Department of German Studies

The Department of German Studies conducts research in several areas, primarily regarding ethnic problems (national minorities, migrations), the history of Polish-German relations, and contemporary Polish-German relations in the international context. The research is interdisciplinary in nature (history, sociology, political science).

The history of Polish-German relations is concerned with the study of the international conditions of Poland’s position before 1989 (e.g. Warsaw Pact in its final phase of existence) and its policy towards German reunification. It also examines selected aspects, particularly relevant to the history of Polish-German relations (for example, the Polish-German Textbook Commission, the “Regained Lands” in Polish memory and identity formation). Current issues include research on radical-right parties in German-speaking countries and the postcolonial narrative about Poland in the German press after 1990.

The issues of nationality (the German minority in Poland, the Polish minority in Germany, migration processes) still persist to be a significant factor in the bilateral Polish-German relations. Both ethnic issues and the history of German-Polish relations are the topic of a project conducted by several Department’s employees, titled  “Remembrance of the camps for the German population in postwar Poland (Polish People’s Republic and Third Polish Republic)”. In this area we cooperate with the German Minority Research Center in Gliwice. The issues of migration are related to research on the identity of children from Polish-German marriages.

In addition, current issues concerning the German minority are monitored, as well as current events relating to international politics, the place of Germany and Austria in said politics (current relations with Poland, politics in the European Union and internationally).