KINGA RACOŃ-LEJA*

URBAN HERITAGE OF EUROPE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

A b s t r a c t

Today the impact of the Second World War is visible in multiple European cities, since the destruction was crucial to the urban core. Strategic and aerial bombings, as well as warfare conducted in the real urban scenery, left city centers in complete ruins. The scale of destruction was so vast, we could assume a distinct part of the urban heritage of Europe was lost. Complex post-war political situations in Europe, ones facing real human and economic catastrophe, turned the process of reconstruction on its side. Cleaning up ruins and making the city work seemed to have the most important impact on the process. The Modernism movement and Socialist Realism di-rected the ways of city rebuilding. Cities which struggled with the trial historical reconstruction faced many problems of adapting new demands to old forms. The effort overwhelmed the real possibilities, which resulted in only a partial reconstruction of the destroyed Warsaw. The present situation shows the nostalgia to recover the lost, as exemplified by Dresden – which recently reconstructed the Frauenkirche, and which rebuilds its central area of Neumarkt. From Dresden’s perspective, re-establishing the pre-war city centre might seem to be a visible sign of a trial to return to the historical image of the city

Keywords: war devastation in European cities, urban heritage, World War II, city rebuilding and reconstruction

1. Introduction

The beauty of the city – an ideal which many planners have tried to face – is a category insufficiently appreciated, although we should consider it an art of the highest level. Architectural events, even outstanding, rarely form spatial dialogue leading towards beautiful urban complexes. Sad-ly, few architects note the need to fit their project into a real city context, respecting the city’s history and presence. Towns developed in a rush are burdened with the sin of mediocrity and an excess of unwanted impressions. They clearly illustrate present consumer approach to the space. At the root of this situation, we can find the dynamics of development, dating back to the beginning of the industri-al era, the sins of Modernism, and its denial of historical patterns, as well as two world wars which swept across the continent. The Second World War proved how easy one may squander achievements earned over centuries. Cities became an arena of hard struggles and, unfortunately, tar-gets of the attack. Man, driving the war machine, had for-gotten about the fact that one simply cannot rebuild cities.

The perspective of nearly seventy years since the end of the Second World War induces deep reflection on the influ-ence of war on the European urban landscape. This subject seems to be particularly difficult if we try to relate it to the continuation of the process of city development, its tradition, and heritage. How do we compare the image of the pre-war and post-war city? The task seems even more complex if we take into consideration the layers of later reconstruction. The Second World War has left a stigma, which subsequent generations failed to erase, regardless of how hard they tried. War heavily weighs on the image of many European cities, leaving them as silent witnesses to unprecedented barbarism.

2. Cities outside the War Arena

It seems rather paradoxical to write about the Second World War from the perspective of Krakow – the city which managed to survive the war’s turmoil. Meanwhile,

* Ph.D. Arch. Kinga Racoń-Leja, Institute of Urban Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, Poland.

Fig. 1. Krakow’s as Nolly Plan – urban hybrid of a pre-location axis (the Royal Tract) and later urban grid. CUT students’ work

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the invasion of Tartars in 1241, and the accompanying fire which destroyed wooden buildings, became the basis for the birth of the new city layout. It is difficult, however, to talk about the intended urban planning. The reconstruction of Krakow, which dates back to 1257, was primarily based on the Magdeburg Law. The urban grid was a pure reflec-tion of the legal act, visible in the geometrical arrangement of plots. Spatial consequences of the urban form were interfered with by the pre-axis tracking of present-day Grodzka Street. In this manner, the centre became a hybrid – proving high sensitivity of the former inhabitants, who tried to connect both new and old urban patterns. Clear grid systems throughout centuries have been filled with buildings. The substance has gradually been exchanged, but the system remained a constant element of the city. The historic centre of Krakow was inscribed in 1978 on UN-ESCO’s World Heritage List, proving the significance of urban solutions [Fig. 1].

Over the past several years, Krakow has experienced a real tourist invasion. An important element of the success is an authentic urban scenery. Among the events, there’s the symbolic Jewish Culture Festival, organized in the for-mer Jewish district of Kazimierz. The physical space of Kazimierz survived the Second World War; its inhabitants, unfortunately, did not. The Jewish population of Krakow was enclosed in the ghetto by German Nazi occupiers, and exterminated in concentration camps. The durability of space became an impulse to social reactivation and the return of Jewish culture to Krakow. The present phenome-non of the Jewish Festival (established in 1988) was clear proof, proving the relationship between the people and the city space.1

Another example of the city, which was saved from the war turmoil, is the German city of Görlitz. It dates back to eleventh century. Görlitz’s beautiful historical centre, located to the west of Lusatia Neisse, mostly survived the Second World War.2 The fortunate war history did not guarantee the maintenance of architectural heritage. In the 80’s, GDR authorities planned to destroy the neglected, but still original, historical centre. Loose attitude towards the heritage was very typical of the former East German gov-ernment, reflected by the demolition of numerous monu-ments which survived the war. A famous exemplification of politics interfering with architecture was the destruction of Saint Sophie Church in Dresden (1953), following the political decision of Walter Ulbricht, First Secretary of the former Socialist Unity Party of GDR. [6] In a certain sense, Görlitz was saved for the second time – surviving the possible post-war city space cleaning. The unification of Germany ceased dangerous considerations over the demolition of what has remained. New authorities started the process of urban renewal. The restoration of architec-tural monuments would not be possible, though, without

1 Jewish Festival, (online): http:/jewishfestival.pl, (date of access: 2014-12-10).

2 The east part of present Zgorzelec, located after the war in Poland, was less fortunate (author’s footnote).

the help of a mysterious donor. The anonymous donor for the last 20 years has subsidized the restoration of architec-tural monuments, transferring 500,000 euros each year to the city. A municipal foundation distributes the funds to investors, reimbursing their efforts to restore the beautiful image of Görlitz. The process is supervised by the local chapter responsible for the protection of monuments. The results of the involvement of citizens and authorities are astonishing. Görlitz center is impressive with delightful, authentic details, one of the very few examples on the post-war map of Germany. Görlitz’s authentic urban spaces are presently used as scenography for the film industry, includ-ing such productions as Inglorious Bastards, Goethe, The Reader, etc. Its streets are used as set design, resembling other open-air European urban ensembles. Therefore, we may treat Görlitz as an unusual example of a city, which was able to take advantage of its beautiful image [Fig. 2].

Fig. 2. Görlitz, the beautiful image of the city, which was not demolished during the WWII. Photo by the Author

3. Lost Heritage

The Second World War touched various European countries. Poland and its urban heritage suffered heavily, experiencing direct military movements. It is difficult to find urban areas which did not suffer at that time. To show the war’s negative influence, we can list over 177 Polish cities which were destroyed by more than 50%, according to K. Pawłowski. The destruction of The Recovered Lands reveals an incomprehensible barbarism. In West Pomera-nia, 26 out of 70 cities (and in Lower Silesia, 29 out of 86 cities) were destroyed by more than 50%.3 The Pol-ish capital, Warsaw, experienced the most tragic of these demolitions; its damage was estimated as high as 85–90%. In Warsaw’s case, the war’s destruction had many awful chapters, including the September 1939 Campaign, the 1943 Warsaw Jewish Ghetto Uprising, the 1944 Warsaw

3 K. Pawłowski, Zasady ochrony, odbudowy i rewaloryzacji histo-rycznych zespołów urbanistycznych, [in:] W. Zin (Ed.): Zabytki urbanistyki i architektury w Polsce, Odbudowa i konserwacja, W. Kalinowski (Ed.): Miasta historyczne, vol. 1, Arkady, Warszawa 1986, p. 52.

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Uprising, and later, a systematic destruction of the city by the Nazi occupier.

Can we trace the relationship between the beauty of the city and its destruction? Modernist ideology, criticizing tra-ditional urban form, paid attention to the fact that, in case of air-raids, it could become a death trap for its inhabitants. Narrow urban rooms increased the wave of the outbreak, multiplying negative consequences. High density and com-pactness of the urban form were among the most questioned factors. In comparison, single, scattered buildings were quite difficult targets and, more important, they did not in-crease the side effects of bombings. During World War II, the use of bombs on the non-compact city area, dropped directly by pilots deprived of automatic guidance systems, meant a high probability of missing the target.

Among many historical scenarios, the first air attacks were executed during the September 1939 Campaign on two small Polish towns; Frampol and Wieluń are consid-ered training sites. Both towns were strategically unimport-ant. Frampol was characterised by a beautiful, symmetrical urban layout. From the air, Frampol resembled a dartboard, including a centrally situated market square with a town hall. For the Luftwaffe, it was an ideal target. Wieluń’s leg-ible market square layout leads to similar reflections. Both cities illustrate the tragic vision of history, which destroys urban complexes easily, the more perfect they seem.

Today, the importance of such elements as the transpar-ency of the city composition for attacking air forces seem to be marginal, taking into account the possibility of automat-ic guided missiles. During the Second World War, towers, street axes, park or river belts, and green rings were con-sidered as relevant elements, helping to guide a pilot. One may wonder, to what extent were those sites – preserved by the invaders during the air raids – saved according to their own cultural or strategic value? Much different in context, the saved towers of Cologne Cathedral, of Frauenkirche in Dresden4, or the famous St. Lawrence church in Rotterdam are some of the few structures that survived the bombing and later fire.

Conventional wars were based on direct contact be-tween the opponents. Medieval knights could watch each other. Both fighters experienced the consequences directly. In a sense, World War II air attacks were like contemporary computer games. The large physical distance between the airplane and the target allowed for little observation. The initial comments of the Luftwaffe pilots during the first bombardments of Poland showed how abstract the war had become. Streets looked to them like pictures from post-cards. Dark spots – people on the streets – were seen only as moving targets. One of the pilots, while describing his attack on Wieluń, made a remarkable statement; he wrote that, from that altitude, life on earth simply was losing its importance.5

4 The building collapsed the next day after the bombing (author’s footnote).

5 Description of the bombardment of Wieluń (online): http://www.historiawielunia.uni.lodz.pl/1wrzesnia2.html, (date of access 2014-05-20).

The destruction of cities from the air was not far from virtual reality. Aerial forces bombed cities without reflect-ing on the effects of their destructive actions; they didn’t have to experience collapsing walls, structures melting from fire, and people burning alive. It’s worth quoting here, after N. Davis, the words of General Arthur Harris: We will remove German cities just like the dentist removes teeth.6 History gave the general a meaningful nickname – The Bomber. The British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force bombardments helped bring about the end of the war, but the effects of their actions were overwhelming. A. Harris, in his report on war operations (concerning the period of 23.02.1942 to 8.05.1945), listed and defined the percentage of damage to 44 bombed Ger-man cities and their areas. Among the big cities with over 500,000 inhabitants, the report lists: Berlin (destroyed in 33%), Cologne (61%), Dortmund (54%), Düsseldorf (65%), Dresden (59%), Frankfurt (52%), Hamburg (75%) and Mu-nich7 [2]. Politicians exploited the heritage of European cit-ies in the great battle for the fate of the world. Cities were bombed on the front lines as well as far beyond direct fight-ing. However, if we look closer at the bombing of Warsaw, Rotterdam or Dresden, we notice deliberate attacks on the most valuable central areas. In the case of Rotterdam, for example, the historical old center was bombed – the real heart of the city, which was illustrated later by Ossip Zad-kine’s8 powerful statue, The Destroyed City. Warsaw, un-like any other city, was destroyed several times; and, at the end, it was demolished purposely, building by building, as if to be erased from the map of Europe. In the case of Dres-den, military sites were not bombed, but the most beautiful parts of the former baroque city. In this context, one may wonder why did we place urban heritage on the scales of war, assuming that, after the war, only ashes would be left? The trauma of the destruction is captured in the words of Winston Churchill, who, just after the bombing of Dresden noted: “It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of so called ‘area bombing’ of German cities should be reviewed from the point of view of our own in-terests. If we come into control of an entirely ruined land, there will be a great shortage of accommodation for our-selves and our Allies: and we shall be unable to get housing materials out of Germany for our own needs because some temporary provision would have to be made for the Ger-mans themselves. We must see to it that our attacks do not do more harm to ourselves in the long run than they do to the enemy’s immediate war effort”.9 The awareness of the stage of demolition is remarkable. The self-report is very meaningful, simultaneously displaying success alongside catastrophe. Churchill’s report was revealed a few years

6 N. Davies, Europa, Znak, Kraków 1998, p. 448.7 The later evaluation of the German loss during WWII shows a rela-

tively lower percentage of devastations, as exemplified by U. Hohn [5] (author’s footnote).

8 O. Zadkine, Der Wervoeste Stad, Rotterdam 1951–1953.9 Winston Churchill to General Ismay for C.O.S. Committee C.A.S.

on April 1, 1945 D.89/5, top secret, (online): http://learningcurve.gov.uk/worldwarII, (date of access 2012-11-19).

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ago among other secrets documents, demonstrating a pre-viously unknown perspective of the war game.

4. The Present Perspective of War

Today, after more than seventy years of distance (and the possibility of looking into recently revealed archives) we have some objectivity in understanding the impact of war on European cities. We are also more aware of post-war rebuilding and its influence on the present-day city im-age. The present general reflection enables the evaluation of the complex processes of both destruction and recon-struction.

The enormity of the loss that cities incurred after World War II was evident immediately after the war. Longing for what had been destroyed, survivors turned towards recon-struction. It might seem to us that rebuilding was the most obvious solution. The time perspective shows how complex this process was. To illustrate the problem, we need to un-derstand that there were many unexpected traps the planners faced at that time, as well as many questions that needed rapid answers. The question of the removal of ruins was first among the problems, such as how to do it fast, and how to evaluate the substance for further reconstruction? Should the precise reconstruction continue, or should building be quick in order to accommodate thousands of homeless? The historical followers had to face new powerful ideologies im-pacting the post-war process – socialist realism and modern-ism. If we examine the literature and media discussion of the post-war era, we notice the doubts of our colleagues. The capital, Warsaw (which led the effort to start the reconstruc-tion and was supported by the entire country in its heroic decision), demonstrated that all dreams could not possibly be realised. To rebuild 11 sq. kilometres of a former city, as planned, was simply not possible. The Office for Recon-struction of the Capital under the leadership of Jan Zachwa-towicz managed to reconstruct part of today’s Old Town and the Royal Route. One of the most questioned issues to date regarding the process of Warsaw’s reconstruction was the return to the 1850’s, and not to the pre-war city [7].

Common access to the internet opened new possibilities of showing the real effects of the Second World War. On one side, it allowed for the unlimited access to information, which was published by witnesses of the war. Among other coun-tries, the British Archives opened their updated secret files. Many other institutions revealed their documents and photos. An incredible amount of information was shared by films showing Europe in ruins. The significant time distance en-ables a certain objectivity in the evaluation of those materials.

Another symptom of the return to WWII trauma is the current trials to commemorate the past. It is particularly visible in the case of the Polish capital. Over the last sever-al years, Warsaw tried to give significance to its tragic past. Among many overtaken efforts, we may list the opening of the Warsaw Uprising Museum (2004),10 the Jewish Muse-

10 In ten years, it was visited by 4.6 million visitors, (online): http://www.1944.pl/o_muzeum/o_nas/, (date of access 2014-05-20).

um construction (2013), and the financing of the Report of the War Destruction of Warsaw (2004).11 Modern comput-er techniques enabled the virtual reconstruction of the lost city space. Two phases from Warsaw’s past have been pre-cisely reconstructed. The first of them, The Project Warsaw 1935, shows the city during its most spectacular time – as it was before the war – a modern European capital with out-standing architecture and urban landscape.12 The second production, released in 2010, The City of Ruins, created a very powerful image of a destroyed Warsaw. The film visualized a hypothetical flight of a Liberator over the city in 1945. It was prepared based on preserved photographs. The view of the war apocalypse left an unforgettable image over the lost city space.

In addition, Rotterdam tries to commemorate its trag-ic history. This famous Dutch city became an example of both the extensive devastation and the retreat from the past, which is visible in its modern way of rebuilding. The purpose of the present project promoting the Brandgrens – Fireline was to show the vast destruction of the Luftwaffe bombing, and later fire, which, in 1940, erased the centre of the city. The Fireline commemorates the war tragedy; it is presently marked by the lights placed in the pavement. In 2007, Rotterdam lit the sky along the border of devastated city centre, trying to exemplify the vastness of the destruc-tion [Fig. 3].

Fig. 3. Rotterdam Fireline – the range of WWII devastations superimposed on the present city model, City Promotion Centre

“Rotterdam Info”. Photo by the Author

One may hypothesize that virtual tools – to some ex-tent – influence the mass imagination. Computer visual-izations stimulate certain nostalgia for what was lost. In some cases, they inspire a romantic return to the past and present trials of rebuilding the historical city. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but if we look closer, some cities still continue their reconstruction. Dresden decided

11 Report on the war devastation of Warsaw, http://www.rodaknet.com/Raport_o_stratach_wojennych_Warszawy.pdf

12 Film production of T. Gomoła and E. Rogalski (2013), Newborn animation and vfx, Project Warsaw 1935, (http.//warszawa1935.pl), (date of access 2014-05-20).

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to reconstruct its former war memorial of Frauenkirche13. Rebuilding a famous symbol of incomprehensible vandal-ism launched a new chapter in Dresden’s history. The exe-cution of the reconstruction plan of the city center started in 2001. Neumarkt became one of the greatest sites of historic reconstruction in Europe, proving how Dresden is trying to regain its pre-war image.14 This nostalgia is not appreciated by professionals, as some do not agree on the repetition of historic forms. On the other side, the process is positively welcomed by the inhabitants, who prefer to come back to the historical image of Dresden. For them, the architectural revival is a real return to the lost past [Fig. 4].

The Second World War caused the vast demolition of Eu-ropean cities. Its consequences are visible even today. Urban landscape has been irreversibly changed. Looking from this tragic perspective, we may assume that the gradual build-up of architecture in the harmonized urban layout may (but of course does not have to be) the method for creating the beau-ty of a city. The consistency of the development of urban settlement, recorded in its structure, and complemented with an authentic architectural detail, constitutes the European heritage. Two world wars of the 20th century contributed to the dramatic destruction, destroying irreversibly what previ-ous generations had left. Also, present-day Europeans keep coming back to commemorate the tragedy, understanding that it is impossible to regain the loss.

13 The church was rebuilt in 2004, its interior finished in 2005 (foot-note of an author).

14 Refer to: http.//www.neumarkt-dresden.de (date of access 2014.05.20).

Fig. 4. Dresden Frauenkirche and Neumarkt – examples of present reconstruction of the historical city center.

Photo by the Author

R e f e r e n c e s

[1] Davies N., Europa, Znak, Kraków 1998.[2] Devastation of German Cities – chart from a report of A. Harris concerning war operations in the period 23.02.1942 –

8.05.1945; cat. no. AIR 16/487, (online): http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/worldwar2/theatres-of-war/western-europe/investigation/hamburg/sources/docs/6/, (date of access: 2012-11-19).

[3] Gutschow N., Klein B., Zagłada i utopia. Urbanistyka Warszawy w latach 1939–1945, Deutscher Werkbund e. V. Frankfurt/Main & Muzeum Historyczne m.st. Warszawy, Warsaw 1995.

[4] Gretzschel M., Als Dresden in Feuersturm versank, Ellert&Richter Verlag, Hamburg 2009.[5] Hohn U., Die Zerstörung deutscher Städte bis 1945: Luftkrieg und Stadtplanung, Schadenfassung und Schaden-

bilanz, [in:] Nipper J., Nutz M. (Eds.): Kriegszerstörung und Wiederaufbau deutscher Städte 1940–1945, Geogra-phisches Institut der Universität zu Köln, Cologne 1993, p. 3-23.

[6] Lerm M., Abschied vom alten Dresden, Verluste historischer Bausubstanz nach 1945, Hinstorff 2000. [7] Majewski J., Markiewicz T., Building a New Home – The Reconstruction of Warsaw in the Period of 1945–1952,

Dom Spotkań z Historią, Warszawa 2012.[6] Motak M., Historia rozwoju urbanistycznego Krakowa w zarysie, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków 2012.[7] Pawłowski K., Zasady ochrony, odbudowy i rewaloryzacji historycznych zespołów urbanistycznych, [in:] Zin W.

(Ed.), Zabytki urbanistyki i architektury w Polsce, Odbudowa i konserwacja, W. Kalinowski (Ed.) Miasta history-czne, vol. 1, Arkady, Warszawa 1986.

[8] Racoń-Leja K., Traces of the Second World War in European Cities, [in:] Technical Transitions, Contemporary Problems in Architecture and Urbanism, vol. 3, Architecture/Issue 1-A (3), Year 2013 (110), Cracow University of Technology, Kraków 2013, p. 101-118.