GERMAN-POLISH BORDER AND BORDER
TWIN TOWNS
HISTORY, DEVELOPMENTS, COLLABORATION
DR JAROS AW JA CZAK
Lecture structure
1. Poland and Germany – common history
political relations and border issue
2. Polish-German border and borderland –
towards collaboration
3. Border twin towns on the German-Polish
border
1. Poland and Germany
1.1 Conflict vs. coexistence legacy
1.2 German-Polish asymmetries
1.3 Poles and Germans
1.1 Conflict vs. coexistence
legacy
Middle ages German collonisation
Poland: Piast vs. Jagiellonian concepts
Teutonic Order
Peace and stability
Partitions
Second World War
1.1 Conflict vs. coexistence
legacy
Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
Treaty of Zgorzelec
Willy Brandt
Refunification of Germany
1.2 German-Polish
asymmetries
Political
Economic
Cultural
Religious
1.3 Poles and Germans
History
„As old is the world, will never German be a
brother to any Pole”
„Go to Poland, your car is already there”
Prejudice
Cultural diffences
2. Polish-German border and
borderland
2.1 History of GermanPolish CBC
2.2 Forms of German- Polish CBC
2.1 History of German-Polish CBC
•1945-1972
- friendship “under compulsion”
- propaganda brotherhood, the border
practically closed
- the border zone forbidden
20
2.1 History of German-Polish CBC
•1972-1980
- opening the border, genuine
rapprochement between big social groups
(young people, private or professional
contacts)
21
22
2.1 History of German-Polish CBC
but:
- Polish shopping tourism and hidden hate
- Polish “Gastarbeiters” in the border areas
of the GDR
23
2.1 History of German-Polish CBC
• 1981-1989
- closed border, the “customs war”
• 9th Nov 1989 – the fall of the Berlin Wall, than
reunification of Germany
• 14th Nov 1990 – Polish-German border treaty,
17th June 1991 – Polish-German treaty about
friendship and cooperation
• 1st Apr 1991 – opening the border, travel with
no visa requirements between Poland and
united Germany
24
2.1 The history of GermanPolish CBC
•1991-1997
Mexican-American-like relations at the Polish-German
border (crime, smuggling, illegal crossings, slave trade)
•1997-2007
The border clearly becomes civilised, with efficient
controls, almost no crime or smuggling, development of
various forms of cooperation; the mental barriers,
however, are still present
•2007-today
no border control, almost no mental barriers but
decrease of dynamics
25
2.2 Cross-border cooperation in
the EU
• Borderless world vs. Fortress Europe – de-bordering
and re-bordering
• CBC as a development strategy of similar and
peripheral units
• Internal positioning vs. external collaboration
• CB units as laboratories of European integration
• De-boundarization and re-frontierization
2.2 Forms of German- Polish CBC
27
2.2 Forms of German- Polish CBC
28
2.2 Forms of German- Polish CBC
• Euroregions on the German-Polish border
1995-2007 ‘’Euroregions’’ – the main platform for CBC, but:
• Needs indentified nationally, Euroregion-Label to get money
• Trivial purposes (infrastructure)
• Political pressure on local level
• Huge bureaucracy, however connecting people (SPF)
2007-2013 European Territorial Cooperation Programmers and
European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument
• Things doing better(less infrastructure, more human
resources, Joint Technical Secretariats ), but new, inefficient
structures, still cosy arrangements
29
3. Border twin towns
3.1 BTT in Europe
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border
3.1 BTT in Europe
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border
The case:
Frankfurt (Oder)-S ubice
Guben-Gubin
Goerlitz-Zgorzelec
Laboratoties of (European) integration
Collaboration motives
Collabortion forms
Common projects
Common policies
Common institutions
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border
Görlitz-Zgorzelec
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border - institutions
Culture, education, infrastructure transport projects
European Garden 2003 (S-F)
Hands Days, Oder River Days 2003 (S-F)
Sewage-farm 1998 (G-G)
CB Tram Line 2003-4 (S-F)(G-Z)
Double Town (S-F), European Towns (S-F)(G-G)
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border - institutions
• policies
Cooperation Net (F-S)
Polish-German Cooperation and Competence Center (F-S)
No Border Education (F-S)
EGTC – Expertising Governance for Transfrontier Conurbations (F-S)
My City: Zgorzelec – Görlitz (G-Z)
InterKulturManagement (G-Z)
Green Path (G-G)
Theater Island (G-G)
Bolfras House and View Tower (F-S)
City Church: Polish-German meeting point (G-G)
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border - institutions
• Institutions
Frankfurt (O)
ubicece
Executive Body
Polish-German Cross-Border Local
Action Group (URBACT)
Steering Group
General Assembly
Joint session of Town
Councils of S ubice and
Frankfurt
Joint Commission
of the European
Integration of the Town
Councils
Working Groups
- economic development,
- towns’ marketing,
- spatial planning
- international colaboration,
- culture and education
- projects
Border
Frankfurt-S ubice Cooperation Center
24 colaboration aims 2010-2020
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border - institutions
• EGTS
•Polish-German Intergovernmental
Commission
•The Oder River Partnership
•Institutional identity:
Border objects
Border iconography and border symbols
Integration forerunners
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border - bussines
Bazaars and small business
Economic Zones
Collaboration statistics
Between competition and
collaboration
• „Tunneling” effect
•
•
•
•
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border – the people
Language and language policies:
• very weak point of de-pl CBC
• bilingualism non existent (20% Poles claiming
knowledge of German, 3% Germans claiming
knowledge of Polish)
• asymmetric power of languages (50.000 people
learning De in Pl, 1 000 people learning Pl in De)
• trend rather English, than German
42
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
mixed marriages
4500
4200
Polish
women
for Germans
4000
3500
3000
2500
1900
2000
1500
1000
1700
1500
1100
1000
Russland Thailand Ukraine
Italien
500
0
Polen
Türkei
43
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
6000
mixed marriages
Germany
(2009)
5000
4079
Poland (2010)
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
921
4
Polnischer Ehemann
Polnische Ehefrau
321
Deutsche Ehefrau
44
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
sympathy and identities
Members of family
acceptance of other nation
Neighbour
90
70
80
60
70
50
60
40
Germans
30
Poles
20
50
40
30
20
10
10
0
1991
2005
0
1991
2005
45
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
New social cross-border stratum
cross-border living
Frankfurt O.
S ubice
flat
job
taxes
wife
doctor
country house
golf club
shopping
mistress
dental surgeon
1991 - 10 persons
50 persons + students
2012 - 700 persons + students
2000 -
46
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
•Kindergarten
•Primary schools
•Secondary schools
•Higher education
European University Viadrina
Collegium Polonicum
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
Higher education:
European University Viadrina
Frankfurt (Oder), Founding year: 1991
Number of students:
approximately 6.000
Chancellor:
Dr. Gunter Pleuger
48
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
49
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish border –
the people
50
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border – NGOs
•S ubFurt and Gubi.e.n
•Nova America
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border – NGOs
www.mylife-online.eu
52
NGO cooperation Slubice-Frankfurt ( Oder) %
100
80
77
68
52
60
39
40
20
0
German
Attempts to cooperate
Polish
Current cooperation
Cooperat ion frequency %
60
50
48
42
40
30
20
10
10
0
occasionally
regurally several
times per year
regurally several
times per month
W ill t o cooperat e in cases of lack of
cooperat ion %
120
100
80
100
90
62
60
45
28
40
20
0
German
total
Polish
yes
yes but it is not priority
55
Ext ernal financial support for joint project s %
60
50
50
40
30
31
28
31
20
10
0
Germany
Poland
Attempts
Sucess
Ow n input int o cooperat ion %
90 84
78
42
71 68
43 47
Germany
Poland
s o lid arit y
office
m am ag em en t
0
k n o w led g e
12
f in an c ial
res o u rc es
100
80
60
40
20
0
76
80 84
37
Germany
Poland
s o lid arit y
13
m am ag em en t
47
office
47
k n o w led g e
100
80
60
40
20
0
f in an c ial
res o u rc es
Dem and from cooperat ion %
73
52
16
Reasons for a lack of sucess %
100
80
80
66
60
40
20
17
17
20
0
0
us
both
Germany
partner
Poland
61
39
Germany
6
Poland
Lac k o f
in f o rm at io n
26
Lac k o f
in t eres t o f t h e
s ec o n d s id e
6
Pr e j u d i c e
11
Cu lt u ral
d if f eren c es
22
Co m m u n ic at i
on
72
Lan g u ag e
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
A d m i n i s t r at i o
n
Main problem s in cooperat ion %
48
55
19 22
Know ledge of foreing languages in NGOs %
120
100
100
80
78
60
40
20
0
Frankfurt (Oder)
Slubice
Know ledge of Germ an language %
60
50
50
48
40
30
31
25
21
25
20
10
0
non or basic
communication
ability
Poland
ubice
fluent
General at t it iude t o Poles/ Germ ans %
60
46 48 44 46
50
50 52
45
38
40
30
20
10
9
14
5
2
0
negative
Poland
indifferent
ubice Germany
positive
Frankfurt (Oder)
Personal know ledge of Poles/ Germ ans %
65
70
60
51
50
Slubice
Germany
50
40
35
30
20
10
0
Poland
Frankfut (Oder)
Fam ily in Poland/ Germ any %
12
10
10
8
8
8
6
5
4
2
0
Poland
Slubice
Germany
Frankfut (Oder)
Poles are t reat ed by Germ ans as part ners %
70
62
60
50
40
49 51
45
40
48 49
34
30
15
20
4
10
3
0
0
yes
Poland
difficult to say
Slubice Germany
no
Frankfut (Oder)
Germ ans are t reat ed by Poles as part ners %
100
80
60
78
62
84
57
39
40
26
12
20
4
4
18 16
0
0
yes
Poland
difficult to say
Slubice Germany
no
Frankfut (Oder)
3.2 BTT on the German-Polish
border – NGOs
• TV
Kowalski i Schmidt - Kowalski trifft Schmidt
• Newspapers
Dialog. Polish-German Journal
ubfurt Infobox (Zeitung/Gazeta PROFIL)
• Internet
Thank you for your attention!