The Western Institute in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

(Polish: ''Instytut Zachodni'', German ''West-Institut'', French: ''L'Institut Occidental'') is a scientific research society focusing on the Western provinces of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Kresy Zachodnie Western Borderlands (Polish: ''Kresy Zachodnie'', ) is a term used to refer to the western parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that in the partitions were annexed by Prussia. This name refers specifically to the regions of Eastern Po ...

(including

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

), history, economy and politics of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and the Polish-German relations in history and today. Established by professor

Zygmunt Wojciechowski Zygmunt Wojciechowski (27 April 1900 – 14 October 1955) was a Polish historian and nationalist politician. Born in 1900 in then-Austria, he obtained a doctorate from medieval history at Lviv University. In 1925 he moved to Poznań, where ...

in 1944 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, since 1945 based in

. There were branches in Warsaw (1945–53),

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

(1948–49) and scientific posts in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

. Full name: ''Instytut Zachodni. Instytut Naukowo-Badawczy im. Zygmunta Wojciechowskiego w Poznaniu''

History

The Western Institute was founded in 1944 and became the flagship of the Polish Research of the West.

Mission

The mission of the Institute is to conduct research projects within fields of political science, sociology, history, economics and law-especially focusing on Polish-German issues as well as European politics. It has been founded by a group of

Poznań University Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

professor in 1944, and incorporated with Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992

Praise

Professor Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish survivor of

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, and renown figure of Polish-Jewish and Polish-German reconciliation praised the work of the institute: *''I often used the archives of the Western Institute, when writing my works on the Nazi terror. They reliably researched Nazi atrocities. The series "Documenta Occupationis"-a collection of original documents concerning German policy in occupied Poland is a canon position. Many American, Israeli and German scholars use them to this day without reservations. They are part of scholarly literature and this is the greatest contribution of the Institute during its early years of existence''

Criticism

The work of the Institute carried out while Poland was a communist country has been criticised by German-American historian Richard Blanke as having anti-German biasRichard Blanke, ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. Review of: Włodzimierz Jastrzębski,''Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit.'' and Andrzej Brożek, ''Niemcy zagraniczni w polityce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918)'' Other criticism of work from this period have included allegations of propaganda and dullness while admitting that the Institute produced "some good works on political sciences and legal systems" German historian

Gregor Thum Gregor Thum (born 2 May 1967 in Munich, Bavaria) is a German-American historian of Central and Eastern Europe. From 1988 through 1995, Thum studied history and Slavic studies at the Free University of Berlin. From 1995 to 2001, he was a lecturer ...

has written that the premise of the research concept of the Western Institute in the first decades was the idea of an eternal German-Polish antagonism and thus the Institute's research, like its German counterpart, the

Ostforschung ''Ostforschung'' (; "research on the east") is a German term dating from the 18th century for the study of the areas to the east of the core German-speaking region. At its core, Ostforschung postulated that Germans and Germany were superior to Pol ...

, was based on explicit political objectives, active support of the territorial claims of the state and the distribution of research results by popular science. After the fall of communism, the Institute has been one of the leading institutions in joint Polish-German scholarship and cooperation.

The directors

* 1945-1955 - prof.

* 1956-1958 - prof.

Kazimierz Piwarski Kazimierz Piwarski (19 February 1903 – 21 July 1968) was a Polish historian, professor of Jagiellonian University in Kraków since 1946 and Poznań University in years 1953-1955, member of Polish Academy of Skills (Polska Akademia Umiejętności, ...

* 1959-1961 - prof.

Gerard Labuda Gerard Labuda ( csb, Gerard Labùda; 28 December 1916 – 1 October 2010) was a Polish historian whose main fields of interest were the Middle Ages and the Western Slavs. He was born in Kashubia. He lived and died in Poznań, Poland. Life Lab ...

* 1961-1964 - prof.

Michał Sczaniecki Michał Sczaniecki (born Stanisław Maria Michał Sczaniecki; 1910–1977) was a Polish historian of state and law, especially of Poland and France; professor of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań from 1951 to 1965, and director of the Western ...

* 1964-1965 - prof.

Zdzisław Kaczmarczyk Zdzisław Kaczmarczyk (1911–1980) was a Polish historian and director of the Western Institute (Instytut Zachodni) in Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is a ...

* 1966-1973 - prof.

Władysław Markiewicz Władysław Markiewicz (2 January 1920 – 18 January 2017) was a Polish sociologist; professor of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań since 1966, and Warsaw University since 1972, director of the Western Institute (Instytut Zachodni) in Pozna� ...

* 1974-1978 - prof.

Lech Trzeciakowski Lech Trzeciakowski (24 December 1931 – 7 January 2017) was a Polish historian who served as director of the Western Institute (''Instytut Zachodni'') in Poznań from 1974 to 1978. Born in Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta i ...

* 1978-1990 - prof. Antoni Czubiński * 1990-2004 - prof. Anna Wolff-Powęska * since 2004 - prof.

Andrzej Sakson Andrzej Sakson (born 1950 in Elbląg) is a Polish sociologist and historian. Since 2004 he has been the director of the Western Institute (Instytut Zachodni) in Poznań. Sakson is a professor of sociology at the Institute of Sociology of Adam Mi ...

Main publications

* ''The Western Review'' (''Przegląd Zachodni'') * ''Polish Western Affairs'' * ''La Pologne et les Affaires Occidentales''

References

External links

*http://www.iz.poznan.pl/ Instytut Zachodni official site (in English and Polish) {{authority control Organisations based in Poznań Scientific societies based in Poland