From the perspective of a fellow: Damian Zając on Central and Eastern European Spa towns after World War II and his research stay at the Herder Institute
- Damian Zając
In our new blog series, our scholarship holders report on their research topic and how they were able to approach it in our collections: This time Damian Zając on „Transformations of architecture and spatial planning of spa towns in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II“. Damian Zając had a research stay at the Herder Institute in August 2023. He is a PhD student at the University of Wrocław.
About the research project
Spa towns are extraordinary places with unique spatial layouts and special types of buildings, such as baths, spa houses, drinking halls, mineral springs, pavilions, and colonnades. After World War II, many European spa townscapes transformed because of political, economic, and social changes. These resorts became more open to people from different social settings, so the number of their guests gradually increased.
The research project, that I realised in the frame of the Herder Fellowship Program, was related to architecture and spatial planning transformations of spa towns in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II. The crucial issue was to analyse how the townscapes of spas in different European countries changed during the Cold War. This allows for a comparative analysis of these transformations, which is the next step of the research.
The starting point for the considerations were spas located in Lower Silesia and Kłodzko Land in Poland. Post-war transformations of these towns architecture and spatial layouts are the main topic of my doctoral dissertation. However, an important issue of this analysis is the perspective of spas located in other European countries, especially in Germany, Czechia and Ukraine.
Finally, I would like to answer the question, were spa townscape transformations similar in various parts of post-war Europe or there were some local differences?
Working with the Herder-Institute collections
During my stay, I had the opportunity to use all the collections of the Herder-Institute. The image archive probably turned out to be the most useful for my work. It contains among others the collection of Stefan Arczyński photos, that were taken in the second half of the 20th century. This photographer took a lot of photos of Polish spa towns between the 1950s and 1990s.
The good complement to this collection are postcards (pre-war and post-war), drawings, and other images that are part of the archive too. Iconographic sources allow me to observe how townscapes have changed over the years. It concerns single buildings as well as entire spatial layouts.
No less important are the holdings of the cartographic collection. Starting from the Preußische Urmesstischblätter, which shows the state of spas spatial layouts in the 19th century. Through the pre-war plans from the first half of the 20th century and the aerial photographs, that were taken during World War II. Ending with the post-war plans.
Comparative analysis of these materials allows us to see transformations of spatial layouts. From the 19th century, when a lot of spas expanded, but some of them only started the treatment activity. Then, in the first half of the 20th century, that was the period of modernisation and implementation of new spatial planning ideas. Finally, after World War II, spas had to be adapted to the new reality.
The rich Institute library’s collection of books and scientific journals gave me a necessary base of knowledge about topics related to my project. Next to the titles about European spa towns history, architecture and special planning, I acquaint myself with volumes on the past of tourism and healthcare. Thanks to great cooperation with the Philipps University of Marburg Library, I had the opportunity to use books from the collection of this institution in the Herder-Institute reading room.
Personal experience during the research stay at the Herder-Institute
My research stay at the Herder-Institute was fascinating and developing. It showed me how the work of a scientist should look like. I received a lot of professional advice from the Herder-Institute employees, for which I am very grateful. Visiting that reputable institution was also a good opportunity to network. I met a lot of scientists there: other fellows from different countries as well as the Herder-Institute employees.
Post-project impressions
Although my project at the Herder-Institute ended, research related to the main topic is still in progress. Appropriate analysis of the chosen phenomenon involves visits to other archives, libraries, and institutions. No less important is field research in spa towns. The effect of all these steps will be my doctoral dissertation on architecture and urban planning transformation in spas located in Lower Silesia and Kłodzko Land after World War II from the European perspective.