Cities with new names

When exploring the south of Göttingen you will find a lot of streets named after former German cities. Cities that you can still find on maps but that have new names. Cities that Germany lost after World War II. And these streets are all lined-up along an axis that begins with the street Stettiner Straße (Szczecin) that becomes the Danziger Straße (Gdańsk) and later turns into the Breslauer Straße (Wrocław).

Why is that? On July 20th, 1951, the city council of Göttingen decided to use the streets in this area to remember the ‘lost’ German cities in the east. It should show the strong connection of the city to the former German areas now belonging to Poland, Lithuania and Russia. Many refugees from areas like Masuria, Pomerania, Silesia and East Prussia passed Göttingen after World War II because of the Grenzdurchgangslager Friedland which was built to help them arrive. Many settled in our region.

With them came my two grandmothers – one from Breslau (Silesia, now: Wrocław, Poland) and one from Allenstein (East Prussia, now: Olsztyn, Poland). Many people from the former Ostgebiete had a strong connection to their former home during their life and some wanted to have the signs of Silesia, Masuria, Pomerania or East Prussia on their tombstones; still today a source of conflicts. But most names are nearly forgotten today. Elbing? Goldap? Insterburg? Brieg? Bunzlau? Waldenburg? People living in the streets named after these cities might most often not know about the origin.

Around the Stettiner Straße (Pomerania)

Street name	Old city name	New city name	Country
Kolberger Weg	Kolberg	Kołobrzeg	Poland
Schneidemühler Weg	Schneidemühl	Piła	Poland
Stargarder Weg	Stargard in Pommern	Stargard	Poland
Stettiner Straße	Stettin	Szczecin	Poland

Around the Danziger Straße (East Prussia, Masuria and other regions)

Street name	Old city name	New city name	Country
Allensteiner Weg	Allenstein	Olsztyn	Poland
Danziger Straße	Danzig	Gdańsk	Poland
Elbinger Straße	Elbing	Elbląg	Poland
Goldaper Weg	Goldap	Gołdap	Poland
Insterburger Weg	Insterburg	Черняховск (Tschernjachowsk)	Russia (exclave Kaliningrad)
Königsberger Straße	Königsberg	Калинингра́д (Kaliningrad)	Russia (exclave Kaliningrad)
Lötzener Weg	Lötzen	Giżycko	Poland
Marienburger Weg	Marienburg an der Nogat	Malbork	Poland
Memeler Weg	Memel	Klaipėda	Lithuania
Neidenburger Weg	Neidenburg	Nidzica	Poland
Ortelsburger Straße	Ortelsburg	Szczytno	Poland
Rastenburger Weg	Rastenburg	Kętrzyn	Poland
Tilsiter Straße	Tilsit an der Memel	Советск (Sowjetsk)	Russia (exclave Kaliningrad)

Around the Breslauer Straße (Silesia)

Street name	Old city name	New city name	Country
Beuthener Weg	Beuthen O.S.	Bytom	Poland
Breslauer Straße	Breslau	Wrocław	Poland
Brieger Weg	Brieg	Brzeg	Poland
Bunzlauer Weg	Bunzlau	Bolesławiec	Poland
Glatzer Weg	Glatz	Kłodzko	Poland
Gleiwitzer Weg	Gleiwitz	Gliwice	Poland
Glogauer Weg	Glogau	Glogów	Poland
Grünberger Weg	Grünberg	Zielona Góra	Poland
Hirschberger Weg	Hirschberg	Jelenia Góra	Poland
Kreuzburger Straße	Kreuzburg	Kluczbork	Poland
Liegnitzer Weg	Liegnitz	Legnica	Poland
Saganer Weg	Sagan	Żagań	Poland
Schweidnitzer Weg	Schweidnitz	Świdnica	Poland
Waldenburger Weg	Waldenburg	Wałbrzych	Poland

I remember that as a child I once travelled with a group of older people to Wrocław and one of them asked: ‘Will this here ever be part of Germany again?‘. I still today can recall the voice of my father responding: ‘It is now part of Europe and if you want to live here, you can!‘. That is one of the facets of the European Union that helps to preserve peace in Europe. And why shouldn’t they consider returning? Wrocław is a wonderful city, Gdańsk is like a fairytale and even Olsztyn in the poor east of Poland has its allure – autumn is simply amazing at Warmińsko-Mazurskie!

Stettiner Straße
Danziger Straße
Breslauer Straße
Göttingen
Germany

Map by OpenStreetMap, CC-BY-SA 2.0.