The Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies is a research center in Halle, Germany, which focuses on Polish history as well as the current issues related to the Polish politics, society, language, and culture. Aside from the research, carried out by its own research fellows, the Center offers Interdisciplinary Polish Studies Master’s programs for the students of the universities in Halle and Jena. A part of this programs is the lecture series entitled “Was Sie schon immer über Polen wissen wollten (oder sollten)” [Everything you always wanted (or should) know about Poland]. Our researcher Michal Korhel was invited to give a lecture about his research on German ghosts in West Pomerania.
In his presentation entitled “Geisterlandschaften? Deutsche Spuren in der Kulturlandschaft Ostmitteleuropas” [Spectral Landscapes? German Traces in the Cultural Landscape of East Central Europe] Michal introduced the theoretical concepts guiding his research, as well as sketched an overview of the West Pomerania region, where he conducts his fieldwork. Consequently, he presented the various categories of ghosts he encountered in the cultural landscape of the region of Goleniów and Nowogard. The following discussion with students and external participants focused predominantly on Michal’s findings during his fieldwork in Poland and Slovakia, but also on the general reception of this topic in Germany.