The cross-border European region of Viadrina is a LANDSCAPE OF MEMORY of particular value, in which the 20th century in particular has left deep scars. The ravages of the Third Reich, the Second World War and the subsequent forced migration of millions of Poles and Germans are visible in many places and are kept alive. The Cold War then left its mark on the landscape and finally the peaceful process of European unification created new places of remembrance. But even centuries before that, this region formed a cultural heritage worth remembering that must not be lost.
The Seelow Heights memorials and the Slonsk Martyrdom Museum, the destroyed old town of Küstrin/Kostrzyn are just as important places of remembrance as the traces of the Prussians, industrialisation, land reclamation and natural disasters. The former Küstrin/Kostrzyn border crossing point tells the story of Europe's most recent history.
With the „Sites of Remembrance Oder-Warthe“ funding project, the project partners - the town of Seelow (lead partner), the town of Kostrzyn nad Odra and the municipality of Słońsk - pursued the goal of jointly maintaining and strengthening the unique landscape of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region and also valorising it as a special feature for tourism. The measures planned in the project should, among other things, strengthen and supplement the tourist offers of existing memorial sites, link them thematically and market them nationally under a new cross-border tourist brand. This will increase the market presence and visitor appeal of all sites, with economic effects for those involved.
Various outputs were realised in joint cross-border project work:
Cross-border tourism brand
Around 200 places of remembrance in the Oder-Warthe region offer individual and multi-layered insights into the region's eventful history. Taken together, they have great potential for sustainable tourist attractions with international appeal. The Oder-Warthe region should be understood as a shared, cross-border historical cultural area.
„The common concern and the guiding principle of the new brand can be traced back to the statement „Remembrance unites“. The aim is a common peaceful future and a deeper mutual understanding.“
Strategy of the multi-perspective remembrance landscape Oder-Warthe
Experience and discuss history from different perspectives at many places of remembrance on both sides of the Oder. The special feature of the project was to promote the exchange of different perspectives on the culture of remembrance in Germany, Poland and internationally.
As a multi-perspective landscape of remembrance for the special history of the German-Polish border region, especially from 1944 onwards, the Oder-Warthe region offers unique and authentic destinations for educational and remembrance tourism, cultural trips, exchange and dialogue.
As part of the 2022 project, ECCOFORT has Strategy of the multi-perspective remembrance landscape Oder-Warthe and has actively supported its implementation ever since.
Strategy and marketing concept, DE (PDF, 10 MB)
Strategy and marketing concept, PL (PDF, 9 MB)
Cross-border network of places of remembrance
Places of remembrance, monuments and museums are actively working together as part of a joint regional brand to create a shared space of remembrance, encounter and discovery that supports a better understanding of the multi-layered worlds of remembrance on both sides of the border and openly communicates them to the outside world.
Further project outputs:
- Analysis and categorisation of memorial sites in the Oder-Warthe region
- Development of a common database
- Meeting, exchange, supra-regional networking and cooperation
- Development of multilingual marketing tools (travel guide, image brochure, flyers, posters, roll-up displays, website)
Three new places of encounter and remembrance
Three historical buildings were also renovated as part of the project in order to preserve the buildings and put them to new uses. Three new tourist attractions were created for the cultural tourism brand „Remembrance connects“, which can be used to inform visitors and attract them to the region.
The investment projects complement each other and create a new quality in actively experiencing and learning, documenting and communicating about the region's recent history. This is primarily aimed at younger generations with changed communication behaviour and new demands on information transfer.
ECCOFORT developed the tourist brand „Erinnerung verbindet“ Oder-Warthe on behalf of the town of Seelow.
Info brochure Network Remembrance Connects 2023 (DE) / Polish version / English version
Travel Guide 2023 (DE) / English version
The project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Cooperation Programme for Cross-border Cooperation (INTERREG VA BB-PL 2014-2020). The lead partner is the town of Seelow.
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