historyków Sztuki i Konserwatorów

• B. Bauer, Krajowy Osrodek Badan i Dokumentacji Zabytków, ul. Szwolezerów 9, 00-464 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA04438585

ISSN

0029-8247