OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. German-Polish Perspectives
Marking the 35th anniversary of the German-Polish Treaty on Good Neighbourship, the special exhibition “Ostgebiete / Ziemie Zachodnie” brings together renowned photographers from both countries in a visual dialogue on memory, identity, and transformation.
At its core are German and Polish perspectives on a shared landscape of memory in Poland. For many Germans, the former eastern territories of the German Reich—Ostgebiete—are associated with flight and expulsion, with the loss of homeland, and with the enduring presence of these profound experiences in countless family histories. They form part of a collective memory that continues to shape identities in Germany to this day. From a Polish perspective, the Ziemie Zachodnie—the western territories after 1945—carry a different meaning: many of those who settled there had themselves been displaced from the East and bore the experience of German occupation. It was about arriving in an unfamiliar place, beginning anew under difficult circumstances, and inhabiting a region shaped by Germans that only gradually became home. These perspectives are fundamentally different, yet inseparably intertwined.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
Venue for all events: Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, Stresemannstraße 90, 10963 Berlin
1. PUBLIC EVENTS
Events
- The Ghosts of Lower Silesia
A conversation about the traces of the past
With Karolina Kuszyk and Prof. Leszek Koczanowicz
Date: Thursday, 12 November 2026
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Venue: Polish Institute, Burgstraße 27, 10178 Berlin -
Whose monuments? Traces of Germany in the Polish western territories
A conversation with Wojtek Sienkiewicz and Prof. Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska
Date: Thursday, 26 November 2026
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Venue: Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, 10963 Berlin - Finissage
Conversation and catalogue launch
Date: Thursday, 14 January 2027
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, 10963 Berlin
Curator tours with Karolina Gembara
- 29 August 2026 (Long Night of Museums)
- 6 November 2026
- 27 November 2026
- 11 December 2026
- 8 January 2027
- 16 January 2027
- 17 January 2027
Artist Talks and short tours
- With Filip Piotrowicz
Date: Friday, 2 October 2026, 5 p.m.
Venue: Library, 1st floor
Language: English - With Thomas Meyer
Date: Friday, 16 October 2026, 5 p.m.
Venue: Library, 1st floor
Language: German - With Annette Hauschild
Date: Friday, 13 November 2026, 5 p.m.
Venue: Library, 1st floor
Language: German - With Karolina Gembara
Date: Friday, 11 December 2026, 5 p.m.
Venue: Library, 1st floor
Language: English
Guided tours
Insights into the special exhibition “OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. German-Polish perspectives”
Date: every Sunday until 17 January 2027
Time: 11.30 am in German, 12.30 pm in English
Duration: 40 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: free of charge, no booking required
Comic Workshop
Drawing stories. OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. German-Polish perspectives
Date: 11 October 2026, 2 p.m.
Duration: 180 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: free of charge, no booking required
2. BOOKABLE ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOL GROUPS
Guided tours
OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. Special exhibition and permanent exhibition
Date: bookable at any time
Duration: 90 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: free of charge as part of school lessons, youth education and in the context of a university seminar
Target group: 10th to 13th grade, vocational school pupils, university students
Group size: for groups up to 22 people; larger groups will be split
Booking times: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10.15 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.; Wednesdays from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. (latest possible start time on each day)
Booking: besucherservice@f-v-v.de
Workshops
OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. Remembrances of loss, origin, foreignness and belonging
Date: bookable at any time
Duration: 120 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: free of charge as part of school lessons, youth education and within the context of a university seminar
Target group: 10th to 13th grade, vocational school pupils, university students
Group size: for groups up to 18 people; larger groups will be split
Booking times: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10.15 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.; Wednesdays from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. (latest possible start time for each session)
Booking: besucherservice@f-v-v.de
3. BOOKABLE ACTIVITIES FOR ADULT GROUPS
Guided tours
OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. German-Polish perspectives
Date: bookable at any time
Duration: 60 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: flat rate of 50 euros, reduced rate of 25 euros for registered associations
Target group: Adults
Group size: for groups up to 22 people
Booking times: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10.15 a.m. to 3.45 p.m., Wednesdays from 10.30 a.m. to 2.45 p.m. (latest possible start time on each day)
Booking: besucherservice@f-v-v.de
Guided tours
OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. Special exhibition and permanent exhibition
Date: bookable at any time
Duration: 90 minutes
Language: German, English
Price: flat rate of 70 euros, reduced rate of 35 euros for registered associations
Target group: Adults
Group size: for groups up to 22 people
Booking times: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10.15 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., Wednesdays from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. (latest possible start time for each)
Booking: besucherservice@f-v-v.de
Press Release
About the Exhibition
Artist Biographies
Photo Credits
Exhibition Brochure
Education & Outreach Programme
Credits
A glimpse into the exhibition:
