Borussia Foundation
The Borussia Foundation and Cultural Community Olsztyn / Allenstein ( Fundacja Borussia Olsztyn in Polish ) is a non-governmental organization in northeastern Poland that is active in the cultural field .
She researches and communicates the culture of Warmia and Mazury . By helping to shape and strengthen civil society, she advocates tolerance and dialogue between people of different cultures and religions. Borussia's guiding principle is a cultural activity that goes beyond divisions and national conflicts. The association was awarded the Lev Kopelew Prize for Peace and Human Rights in 2004.
The foundation was created in 2006 on an initiative of the founders of the Borussia cultural community and continues projects initiated by the association founded in 1990.
Fields of activity
Cross-border cooperation
The aim of the program is to support civil society engagement in Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and to bring stakeholders together - not only on an individual, but also on an institutional level. In this context, Borussia organizes international conferences, seminars and training courses. Borussia also hosts the Polish coordination office for the “Study Tours to Poland” program - study trips for outstanding students from the Kaliningrad region, the Ukraine and Belarus. The program is funded by the Polish American Freedom Foundation .
International youth exchange
Borussia is a central office of the German-Polish Youth Office and received the "Youth Oscar" from the Körber Foundation Hamburg in 1996 for its commitment. Borussia has been organizing international educational projects for schoolchildren and students from Poland, Germany, France, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus since 1993. In cooperation with the partner organizations, seminars with a focus on regional history and sociological topics are created. In addition, Borussia develops and organizes music, art, environmental, photography and theater workshops, the aim of which is to question prejudices and stereotypes and to create new perspectives.
Voluntary service
Borussia has been participating in international volunteer exchange programs since 1992. As part of the EU program “Youth in Action” - European Voluntary Service, Borussia is a sending organization and a reception project for young volunteers between 18 and 30 years of age. In this area, she coordinates the work of other organizations, organizes and supervises seminars and training courses on topics relating to the social engagement of young people.
Since April 2005, Borussia has been running the pilot project “International Youth Builders' Hut in Warmia and Mazury”. The program enables young people from Germany, Poland and Russia to work in different institutions for monument preservation and cultural mediation under professional and educational supervision.
magazine
Borussia. Kultura. Historia. Literatura [“Borussia. Culture. History. Literature ”] has been published since 1991. In its sixth year of publication, the magazine received the prestigious award from the Polish exile magazine Kultura from Paris .
Program Mendelssohn House
In 2013, an open cultural center was set up in the former cleaning house “ Bet Tahara ” at the Jewish cemetery in Olsztyn . The building was constructed in 1913 according to plans by the important architect Erich Mendelsohn . It remained the only work in his hometown and is the last remaining testimony to Jewish life in Allenstein. Borussia is committed to preserving the location and developing it into a center of encounter, memory and discussion of current regional issues.
German representation and association in Leipzig
In 2005, a German agency for Borussia was founded in Leipzig under the auspices of the Competence Center Central and Eastern Europe Leipzig (KOMOEL). Her tasks included German-Polish and trilateral projects with a focus on youth work as well as helping to shape the cultural life of the city and the region. The German representation of Borussia was funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation until 2007 . In the same year the association "Friends of Borussia Olsztyn / Allenstein eV" was founded, which carries out cultural and educational projects dealing with German-Polish issues.