Poniemiekie
Layers of shared histories
Open topic
Layers of shared histories
Open topic
5th semester M.Sc
Winter semester 2024/25
Winter semester 2024/25
Leibniz University Hanover
Faculty of Architecture and Landscape
Chair for Regional Building and Urban Planning
Institute of Urban Design and Planning
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Univ. Jörg Schröder
Riccarda Cappeller MSc MA
Faculty of Architecture and Landscape
Chair for Regional Building and Urban Planning
Institute of Urban Design and Planning
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Univ. Jörg Schröder
Riccarda Cappeller MSc MA
This research booklet marks the starting point of my master thesis. Titled poniemieckie – Überlagerung von Räumen geteilter Vergangenheit, it explores spatial, historical, and cultural layers in the Silesian region, with a particular focus on Głuszyca. The work engages with the consequences of displacement and resettlement after 1945, which continue to shape the region’s identity and urban fabric.
Through cartographic analysis, theoretical reflection, and field observations, the booklet establishes a foundational understanding of vacancy, spatial appropriation, and structural transformation. It investigates how layered histories and ruptured continuities have produced specific spatial conditions in postwar Silesia, and how these conditions can be interpreted not only as signs of loss, but also as starting points for future-oriented reuse. By framing vacancy as both a symptom of structural change and a potential resource, the work seeks to open up new perspectives on dealing with spaces marked by absence, transition, and historical entanglement.