Persistenz und Dynamik der Siedlungsstruktur im polnisch-russischen Grenzgebiet

Abstract

The present-day Polish-Russian border region was, until 1945, a widely homogeneously structured region in Eastern Prussia. A process of transformation began in this region, sparked off by the division and resettlement. This course of the process and the current situation were recorded using the communities of Wehlau (now Russian: Snamensk) and Bartenstein (now Polish: Bartoszycc) as examples. The part of the rural test region which, after 1945, became part of the Soviet Union was completely transformed. A drastic drop in the settlement network began and the system of urban centres was changed drastically. As a result of the regional and economic policy, the main farming locations assumed the central function in the rural region, whereas some former main villages are now in a state of complete desolation. This process of concentration was the response of the Soviet regional planning policy to the given migration from the country to the cities, which also affected the newly resettled population. The improvement in the conditions of life in choice perspective settlements was intended to halt this process of migration. The existing industrial facilities, dating back to the German period, were included in this concept. These businesses now have great difficulties in adjusting to the present process of transformation. In the rural areas, first signs of decentralisation since the privatisation of the farming businesses can be noted. In the Polish test region – compared to its Russian counterpart – no such marked change in the cultural landscape has come to pass. Similar production forms in the farming sector (a mixture of large co-operative businesses and private farmers) lead to the existing settlement structures being taken over. Only the central location of Bartoszycc experienced an increase in importance from the Polish regional planning policy. The opening up of a border between Poland and Russia in 1993 leads to further growth impulses, as the region’s „dead-end“ location changed to become a „corridor“ location. The East then became comparatively less wealthy, as the business, trade and service sectors are far better developed in the Polish area. Whereas, at the moment, in the Polish test region a clearly visible change towards economic growth – linked to many social problems – can be seen, this tendency has not (yet) come to pass in the Russian test region. Rather the social and economic downfall is becoming increasingly apparent.