Towards a religious cross-border space. Projects along the Polish-German border

The Polish-German borderland, located along the rivers Oder and Neisse, is an area characterized over the decades by two ethnic groups – though living side by side – at the same time separated from one another by a hermetically sealed border. The same was true in the area of religion, with the society on the East German side being predominantly Protestant and over the years increasingly secular, while on the Polish side, society was always Catholic. The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 meant the start of a cross-border integration process, which affected the socioeconomic, cultural, and religious spheres, the latter being often neglected in the field of border studies. There emerged places that had an impact on the new cross-border environment – sacred sites that gained additional cross-border functions, post-sacred sites that acquired new religious or non-religious cross-border functions, as well as new religious cross-border sites. Examples include the reconstruction of St. Mary’s Church in Chojnie as a place of ecumenical worship and Polish-German reconciliation, restoration of the Parish Church in Gubin as a landmark highlighting the symbolic center of the Polish-German city of Guben-Gubin as well as its region, conversion of the Church of Peace in Frankfurt-upon-Oder into a ” European Ecumenical Center ”, establishment of a new Catholic Student Center as a Polish-German joint venture in a former municipal bathhouse in Słubice, and the rediscovery of the historic Way of St. James in the Polish-German borderland. An analysis of such projects gives evidence to the claim that a religious cross-border space is emerging in the Polish-German borderland, a geographic space that reflects values such as reconciliation and understanding between Poles and Germans following the horrors of World War II, a feeling of solidarity and belongingness between residents on both sides of the border, tolerance, and ecumenism.

Polish and Czech pilgrims on the Way of Saint James at the beginning of the 21^st century

The Way of St. James is at present the most famous Christian pilgrimage route as well as the first European Cultural Route. An analysis of Polish and Slovak tours and pilgrimages to the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela has shown an increase over the last decade in popularity of pilgrimages following the Way of Saint James among residents from these two Eastern and Central European countries. The number of Polish and Slovak “ de Compostela ” pilgrims increased seven-fold over the period 2004 – 2013. This was caused by a number of factors, most notably by the development of the Devotion to Saint James in many parishes, an increasing amount of information about the Way of Saint James in the mass media, individual promotion of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage by individuals who had reached Compostela and had received a “ Compostela ” document as well as an increase in the number of low-cost airlines connecting Spain with Eastern and Central Europe. During the study period 2004 – 2013, more than 60 % of Polish and Slovak “Camino ” pilgrims declared religious reasons for their expeditions. Unlike in the case of the whole population of Camino pilgrims, non-religious motives for visiting the tomb of Saint James were only marginally significant for Poles and Slovaks ( 1.7 % and 2.4 %, respectively ). Poles and Slovaks usually make their pilgrimage on foot ( 87 % and 94 %, respectively ). However, the share of Polish and Slovak bicyclists who have reached Santiago de Compostela is quite the opposite ( 12.9 % and 5.75 %, respectively ). All data are for the 2004 – 2013 period. More than 50 % of Camino pilgrims from Poland and Slovakia are people between 30 and 60 years of age. The part of the pilgrimage route to the town of Compostela most often chosen by Polish and Slovak Camino pilgrims is the French Way ( Camino Francés ).

Geography as a field of research in Kraków first developed in the middle of the 19th century. The Faculty of Tourism at Jagiellonian University was the first to create a large program in pilgrimage research between 1936 and 1939.
The politics of the next five decades hampered the development of the program, with full-time studies beginning in the 1980s. The geography of religion program focused on research on the global nature of pilgrimages. Key research interests included historical and spatial issues and their effect on infrastructural, social, and economic changes at centers of religious worship as well as in surrounding regions and countries.