Polnisches Ostpreußen – Depositär oder Nachfolger der deutschen Vergangenheit?

Changes in the political power and the population in the southern part of East Prussia, whichwent to Poland in 1945, led to the removal of traces of the German past in the region, and toits Polonisation immediately after the war. After discussing the de-Germanisation policy, typicalof the postwar period, the removal of symbols of ‘German power’, the elimination of the‘German spirit’, and trends in the adaptation of the new population to the cultural landscape,the author raises the question how relations between the population of the territory and theGerman heritage and past changed after 1989. The issue is considered in the context of thediscussion among intellectuals in Poland as to what the relationship with the German heritageshould be. The answer is based on the results of a sociological poll carried out by the Institutefor Western Affairs in 2001.Key words: East Prussia, Warmia and Masuria, cultural heritage, relations with the ‘German’heritage. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ahuk.v30i0.118