Contact

HeimatReise
Ziegelstraße 28
15230 Frankfurt (Oder)
Germany

Phone:
0049 335-280 23 58

Email: info(at)heimatreise.eu

Who we are

HeimatReise was created and grew as a project of the Institute for Applied History – Society and Science in Dialogue (Institut für angewandte Geschichte), an association of students and graduates of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt / Oder in Germany.

The origins of this project are connected with the tensions in the public discourse on the history of Germans who were forced to migrate from the Polish teritories. In the year 2004, while politicians were busy with plans of establishing a commemoration center, we decided to choose a different strategy: to  organise individual journeys to the places of personal history and mediate in contacts between specific persons in a specific place that they perceive as their homeland - their Heimat. We regard this common land as the space of dialogue between the former and present inhabitants, place of meeting, mutual listening and remembering.

We spent two years working on this concept and  engaging ourselves in voluntary activities. We gained a lot of experience accompanying numerous journeys. Finally, the company HeimatReise was established in 2008. Many of our collaborators are members and friends of the Institute for Applied History. In the course of our academic studies we acquired deep understanding of the local history, of the intercultural and interethnic relations in Germany, Poland, Russia and in the Ukraine, as well as of the contemporary situation in this area, with special respect to the issue of forced migration. We speak English, German, Polish, Russian and/or Ukrainian and we are specialised in working in a multicultural environment. Hence we can provide you with professional support during your private expedition to the places which cannot be found on any tourist map.