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UrbanSpaces

An EU project with a team that aims to educate and promote interwar history in twin towns across Europe from every generation for every generation Stay tuned!

UrbanSpaces is a European project that deals with the perception and cultural history of the Interwar Period (1818–1939) in Europe. To depict and research this period, eight towns from six different countries across Europe have teamed up to show both similarities and differences between them during the interwar period. The aim of the project is to promote cultural cooperation between the eight twi

n towns, share new knowledge and develop products such as film clips, publications, exhibitions, and events that will be used for promotional and educational purposes. The project is co-funded by our sponsors, the European Union and Erasmus+. Towns participating:
Bracknell (United Kingdom)
Villeneuve d'Ascq (France)
Racibórz (Poland)
Olou (Finland)
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Jülich (Germany)
Leverkusen (Germany)
Schwedt/Oder (Germany)

15/08/2023

The River Rur - A Tale of Life and Death

💧 The first settlement of Jülich was deliberately founded on the Rurz Water is not only a necessary basis of human existence, the location next to rivers is also strategically justified. 🛳️

🏞️ The town of Jülich is embedded in a network of watercourses. The Rur has shaped and molded the topography and is, so to speak, the lifeline of the town: for a long time, the Rur fed the fortress moat 🏰 , today it supplies the town with service water, absorbs waste water, supplies the factories 🏭 with hydroelectric power ⚡️ and is in general an important prerequisite for Jülich's industry; - not alone, but with the help of inflowing streams and mill ditches, of mill ponds.

📄 The mill ponds originally powered grain and oil mills. The last grain mill in Stiftsherren-Road in Jülich was demolished not much later. For a little more than 100 years before the interwar period, they served mainly to produce paper. But due to the absorption of waste water, especially from the factories, the mill ponds have become heavily polluted and via the ponds, the Rur itself, has not only become heavily polluted but almost poisoned. ☠️

🌍 It is in recent years, with the efforts of environmental initiatives, that nature is beginning to breathe again! 💚

✉️ What about the Interwar period? River Ruhr also tells a story of civil resistance. Workers along the river’s many factories refused to work during the occupation of the Ruhr (1923-24). A blow to the economy and a powerful message.

How do rivers intertwine with your local identity? ⬇️

01/08/2023

On memory and monuments

💭 Do you know the stories behind all of the statues and monuments in your town? What are the stories of the people they were dedicated to? Are they voices of loss, of freedom, of invention and happiness? Why did we forget about them and how do we re-learn?

🇫🇷 Villeneuve d’Ascq (an amalgamation of 3 villages – Ascq, Annappes and Flers) has four First World War memorials. On the memorial in Annappes, commemorating the village’s 86 dead, there is a bronze bas-relief. It depicts an allegory of France mourning and honouring a dead French soldier.

➡️ As part of a redesign of the village, the memorial was moved in 2019.

⛏️ The move gave archeologists the chance to explore remains from the Carolingian era, an opportunity to expand their knowledge of the past.

❔And yet today, locals pass by the new memorial site and appear oblivious to it.
It’s meaning was lost to time and it is waiting to be found again.

📷 Inauguration of the War Memorial of Annappes on September 12, 1920
📷 Patriotic demonstration of remembrance in 1925
📷 The War Memorial in 2020
📷 The relocation of the Monument on July 29, 2022
📷 The Monument will be placed on its new location 29-07-2022
📷 The War Memorial of Annappes in 2023

16/07/2023

🎊 Neighborhood festivals in Annappes (Villeneuve d'Ascq).

Northern France has a tradition: to represent the identity of its cities by giants. The great festivals of Lille in June 1922, which celebrated the return to peace, were the occasion for a gathering of the giants of the various cities of the North.

🎶 Mr. Mas, the president of the Philharmonie d'Annappes, which had 3200 inhabitants in 1925, organized concerts in the park of his large house. But in 1927, people trampled on the flowerbeds of the garden, and the party was suppressed! In 1928, the inhabitants of the Mouffetard district at the end of the rue de la liberté, deprived of the Philharmonie concert in Mas Park, launched the festival of the Mouffetard district with parades of giants.

☕️ The headquarters of the festival committee was "Au Coq lillois" a café on the rue de la Liberté owned by Raymond Payelle and where cockfights were also held. It was there that the giants, the Father and the Mother Mouffetard were handed over. In 1938, the Bébé Mouffetard was added. René Laby, its owner, animated the parades, disguised as a country guard. The pair of giants is preceded by the country guard. These giants paraded until the late 1950s.

👑 The Mouffetard district also elected its queen like other cities, a virtuous young girl who was admired by the neighborhood. In 1929 Suzanne Gruson was elected at the age of 17. She was triumphantly walked, accompanied by her bridesmaids, on a farm wagon on September 1, 1920 through the streets of the neighborhood.

📷 Suzanne Gruson, Queen of Annappes and her bridesmaids September 1, 1929 📷 The Giants at the Lille Festival 1922
📷 The Festival Committee of the Mouffetard district 1933
📷 Father and Mother Mouffetard 1935
📷 Mother, Father and Baby Mouffetard 1938
📷 Article in the Grand Hebdomadaires du Nord August 1929

How was peace celebrated in your towns?

07/07/2023

The Mercury and the Safe - Berlin Builds and Determines: The Transformation of an Urban Place.

💰Mercury is a symbol of the monetary economy. The stone relief is located on the western gable end of a present-day lawyer's office on the edge of the core town of Jülich.

📍 Here, (green mark on the map) on the arterial road north towards Düsseldorf, a new square, the Neusser Platz, was created in the first half of the 20th century by the arrangement of public solitaires, with the St. Elisabeth hospital, the grammar school for boys including the director's residence and with the branch of the Reichsbank.

◼️ While the core building of the hospital and the school in historicist design have rich ornamental elements on the facades and roofs, the Reichsbank from 1929, with its clear geometric, almost cubic form and the mighty hipped roof, sets an accent of the new era.

✍️ The design came from Berlin. The head of the Reichsbank building authority in Berlin, Heinrich Wolff, drew it up according to the prescribed spatial programme, but adapted to the regional conditions and specifications on site. The construction manager in Jülich was the city architect Andereya.

💴 Money transactions and banking business became increasingly important, and money played a major role in everyday life: for craftsmen, for business people and for companies, but also for the many farmers in the Jülich region.

📃 In the basement of the bank, the iron safe held the money, all central values and important documents. The safe was stable and unshakeable. But the situation at Neusser Platz changed fundamentally in later times.

➡️ After the destruction in World War 2, a simplified reconstruction took place around the safe - a remnant of what once was.

29/06/2023

👋 How are you all on this lovely Thursday? Looking forward to the weekend? Friday, Saturday and Sunday do always take the spotlight, don’t they!
📍 But a hundred years ago, in Bracknell, Thursday - the Market Day - would be the main event!

💵 Bracknell’s urban, cultural and economic development towards the end of the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th was shaped by its purpose as market place.

💭 A child of the 1930s recalled: ‘Bracknell in those days was a small market town with a single street and a considerable number of pubs 🍻, very much patronised on Market Day, which was Thursday, the Market itself being at the top of the High Street. Apart from being a small market town, Bracknell was in an agricultural area and the town itself, or village really, was surrounded by small manor houses and one large estate.’ 🌾

🐄 🐓The weekly Cattle and Poultry Market, held in the yard behind the Hind’s Head Pub (which was pulled down to make way for the post-War New Town and then became the site of today’s Bracknell & Wokingham College), epitomised the coming together of the rural villages and farms with the small, but growing, urban centre and marketplace. 🤝 It represented the meeting of country and town; agriculture and industry; traditional and modern; producers and consumers; lower, middle and upper classes. For many ‘Bracknellians’, Market Day provided the highlight of their week. 🏡🏭

🚂 Thanks to the completion of Bracknell’s railway station in 1856, the Cattle Market opened in 1870 and continued to flourish right up until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, as little had changed in Bracknell during that period. Outside of the brickworks, sawmills, farms and large country houses, economic life centred on the weekly Cattle Market as well as the town’s ribbon settlement of small independent shops and traders along ‘The Street’, as the High Street was then known.

💰 According to one man: ‘The shopping was mainly in the High Street. It was quite good. You could get practically everything you needed. And of course, there was one big store there – Lawrence’s Stores. That was almost like the supermarkets of today.”
Established in 1871, Lawrence’s Stores was unique in every respect – size, staff, product range - boasting three acres of floorspace and over 200 staff. The Stores called themselves the ‘Universal Providers’, as they literally sold everything!
Another resident said: 'You name it, Thomas Lawrence of Bracknell had it, from a packet of pins to a million bricks.’
🧱

As you can see, Thursdays are by no means boring and unimportant!

Bracknell Forest Library and Information Service Parish of Bracknell Old Bracknell

20/06/2023

[WHO IS HEINRICH CLAES]
A bit of history and politics for your Tuesday evening! ⬇️
🎖️ Today, we introduce you to Dr. Heinrich Claes. In 1960 he was the first person to be awarded the Ring of Honour of the City of Leverkusen - the highest honour of a city that did not yet exist when he was born in 1885!

🏗️ In 1921 Claes became the first mayor of the small town of Wiesdorf. Before that, he had served as city director in Cologne under Lord Mayor Dr. Konrad Adenauer. The population of Wiesdorf had grown so rapidly, mainly due to the success of the Bayer factory located here, that Claes was concerned about accommodating the many families who had moved in. 💭 🏡 Wiesdorf urgently needed land for the construction of housing, schools, hospitals, and much more. Claes therefore planned a merger with neighbouring communities. Rheindorf was close by, Schlebusch was a little further to the east, and Steinbüchel was still behind it in the countryside.

🤝 From 1927 onwards, Claes negotiated with these three municipalities. An agreement was quickly reached with Rheindorf, but as far as Schlebusch and Steinbüchel were concerned, Claes had done the math without his former boss Adenauer. Cologne also wanted to expand, and Adenauer had already negotiated a treaty to incorporate Schlebusch into Cologne. But the vast majority of Schlebuschers were against it, and a referendum resulted in a clear majority for a merger with Wiesdorf. After a long back-and-forth, Schlebusch became part of Wiesdorf after all - in a caricature, a stubborn donkey named Schlebusch sticks his butt out at Adenauer. 🐴

🏆 Finally, on 1 April 1930, the goal was achieved: Wiesdorf, Rheindorf, Schlebusch and Steinbüchel formed the new city of Leverkusen, named after the entrepreneur Carl Leverkus - and after the site of the Bayer factory. Claes belonged to the Catholic Centre Party, was the first mayor of Leverkusen from 1930, was deposed by the N***s in 1933 and was mayor again after the Second World War from 1945-1946. He died in 1963.

31/05/2023

🏫 Today we want to take a look at a well-known urban space of Schwedt where history clearly left its marks. We are talking about the former building of the civic girls’ school. Although it might not have been the main stage for the dramatic events unfolding in the local education system during the first half of the 20th century, it was certainly shaped by them and still manages to remind us of the past.

⭐️ Erected before the First World War in 1911/12 the school impressed like no other education institution of the town during the whole interwar period. It shone with its size, the roofed connection to the gymnasium and the spacious schoolyard – which the other schools could only look upon with envy. About 400 female students attended the elementary school in 1926 and were distributed among seven grades.

👩 As consequence of female emancipation in the higher education with the fusion of the high school for males and the secondary school for girls and the new focus on sciences in the curriculum the Hohenzollern high school planned to move into the new and bigger building of the civic girls’ school and take over the classrooms of the girls. Even when the town had already agreed to these plans officially, the children, their enraged parents and the teachers were still protesting against the measures and went on strike. Eventually they were successful and able to defend their ground against the municipal administration.

🏗️ Sadly, the school building was badly damaged in the subsequent Second World War, so that the gable was completely missing. However, it remained a central part of the town’s school system: from this spot the education system rose again from the ashes of war. The principal Otto Borriss encouraged the pupils to bring bricks with them every morning on their way to school. And eventually the school was rebuilt in 1948 as Schwedt's first school – now open to boys and girls alike. 🧱

🎶 Today the renovated building can still be admired as the home of creative education. Encouraging students like 100 years before the Music and Art School continues the exciting historiy path of this urban space.

20/05/2023

🇫🇮 Oulu welcomed us with open arms on a sunny and windy Thursday afternoon. The green city charmed us from the start and the people were the absolute cherry on the top.

🎓The next day, we visited the colorful Oulun yliopisto - University of Oulu, where science and humanities meet. A warm welcome from our project partners and the Vice rector for Education, Tapio Kolvu, was followed by a wonderful lecture by dr. Heini Hakosalo about how medicine and urbanism interact - by now, most of us forgot about tuberculosis, but in the interwar period in Oulu, the disease governed the everyday life of everyone. 🩺

It didn't pick and choose, no one was safe and the urban landscape of the city changed because of it. How? We'll tell you more soon - we took notes! 📝

⭐️ And did you know that in 2026, Oulu will shine even brighter than it already does - as the Oulu2026 - European Capital of Culture 2026. Executive director of the Oulu Capital of Culture foundation Rita Rantala-Korhonen, introduced us to the many ways Oulu will become a city by the people and for the people. 🤝

📑 With every EU project comes a lot of responsibility, quite a lot of organization and bureaucracy as well. So our afternoon was full of discussions about the last bits and bobs we have to tie off in the following months in order to fulfill the project obligations. Final reports and task assignments with a dash of technical details and vocabulary differences - what can you expect with a varied bunch as ours?

To end our day, we had the pleasure of visiting the Pehkolanlampi, the city guesthouse. An introduction to the world of sauna - much more than a warm place for a hangout. It is here that the communities are built! 🧖‍♀️

💭 What will today bring? Another round of meetings and a visit to the Oulu Museum of Art!

We can’t wait to learn more, see more and feel more of Oulu! 💙

Visit Oulu Oulu, Finland
Opladener Geschichtsverein von 1979 e.V. Leverkusen

13/05/2023

🇪🇺Today is EUROVISION DAY!

Since 1956, it unites Europe (and, EVIDENTLY (🇫🇷) Australia 🇦🇺? ) in music.

🎆 We enjoy the spectacle, we enjoy the fireworks and costumes, the different languages and cultures, indulge in popcorn and snacks and impatiently wait for our favorites to get the 12 points as many times as possible! And BEJBA 🇵🇱, it is kind of crazy!

🫶 Eurovision has this unique ability to bring us together. The talks we’ve had at our workplaces, at our schools, at the shops, or anywhere really, probably went the same all across Europe!

🎶 Did you watch the first two semi-finals? Are you happy with the results? Who did the best? Who do you want to win?
Are you fans of ballads or is ESC all about a chance to CHA CHA CHA🇫🇮, saying CARPE DIEM 🇸🇮, and getting some GLITTER (but hopefully no BLOOD) in our lives 🇩🇪 ?

🥂 We’ll be cheering for all of our project countries! And who knows, maybe even get inspired to WRITE A SONG 🇬🇧 ourselves.

🥇 Käärijä, Blanka, La Zarra, Lord of the Lost, Joker Out and Mae Muller- 12 points to all!

But who’s winning this year? Share your predictions with us? ⬇️

Disclaimer: we are not in any form affiliated with the ESC.

12/05/2023

[Oulu Castle]
Before we fly off to Oulu in person next week, another virtual venture into the world of our

🏰 Did you know that there used to be a castle in Oulu?

🇸🇪 The Oulu Castle was built in 1590 on an island at the delta of the Oulu River. It was built under Swedish rule as a base for military expeditions the Swedes made to Russia.

🪵 The castle was mostly made of wood and earth walls. It is also possible that a medieval castle, built by the Novgorodians in 1375, stood on the same site. However, there are different interpretations of the location of the castle.

🏗️ The ruins that can be seen on the island today date back to the third castle, which King Charles IX ordered to be built in 1605. The order was to demolish the old wooden structures and to build a rampart around the island with gun emplacements.

🔥 On 29 March 1715, during the Great Northern War, the wooden fortifications of the castle were burnt by the Russians as Swedish troops withdrew from Oulu. The castle was finally destroyed on 31 July 1793, when a thunderbolt set fire to the castle’s wooden storage cellar, causing the powder cellar to explode, and destroying the building. 🌩️

🔭 In 1828, the Oulu Merchants’ Association built a gunpowder cellar on what remained of the ruins, and in 1875 the Oulu Maritime School’s observatory was built on top of it to teach astronomy. After the school closed, a café was established in the observatory in 1912. The observatory still serves as a summer café to this day.

☕️ In 1938, a local newspaper advertised the café with the apt words: ‘One sure sign of summer in Oulu is the opening of the observatory café’. Those words are still true today.

🌳 The café opens every year on May Day and remains open until early autumn. Surrounded by the ruins of the castle and the café, the island, called ‘Linnansaari’ (Castle Island), is a beautiful park-like area where you can spend summer days playing outdoor games, having a picnic, and enjoying the café’s delicacies. The lovely wooden café building is a must-see if you ever visit Oulu! Tähtitornin Kahvila ja Kesäkirjakauppa

And visit we will!

📷 1: A summery view from Oulu’s Linnansaari in 1935. Observatory on the left. Journalistinen kuva-arkisto, Kaleva. Finnish Heritage Agency.

📷 2: View of the city from the Oulu River to Linnansaari in 1972. Photo by Teuvo Kanerva. Historian kuvakokoelma. Finnish Heritage Agency.

Visit Oulu Oulu, Finland Oulun yliopisto - University of Oulu

03/05/2023

❗️ Our new segment: ❗️

Where our project members share their favorite spots, history facts, events, traditions, buildings and personalities with you!

No, we are not traveling to 🇯🇵.

🌳 Did you know that one of Leverkusen’s most beautiful parks isn’t actually located in Leverkusen? It’s called the Japanese Garden, but let’s start at the beginning…

🗾 In 1912, Carl Duisberg commissioned the landscaping of an exotic garden next to his villa. But after traveling the world in 1926 and visiting Japan, he fell in love with their art of gardening. So he decided to expand his garden in Leverkusen, inspired by those he saw in Japan.

🆓 In the following years plants from all over East-Asia found a new home amongst the local plants. Since 1950 the garden has been open to the public. The best thing is: the entry is free!

🥪 With 15.000 square meters the garden is part of the Carl Duisberg Park, located close to the Chempark. It’s an ideal place for their employees’ lunch-break.

📸 But as anyone can enjoy this beautiful landscaping, it is the perfect spot for families, anyone who wants to go on a quick “holiday” to Asia, photography enthusiasts or even people wanting to take their wedding pictures.

🌸 There’s not only a variety of different plants and trees to admire, but also different animals including koi-fishes and turtles. 🐢

🫖 Highlights definitely include the Mikadobridge (inspired by a bridge in the Japanese town of Nikko), the teahouse and various statues. It was even voted one of the top ten most beautiful parks in Germany in 2006.

🏗️ But let’s get back to the initial question - why isn’t the park located in Leverkusen? The border between Cologne and Leverkusen actually runs right through the Carl Duisberg Park. In 1960 the park was moved about 200m to the south, as Duisberg villa was torn down to build the Bayer Skyscraper (which was demolished in 2012). It just so happens that the Japanese garden is located on the Cologne side of the park next to the border. But let’s be honest, with all the connections and its closeness to Bayer it really is part of Leverkusen by heart. ❤️

Bayer Opladener Geschichtsverein von 1979 e.V. Leverkusen Mein Leverkusen Stadt Leverkusen

26/04/2023

❗️ Our new segment: ❗️
Where our project members share their favorite spots, history facts, events, traditions, buildings and personalities with you!

💚 Nature reserve “Łężczok” is our first pick from team Racibórz! 🇵🇱

Tired of the city noise? Need some fresh air and looking for some respite in the heart of nature?

Not far from Racibórz, there is a perfect place for you.

Nature reserve "Łężczok" has an area of more than 400 hectares, a unique and protected natural haven. 🌳

🏞️ Ponds, peat bogs, a floodplain forest and forest paths that include monumental specimens such as the famous 400-year-old Sobieski oak as well as an uncountable number of fauna, hiding amongst the trees and flowers.

👑 With its beauty, this landmark has invited numerous important visitors - monarchs passed this way en route to Vienna in 1683 and one of the tourist trails now holds their name - the Avenue of the Polish Hussites. In the 19th century, the guests of Prince von Ratibor hunted here, including the German Emperor Wilhelm II - twice!

🌱 The flora of the reserve amounts to nearly 540 species of plants, thirty of them protected.

🦅 There are more than 210 species of birds, even the purple Heron or Caniuk have been spotted.
As well as reptiles (zigzag viper), amphibians (lowland ponies, newts, toads), mammals (musk, badgers) and bats, dragonflies, bumblebees and butterflies. 🦋

❌ There is a ban on vehicles in the reserve, which makes this a truly peaceful favorite spot to visit.

Adresse

Jülich
52428

Webseite

https://linktr.ee/UrbanSpaces2023

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