Absorption and adoption : strategies on pre-war heritage in the museums of Szczecin and Wrocław

The article discusses the forms of presentation of the pre-war German heritage in selected museums in Wrocław and Szczecin: The Depot History Centre in Wrocław, Wrocław City Museum, The National Museum in Szczecin — The Dialogue Centre Upheavals and the Szczecin History Museum. The authors analyze the visions of the community and Polish-German relations emerging from the exhibitions. The focus is also put on the affective reactions elicited by the created narratives and selected means of expression — objects/ props — that are used to construct the exhibitions. Finally, the authors propose concepts of adoption and absorption and apply them to define the formulas of heritage representations