Commission for the History of the Germans in Poland

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The Commission for the History of Germans in Poland was founded in Marburg in 1950 as part of the Johann Gottfried Herder Research Council as the “Historical and Regional Commission for Poznan and Germanness in Poland”.

history

After the transition of the former Prussian province of Posen to the new state of Poland after the First World War , research on the area and history in this area was carried out by members of the German minority. Due to the consequences of the Second World War, historical research by members of the German minority in Poland largely broke off. In 1950, the Herder Research Council set up the Historical and Regional Studies Commission for Poznan and Germanness in Poland. This became the center of this research direction in the Federal Republic. However, for a long time it was of little scientific importance and mainly a loose association of people interested in history and local history, who wanted to retain the memory of what had been materially lost. This includes, among other things, the bibliographical recording of the existing literature since the 1950s in a regional bibliography . The few publications by the commission were mostly in line with pre-war research.

After the political change in 1990, the commission expanded its scientific activities. Among other things, she has held several conferences, the documentation of which reflects the state of research in the respective subject area. The 1999 conference was devoted to the general state of research. The 2005 conference focused on the history of the city in the Polish areas in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the course of the restructuring of the Herder Research Council and the Herder Institute, the commission was also legally transformed into an association. At the same time there was a generation change, which is also reflected in the changed name.

Today's structure

The commission has around 65 members from science , journalism , librarians and archivists from Germany , Poland, the USA, Switzerland and Austria . The commission consists only of volunteers.

At present, the commission sees its field of activity in the historical, cultural and regional history research of regions in Poland and western Ukraine with historically German population groups. The focus is on the area of ​​the former province of Posen ( Netzedistrikt and Greater Poland ), central Poland , Galicia and Volhynia .

In addition, there is research on the German minority in Poland in the interwar period and the German minority after 1945. In addition, German-Polish relations in the field of culture and politics are to be examined.

In addition to the organization of scientific conferences, the next generation of scientists is given technical support. The commission also publishes several series of publications.

As part of the 'Germano-Polonica' newsletter, reviews of books on the field of work appeared annually between 2011 and 2015, which can be accessed online at recensio.net .

Since 2012, the commission has been awarding the Arthur Kronthal Prize, named after a German-Jewish Poznan city ​​council before the First World War, for the best published publication in its field of activity.

Chairperson

literature

  • Wolfgang Kessler (edit.): Fifty years of research on the history of Germans in Poland . Herne 2001, ISBN 3-923371-19-5 .
  • Wolfgang Kessler / Markus Krzoska (eds.): Between region and nation. 125 years of research on the history of Germans in Poland . Osnabrück 2013, ISBN 978-3-938400-87-6 .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Witold Matwiejczyk: About state and nation? Germans and Poles in the national (provincial) history of Greater Poland p.120f.
  2. ↑ cf. for example: Conference report: Research into the history of the Germans in Poland: Status and future perspectives
  3. ^ Conference report: City history in the Polish areas in the 19th and 20th centuries
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ [2]