On 17 June, at 10 a.m., a ceremonial opening of the "Neighbours in Europe" exhibition took place in Wrocław. The exhibition was created on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Polish-German Treaty on Good Neighbourhood and Friendly Cooperation and shows the history of Polish-German relations from the Second World War until the present day.
Its creators are: Centrum Historii Zajezdnia in cooperation with the city of Wrocław and the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was attended by: Ewa Gołąb-Nowakowska - Director of the Department for International Cooperation of the City Hall,, Hans Jörg Neumann - General Consul of Germany in Wrocław, Dr. Marek Mutor - Director of the "Centrum Historii Zajezdnia" and Dr. Robert Żurek - Managing Director of the "Krzyżowa" Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe.
The Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendly Cooperation was signed on 17 June 1991. It was the third element in a triad that built the foundations for a new quality of Polish-German relations, together with the Reconciliation Mass in Krzyżowa on 12 November 1989 and the Border Treaty of 1990.
The Good Neighbour Treaty created a lasting basis for political, economic, social, scientific and cultural rapprochement. The fact that bilateral relations were framed in the treaty in a European context was of key importance - both Polish aspirations for integration into the European Union and the significance of the Polish-German partnership for the development of a unified Europe were taken into account.
The authors of the exhibition 'Neighbours in Europe' are Robert Żurek, PhD, a historian and director of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, and Aleksandra Pierścińska-Lichwa from the Department for International Cooperation of the City Hall, who described the partnership relations between Polish and German towns and the projects carried out as part of the towns' partnership.
The exhibition will be on display from 17 June to 5 July on Oławska Street in Wrocław, then from 5 July to 23 August on the square in front of the History Centre Zajezdnia on Grabiszyńska Street in Wrocław.
Additionally from 24 August to 31 September the exhibition will be presented in Krzyżowa and it is a part of the project "8 x reconciliation".