“Ziemie Zachodnie” translates from Polish as “Western Territories”. In Poland, these areas are often referred to as “Ziemie Odzyskane”, or “Recovered Territories”. Both terms refer to the western territories of Poland after 1945 and, in relation to Germany, to the former eastern territories. An exhibition at the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation showcases photographs by artists engaging with this region, whose history still resonates today. The exhibition opens with a vernissage on 28.05.2026. These are regions that carry meaning for both countries. The exhibition observes appropriation and parting, estrangement and gradual familiarity, without setting the perspectives against one another. Marking the 35th anniversary of the German-Polish Neighborhood Treaty, it looks less at diplomatic gestures than at what has been inscribed into biographies, memories, landscapes and buildings. From a Polish perspective, the Ziemie Zachodnie were places of a difficult new beginning: many of those arriving there had been displaced from the east and carried the experience of German occupation with them, while entering cities and regions shaped by German history.
For many Germans, the former eastern territories are tied to flight, expulsion and the memory of lost homelands, as well as family histories whose retelling can still be painful. Streetscapes, everyday objects and building facades become carriers of memory, subtle yet unmistakable. Ten photographic positions from Poland and Germany approach the subject from different perspectives and with different methods. On view are works by Karolina Gembara, Annette Hauschild, Thomas Meyer, Katarzyna Mirczak, Filip Piotrowicz, Natalia Poniatowska, Linn Schröder, Ina Schoenenburg, Wojtek Sienkiewicz and Heinrich Völkel. Whether through family stories or urban traces, they all ask questions about origin, identity and belonging.
Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Filip Piotrowicz, Heinrich Völkel, Linn Schröder / Credit: Ostkreuz
Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, Stresemannstr.90, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg; map
Ostgebiete / Ziemie Zachodnie. German-Polish Perspectives 29.05.2026 until 17.01.2027. Opening on 28.05.2026.
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