An hour by train from Berlin, a blue bridge connects the destinies of two cities: Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany) and its “younger” sister Slubice (Poland), the most famous of Europe’s 28 cross-border towns.
Up until 1945, in fact, the two cities were part of a single urban conglomerate within the Third Reich. Following the post-war agreements, the neighbourhoods to the east of the river – the future Slubice – found themselves in Polish territory and German inhabitants were forced to flee by night, camping on the western bank of the river.
Slubice became a ghost town so the government decided to repopulate it by forcibly bringing in thousands of new inhabitants from the east of Poland. Since then the destinies of the two towns divided and in the following decades, crossing the bridge over the Oder meant strict controls and hours of waiting. This changed in December 2007, however, when Poland became part of the Schengen area and the remains of the border posts were dismantled: the relationship between the two cities intensified, giving life to a model of cross-border development that touched on sectors such as urban planning, services and education as well as tourism, and even creativity.
In 1999, in fact, German artist Michael Kurzwelly came up with the idea of “Slubfurt”: the virtual union of the two towns (although a real council body exists), a concept aimed to fight the stereotypes that had developed over 60 years of separation. At the heart of the Old Continent, Slubfurt today is arguably the best antidote to the growing anti-European sentiment.
All the pictures have been taken in 2019. The project was co-financed with a STEP travel grant by the European Cultural Foundation Labs.
The international distribution of the project is in charge of Parallelozero agency:
https://parallelozero.com/slubfurt/
![Ela and Jeanni both go to school in Frankfurt (Oder). Jeanni was born there, while Ela was born in Berlin and then moved around before and coming to Frankfurt because her mother began working at the Viadrina University. They cross the bridge quite often to eat or hang around.]()
![A child walks along a street in Słubice.]()
![Michael Kurzwelly wrapped in the flag of Nowa Amerika. Kurzwelly is the German born creator of Słubfurt. He himself calls his work a “construction of reality”, i.e. a way to bring art into the public sphere. Słubfurt has real boundaries, a parliament, a postcode and a currency. Słubfurt is also the capital of Nowa Amerika, a virtual country located on the German-Polish border, but it’s likely that its boundaries will soon include other border towns all around Europe.]()
![The remains of the 1924 art-deco facade of the “Kino Piast” movie theatre in Słubice, which is now closed for good. The destroyed logo now reads “No Past” which can be intended, considering the past of Polish-German borderlands, as a hope for the future. The poster on the entrance refers to a charity event from “Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy“, the biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organization in Poland.]()
![Man standing on the roof of his pick-up in a car wash in Słubice.]()
![Robert Reuter. Since 2009 is director of the HanseStadtFest festival also known as "Bunter Hering", the largest cross-border summer event that takes place between Frankfurt and Słubice. Concerts by international artists, DJ sets, historical re-enactments and fireworks attracts around 100,000 people each year.]()
![Malwina Donarska, project leader at bbw education centre of East Brandeburg at Frankfurt (Oder) in her office. Malwina works with women from many countries (currently German, Poland, Iran, Iraq and Syria) that have problems to find a job or that have lost it. The bbw center is not only a shelter to them, but an opportunity to grow professionally and re-enter the German job market. Malwina is Polish mother tongue, but she can fluently speak German and English. For years she has organized German-Polish projects and contributing to the revitalization of the border region.]()
![Joanna Józefiak, CEO of Brandmed, the first cross-border medical centre, which opened in Słubice in 2016. All the medical staff can speak both Polish and German. Patients from Germany and Poland, whether they are covered by private or public health insurance, can access all the treatments.]()
![In Słubice it is now common to see expensive German cars, especially Mercedes, with Polish license plates. At the beginning of the millennium the average Polish salary was about one tenth of the German salary. Today the ratio is about one third. It is also estimated that around 2000 Polish citizens live and work in Frankfurt, while around 500 people cross the bridge every day to work in Germany.]()
![Dorota Rutka, librarian, teacher and coordinator of Polish-German projects employed at Zbigniew Herbert Comprehensive Secondary School in Słubice. Since 1994 she has been encouraging teenagers of Słubice to participate in actions aimed at the integration of the Polish and German bank of the Oder. Among these, the Building Bridges project involves every year, for almost twenty years, 40 students from Poland, Germany, Israel and Palestine.]()
![Słubice. Mural depicting the silhouette of the blue bridge on the Oder incorporating the European flag. The murals appeared on the night between the 26th and 27th April 2019.]()
![Linus, Lina-Sophie, Svea, Marie and Janina on the rooftop of Collegium Polonicum in Słubice, after a lecture. The Collegium Polonicum is a joint university between Frankfurt (Oder)’s European University Viadrina and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. It hosts about 500 students from both sides studying law, international affairs and regional studies. Many programmes focus on Polish-German issues in a European context, and their graduates receive a Polish-German double diploma.]()
![Georg Gauger, born in Stuttgart, is Law student at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). He is the chair of the student representatives and a Senator. He says: "Frankfurt is place of possibilities. Rents are cheap, institutions are supportive and there is space. Frankfurt and Słubice have space for ideas".]()
![Barbara Weiser-Lada, music teacher, choir director and music therapist. In 1986, still under Communist dominance, she founded the first Polish-German choir with 30 children from Słubice and 30 children from Frankfurt. In 1990 the project evolved in the Adoramus chamber choir which involves adults from both banks of the Oder.]()
![Arkadiusz Porada, Polish actor and pedagogyst, gets ready to re-enter to Frankfurt (Oder) after a show in Cottbuss (DE). Since 2012 he's living in Frankfurt Oder and working as puppeteer, actor and theater pedagogyst for Theater des Lachens (theatre of laughter). He's a reference point for local cultural operators in the creation of shows and educational events both in German and Poland.]()
![Daniel Fochtmann, Frankfurt (Oder). Since 2016 he organizes the “Art An Der Grenze” (Art at the border) festival. The event lasts two weeks between April and May and involves both German and Polish artists. Daniel describes with passion the process of building this event: “It’s magical, you have two weeks and a space. At the beginning the space is empty, nothing exists”. The festival is growing every year, but Daniel says that “the communication with Polish artists is not always easy. The language barrier persists”.]()
![Tobacco shop in Słubice. The trade in cigarettes, alcohol and fuel is still one of the main attractions for German customers. Vendors claim that about 90% of their customers are German, who can save up to 50% respect to Frankfurt prices.]()
![Young couple of students from European University Viadrina at fforst House in Frankfurt (Oder): a creative-international house project entirely run by students and currently gives housing to 40 people from over 15 countries. The fforst House not only functions as a university residence, but also acts as a cultural center with the aim of creating synergy among students and residents on both sides of the border. Students living at fforst organize various cultural events such as international nights, readings, concerts, film screenings, public debates, exhibitions and language classes.]()
![Polish fishermen weight a 6kg Northern Pike caught from the Oder river in Słubice. On the opposite bank, some buildings in Frankfurt are visible. The banks of the river are frequented daily by fishermen of the area.]()
![The bridge over the Oder river connecting Frankfurt (Oder) to Słubice photographed from the German side. According to statistics, in 2016, about 2000 Poles lived in Frankfurt (Oder) and about 500 of them cross the bridge every day to go to work.]()
Up until 1945, in fact, the two cities were part of a single urban conglomerate within the Third Reich. Following the post-war agreements, the neighbourhoods to the east of the river – the future Slubice – found themselves in Polish territory and German inhabitants were forced to flee by night, camping on the western bank of the river.
Slubice became a ghost town so the government decided to repopulate it by forcibly bringing in thousands of new inhabitants from the east of Poland. Since then the destinies of the two towns divided and in the following decades, crossing the bridge over the Oder meant strict controls and hours of waiting. This changed in December 2007, however, when Poland became part of the Schengen area and the remains of the border posts were dismantled: the relationship between the two cities intensified, giving life to a model of cross-border development that touched on sectors such as urban planning, services and education as well as tourism, and even creativity.
In 1999, in fact, German artist Michael Kurzwelly came up with the idea of “Slubfurt”: the virtual union of the two towns (although a real council body exists), a concept aimed to fight the stereotypes that had developed over 60 years of separation. At the heart of the Old Continent, Slubfurt today is arguably the best antidote to the growing anti-European sentiment.
All the pictures have been taken in 2019. The project was co-financed with a STEP travel grant by the European Cultural Foundation Labs.
The international distribution of the project is in charge of Parallelozero agency:
https://parallelozero.com/slubfurt/
