It is our pleasure to invite you to the interdisciplinary scientific conference entitled Pomeranian Necropolises. The conference will cover a description of Pomeranian cemeteries and the analysis of funeral phenomena. We will present old cemeteries that today exist only in our memories, necropolises endangered with being forgotten, and finally those where we still bury our intimates.
Among people invited to our conference there are historians, archeologists, town planners, sociologists, specialists in literature, architectural historians, municipal authority representatives and cemetery administrators. Such a variety of guests will enable us to create a compendium of knowledge about Pomeranian necropolises.
Problem issues of the conference:
A history of cemeteries
Pomeranian necropolises - a typology
A cemetery and its evolution in the landscape of Pomerania
A cemetery as a cultural heritage
Thanatourism in Pomerania
Sepulclar spaces - the evidence of the ethnic richness of Pomerania
Pomeranian cemeteries in art and literature
Sepulclar art and architecture
A history of funeral objects
A cemetery from an anthropological and social perspective
A cemetery as a religious and ritual space
A cemetery - the place of memory and social interaction
Deserted cemeteries - a remorse?
Funeral honesty
Cemeteries - a daily life
Pomeranian Necropolises is a research, documentary and artistic project of the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre, organised in cooperation with the Kashubian Institute, Faculty of Architecture at the Gdansk University of Technology, Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Journalism at the Gdańsk University, the Regional Center for Historical Monument Studies and Documentation, the Royal State Archive in Gdańsk and the Pomeranian Provincial Heritage Conservator.
Pomerania is distinguished among other regions of Poland by the great amount of prehistoric cemeteries, the most famous of which are necropolises of Goths in Odry and Węsiory in Cassubia, explored in the 20th century.
Pomeranian cemeteries which existed in the 20th century usually have their roots in earlier centuries. They were founded by parish communities, thus they are divided into Catholic, Jewish and Protestant necropolises. Catholic communities survived the war and post-war transformations which were related to mass migrations of German population - mainly Protestants. Due to the above-mentioned migrations, the majority of German necropolises were destroyed during the period of People's Republic of Poland. Recognized as deserted, those cemeteries were changed into parks or even turned into built-up areas. However, they still exist in small villages, and although neglected, they are increasingly revaluated or at least put in order and protected against further devastation [...].
Józef Borzyszkowski, Cmentarze pomorskie (The Pomeranian cemeteries)
The project includes:
- interdisciplinary scientific conference entitled Pomeranian Necropolises (26th - 27th of October, 2010)
- scientific session The Gothic St. John's Church in Gdańsk - the cemetery
- exhibition of archives and documentation of cemeteries
- workshop: A method of searching for non-existent cemeteries
- artistic and cultural activities: Archetype - Awareness - Place
- studio trips - following the trail of Pomeranian necropolises
- publications: photographic album of Polish cemeteries; conference and scientific session materials
