The Oder, although one of Europe’s longest rivers, has not engendered its own myths and stories like the Vistula. For years it remained the uglier sister of the Rhine, deputized to do the hardest work.
While the Rhine was the hero of Heine’s or Wagner’s works, the Oder was subjected to shortening, trimming and straightening for human needs. It was to fuel not the mills of Prussian mythology, but the steel mills and granaries of the state of Frederick II the Great. The Oder became the backbone and main artery of his kingdom, a bridge connecting the two banks, and only after the hecatomb of World War II did it begin to serve as a border for the first time in its history. However, unlike the Danube, it also became a river without a memory, its history needing to be rewritten and retold, which in this issue is done by: Wojciech Browarny, Beata Halicka, Jan Hradecký, Łukasz Ławicki, Piotr Oleksy, Lothar Quinkenstein, Tomasz Różycki, Wojciech Stanisławski, Andrzej Woźnica, Paul Zalewski, Michał Zygmunt.
Content
Editorial
The Oder Doesn’t Meander Anymore. Prof. Andrzej Woźnica talks with Joanna Wiśniowska
Jan Hradecký – What the Oder Has Taken and What It Will Bring
Wojciech Stanisławski – The Many Locks of Tadeusz Różewicz
Tomasz Różycki – The Trial of Water
Wojciech Browarny – The Oder. Wrocław’s enchantment
Lothar Quinkenstein – From the Saar to the Oder. A Short Cartography of a Very Personal Mesopotamia
Paul Zalewski – Twin City on the Oder River. Histories, Spaces and Identities
Beata Halicka – The Oder‑Academy at Viadrina. Up and Down the Border River
Łukasz Ławicki – Lower Oder Valley. A History of Taming the River and a Century of Conservation Efforts
Piotr Oleksy – Islands of National Interest
Ours is the River. Michał Zygmunt talks with Łukasz Konatowicz