This Thursday, October 5th, 2023, a lecture by Dr. Kamil Ruszała, entitled "Architectures of Remembrance on the Crossroads of Empires" is scheduled to take place at the In Flanders Field Museum in Ieper, Belgium. We cordially invite you to partake in this event.
This Thursday, October 5th, 2023, a lecture by Dr. Kamil Ruszała, entitled "Architectures of Remembrance on the Crossroads of Empires" is scheduled to take place at the In Flanders Field Museum in Ieper, Belgium. Detailed information and registration can be found at: https://www.inflandersfields.be/nl/programma-1/on-the-crossroads-of-empires. We cordially invite you to partake in this event.
Lecture: “Architectures of Remembrance on the Crossroads of Empires: The First World War Cemeteries in Poland”
By Kamil Ruszała, PhD
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
Institute of History
Critical Heritage Studies Hub
Date: October 5, 2023
Place: In Flanders Field Museum, Ieper, Belgium
Abstract:
The area between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathians was a battleground on the Eastern Front during World War I, where three empires – Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia – clashed. Soldiers lost their lives on both sides in military operations and hospitals, resulting in the establishment of diverse war cemeteries and monuments due to differences in architecture and commemoration resulting from the merging empires.
A notable case arises from Galicia, once part of the Habsburg Monarchy and later southern Poland. This region illustrates how the Austrian military agency crafted narratives of commemoration through cemeteries and memorials, exemplified by the Battle of Gorlice in May 1915. The lecture will explore WWI cemeteries and monuments in present-day Poland, with a specific focus on southern Poland. It will reveal Austrian imperial narratives of war heroism in architecture and discuss their adaptations after 1918 and 1945.
