The scientific goal of this project is to examine and organize information on the body of 19th and 20th century military installations in the area of northern and western Poland, as well as to prepare guidelines for their regeneration and reusing. The research will produce a typology and a catalogue of objects and complexes containing the description of their stylistics and functional layout. The applicant hopes it will ignite a discussion on the possible ways and chances of preservation of researched facilities. The study will concentrate on the area of so called ‘Recovered Territories’, i.e. East Prussia, Brandenburg, Saxony and Silesia, gained by Poland after World War II and will be set in the timeframe between 1870s and 1930s. It is a stimulating research area due to its cultural and stylistic unfamiliarity, which used to be considered hostile, only to recently become attractive even revered.
Architecture is the form of art most receptive to outer influences, because it is created entirely as a response to a specific demand. It fills the space not only with material substance but at the same time with ideas adhering to the patronage of a specific investor. This applies particularly to state-funded investments – administrative and government buildings – which by nature reflect social and political changes. In the researched area, military installations were constructed mainly in two periods associated with increased militarism in the internal politics of Prussia and the German Reich: the 1880s and the 1930s, when multiple military facilities were built. Their designs was devised to emphasize their majesty and importance and so that they radiated unity and might of the state. At the same time they represented stylistic and functional characteristics of their times (‘Werkbund’; expressionism), modified in accordance with the current ideology. These complexes represented the so called ‘Herrschaftsarchitektur’ – the architecture of power – and they had important influence on shaping local identity of both smaller communities, e.g. Oleśnica; and large garrison cities, e.g. Legnica. In Świętoszów and Borne Sulinowo the whole town was constituted by the barracks – the focal point of local community.
After 1945, the Polish or Soviet army immediately inhabited the military installations, due to their function. In most cases, they were properly maintained. Still as strategic objects, they were unavailable for research and analysis for many years. Over the course of 20 years many installations were abandoned when the Russian troops withdrew in 1993 and the Polish Army was restructured. Unused they disintegrate, burying priceless historic evidence. In order to save them, it is necessary to reintroduce them into the urban space, so that they do not share the fate of post-industrial edifices and engineering heritage of the same era, which were irreversibly lost. The military installations can be easily adopted for various purposes, as indicated by various examples. They are already facilitated with necessary infrastructure, which decreases initial costs of any potential investment. Since they include objects of versatile functions – houses, offices, warehouses, chow halls – they provide many possibilities of adaptation. However regeneration of such military installations should be properly supervised and conducted according to dedicated laws, so that they are not deprived of their unique characteristics. Sold to private investors, they are extensively remodeled losing all historiographic value or demolished. In the process of research, the author analyses completed regeneration designs, to define challenges and odds of success. Accordingly, guidelines for revitalization and criteria for heritage preservation services will be created.