The Trek – Photographs of displacement 1945

In early 1945, in the freezing winter, millions of Germans were being displaced. On 21 January, a refugee trek left Lübchen in Lower Silesia to escape the approaching Red Army: about 350 people, mainly women, children and old people.

On this trek were two professional photographers, Hanns Tschira and Martha Maria Schmackeit, who documented this month-long journey in about 140 pictures. The Documentation Centre exhibits this unique set of photographs for the first time in its entirety.

How was it even possible to produce these photographs? What do these pictures tell us about displacement in 1945 and what do they omit? The curatorial team's research has in fact established that these photos were not taken for purely personal use.

The exhibition has three parts. At its core is the story of the trek from Lübchen and the refugees' arduous journey west. At the same time, the exhibition demonstrates how such images have continued to shape our notions of displacement and expulsion.

Finally the exhibition explores what happened after this displacement - to the Germans and to the village they left behind. Thomas Meyer has recently retraced the trek's route and taken new photographs, including those of the village which for three generations has been called Lubów.

Project management: Barbara Kurowska MA, Dr Nils Köhler

Duration: 20 June 2025 to 18 January 2026