Contested space, neglected resources: Retelling a violent urban past through the eyes of a city

Since 1989, and in accordance with the principle ‘the prouder the history, the more powerful the nation’, Polish museums have tended to represent the past through a lens of either idealization or trauma: putting the stress on the multicultural heritage or martyrological sufferings of the nation, urban history is highly focused on manmade input. This article asks about the possibilities of retelling urban history from a post-national angle inspired by the artistic museum exhibition Elbląg reconditus (‘The hidden Elblą g’). The Polish city of Elblą g underwent numerous changes in national affiliation after its foundation by the Teutonic Order in 1227. Following the signing of the Potsdam Agreement in 1945, Elblą g (once again) became part of Poland. German and Polish historiographies usually base their claims to the city on so-called founding myths: alluding to the unique cultural and economic input brought to the city by the respective state, their stories of success hide other people’s stories of oppression. I argue that the narrative shift away from anthropocentric history helps us to reconsider not only national supremacy over other people but also human supremacy over nature, which places the exhibition in alignment with timely questions of ecological and sociopolitical concern.