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Following on from Italy, France and Hungary the Republic
of Poland is the national partner of “denkmal 2010
– European Trade Fair for Conservation, Restoration and Old
Building Renovation” in Leipzig. The Polish National Committee
of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and
Sites) has taken much pleasure in accepting the invitation of
the Leipziger Messe GmbH to organise a bi-national workshop
in cooperation with ICOMOS Germany and DOCOMO-
MO, focusing on a partial heritage of the recent past in both
countries and also being open for contributions from postsocialist
neighbour countries. The present reader “The Post-
War Heritage – Monuments of Modernism and Anti-Modernism
in Poland and Germany” contains a pre-documentation of all
presentations held at the conference, supplemented by latest
articles requested by the editors from experts in Central and
Eastern Europe.
The collection of contributions presented by ICOMOS
Poland and ICOMOS Germany on the occasion of the Leipzig
Trade Fair “denkmal 2010” highlights the architecture and
urban design of the post-war period in the former Eastern
Bloc, laying emphasis on the monuments of architecture and
art from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Buildings and sculptures
as well as urban quarters and green areas created in the Soviet-infl
uenced hemisphere after the end of World War II and
before the opening of the Iron Curtain in 1989 even today
represent a provocative subject that is controversially debated
by the public and the media as well as by professionals in history
of art and monument preservation.
The joint initiative of ICOMOS Poland and Germany
wishes to take up once more the international discussion
topics on “Bildersturm in Osteuropa – Iconoclasm in Eastern
Europe” (1993/94) and ”Stalinistische Architektur unter
PREFACE
Denkmalschutz? – Putting Stalinistist Architecture under Protection
Order?” (1995/96) that erupted after 1990 and were
published by ICOMOS Germany. The ICOMOS conference
„Konservierung der Moderne? Über den Umgang mit den Zeugnissen
der Architekturgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts – Conservation
of Modern Architecture? How to deal with the legacy
of the 20th Century“ held at the „denkmal 1996“ in Leipzig
also responded to problems of post-war heritage and its social
acceptance and conservation. Above all, however, the
initiators from Poland and Germany understand their project
on the occasion of the Leipzig trade fair “denkmal 2010” as
a kick-off and invitation to partners to intensify a cross-border
exchange of views and experience on post-war monuments
and on the architectural heritage of Socialist Realism
in Central and Eastern Europe.
The editors and organisers especially wish to thank
the Polish Ministry for Culture and National Heritage, the
National Heritage Board of Poland and the Federal Government
Commissioner for Culture and the Media for generously
funding the publication and workshop. We also would like to
thank the Leipziger Messe GmbH for its hospitality and support
of the expert meeting. And we are grateful to the authors
of the articles and images for their delivery on schedule and
free of charge as well as to the heritage conservation authorities
in Warsaw (Biuro Stołecznego Konserwatora Zabytków
Warszawy) and Berlin (Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung/
Landesdenkmalamt Berlin) for their cooperation.
Prof. Dr. Bogusław Szmygin
President ICOMOS Poland
Prof. Dr. Michael Petzet
President ICOMOS Germany