perfect blue - swimming in the baltic sea.
in july last year my parents and i went on a special vacation on the coast of the baltic sea in poland, a country i have never been to before. we were stationed in dębina - a tiny village in the northwest of the country in a region called farther pomerania. it's quite an interesting region, with a rich and a little bit confusing history. in the beginning the region was inhabited by slavic and pomeranian tribes, but it so happened that the germans began eastward migration in the middle ages. that's something with a huge potential for conflict even to this day, because it can be seen as a colonisation of some sorts, even though this process was sometimes initiated by the slavic/pomeranian/polish territorial rulers themselves and also had been a rather peaceful process at times. anyway, it was a process of assimilation though, and when you don't really engage in the finer details of history, it can bear a lot of explosive energy for people who deeply identify themselves as the dominating party, be it the germans, who had to leave the region after world war 2 after centuries of living there, or the polish people who reclaimed what they think was theirs, even though they, too, weren't the original tribes to begin with. i think establishing settlements is alltogether a difficult topic, because humans are prone to settle wherever they want to, no matter the nation. and over the many centuries and millenia you really can't differentiate anymore, because people mix up, people assimilate, people don't stop at borders. the only thing you can still view as the origin of humankind, is the fact that we all originated in africa, but what happened from there, i think it's always been part of assimilation and advancement and the human urge to conquer a place that is promising to them. of course it's also a matter of HOW they did it, but i won't get into that conversation right now. fact is, german people lived in farther pomerania for centuries ( that eastward migration corridor stretched almost into russia by the way - if you're interested in learning more about that, wikipedia helps you out ) beginning from medieval times until world war II, which heralded the end of their time there. this is why when you visit the north of poland you will definitely find lots of cultural relics from the time when germans were the majority there, and the history is deeply intertwined with our history. remember when i visited the czech republic in 2018? there was a similar situation going on, in which the region of moravia-silesia also was part of that eastward migration, establishing various german-speaking enclaves that often were part of country disputes.
while these regions are now fully included in their respective countries ( poland and the czech republic ), for older germans they are still part of their heritage, especially those that survived world war II and the resulting expulsions. to them these place were their homeland, and i think it created a lot of trauma to these displaced persons and an evergoing desire to return back someday. which probably transfered to the descendants and created a generational problem, which might also explain why some right-wingers still insist re-seizing those lands ( amongst obviously presumptuous reasons of restoring the former glory of the german reich, which i find deeply appalling and disrespectful ).
in my own history, my maternal grandma was one of those expellees, she originally came from landsberg an der warthe ( now gorzów wielkopolski ) - a city in the west of poland which i want to eventually visit at some time in my life as well ). it never really affected my life, though, i basically know nothing of her life there, because she died early in my childhood and my mother never had anything interesting to share about her when i asked ( probably because she wasn't told much else - i tried years to get something out of her that satisfied my curiousity - but it seems my grandma never really talked about her life in former prussia - i guess it was something she had a hard time talking about ). i remember a few things about my grandma, though, she had hoarding tendencies, but otherwise lived a very simple life, rarely bought luxurious things, and she was quite peculiar and odd to little me, seemingly scatterbrained and forgetful ( we suspect she had alzheimer's towards the end of her life, though it was never proven ). when i think about her small, tiny flat she lived in, filled with all kinds of knickknacks and old, worn-down furniture i often wonder if the reason for her hoarding was the very real possibility that she survived robbery and looting back in her home city, when the red army marched in in 1945. and also her way of living on very few luxuries and in humble surroundings, it might've been a habit she adopted because there was a complete collapse of logistics during that time, resulting in shortage of food and water, power and gas supply. i know for a fact that my grandma's habits and living situation actually affected my own mother a lot, she has a habit of her own to keep her house as pristine and clean as possible ( i think it was horrible for her to live in a place that was always dark and overfilled with shit they didn't need ) and she is very deliberate when it comes to buying things, always looking out for reduced products, always trying to avoid doing luxurious purchases.
when i think about my grandma today i am often a little sad that i never got to ask her about her life in landsberg, and that my mom herself doesn't know much about it either, because i would really like to know that part of my family's history, even if that meant revealing a dark secret, or revealing a trauma. i mean, it's obvious that the end of the war was traumatic, my grandma definitely had to experience all the horrible things done to the city and the inhabitants. the displacement surely left scars somewhere in her soul. i would've liked to learn about that, and i would've also liked to learn about what she thought of hitler, of the nazis and whether she was a supporter or not. my curiousity about this is super intense, i wonder what would change for me if i knew that my grandma was in any way facilitating or condoning the actions of the nazis.
she made her way to weimar in the process, which would eventually be part of the GDR, got to know a much older guy and had two daughters very late in her life, one of them being my mom at around 40. my mom told me that they lived a very simple life, adhering to the principles and rules of the state mostly, which resulted in them not having any severe encounters with the authorities. ( my mom was a bit of a rebel, though, she disliked having to partake in the FDJ - free german youth movement - and generally was a little cautious of the whole communist agenda, but it seems it was never in a way that got her into trouble ). so it seems there are no hidden family secrets there either, they were just normal people trying to live a life without lots of resistance and pushback, i guess because life was hard enough already for them.
sometimes that really annoys me, because my curiousity and my desire to learn about the past to understand the present ( culturally and personally ) are both dissatisfied with the meager answers. but clearly, i cannot make my grandma come back to life again and let her tell me things from her perspective. and i can't make my mom tell stories that she hasn't experienced herself or that she never heard from her own mother. so i have to accept that there is a gap existing in that part of our family history and all is left for me is picking up the tiny crumbs that are still evident.
anyway, what's the matter with me turning these posts into essays of dissection? let's return back to our vacation at the polish baltic sea, which was a wonderful one in which we got to see many marvels and wonders.
dębina is a village with only about 100 inhabitants so it clearly was a very quiet place to spend our vacations, which was one of my favourite things about it, because it meant that it wasn't overrun with people. it was very provincial, and for a place sitting at the coast of the baltic sea this is quite a strange thing to me, because don't people flock to the sea like moths to light? to me it felt like a real blessing, being able to enjoy the sea without masses of tourists in one place. even on sunny days, when the beach should've been crowded, it never was. there were people around, yes, but it wasn't overwhelming at all, and there was lots of space to steer clear of them. the village itself felt a bit forgotten, a bit like it was sleeping, and i found that really charming as well. in germany seaside places are often overrun in the summer so it was quite nice to experience a place near the sea in a way that didn't feel like it only existed because of tourists. don't get me wrong, dębina is probably only surviving because of the tourists, but it didn't feel like tourism made for the masses, if that makes any sense. it was laid back and remote in a way that felt reposeful, nourishing and perfect to unwind.
on the day of our arrival we immediately set out to the beach, because it was a hot day and the weather forecast told us that it would change over the next few days, not allowing for swimming and sun baths and we wanted to make the most of it. the beach was about 300 meters away from our accommodation, definitely a huge plus! the sand was very soft and pillowy, hiding tiny rocks and pebbles, which is my favourite type of beach, because you have objects to play around with. like i always start to build something - a sculpture, an image - and it's so fun. i really like rocks, the feeling of them in the palm of my hands, or just the sensation of touching something that is millions of years old, washed ashore at some time in space. also, the different colours and structures, the sizes and the forms that exist, all this makes them incredibly interesting to me - like they are a miniature way of telling you that nothing is the same and they changed appearance under pressure and other forces and still came out to be, to exist, to endure and to persist. i find this very relatable and applicable to life in general.
the glittering baltic sea never ceases to work its magic on me. no matter where i am. it is purely a heart place for me.
the evening sun enchanting the beach and the creative works of children ❤
perfect little surrealist landscape.
the beach in dębina is near a steep coast, which is at the mercy of erosion. obviously this means that sometimes trees fall down on the beach, which in turn leaves me with interesting objects to photograph.
oh, trees, even in death you are utterly gorgeous. these roots were a mass of entanglement, making me think of the entanglement of life, of circumstances, of connecting the past to the present or the present to the past, winding and unwinding, building and destroying what once was and will be. i see a lot of these kinda things in nature and it is helpful to ground yourself once in a while. we do it too infrequently.
sandy soil and beech trees.
involuntary sculptures.
a little bit of wilderness on the beach.
my dad and i love to build these tiny pebble towers ❤
one of the very few sunsets we experienced on vacation - they were quite breath-taking.
deep inside my heart i'm a little romantic ( even though i often say i am not ;P ), so this sunset situation was bringing up some real melancholic yearnings. sunsets by the sea are simply unbeatable, the epitome of romance and romanticism.
the sea from up above the steep coast.
those beech woods were so enchanting ❤
spindly trunks snaking upwards.
overgrown with lichen.
there was an altar for saint mary under which pilgrims deposited all kinds of pebbles and rocks in various sizes to say thanks and pray to her. i liked this idea somehow.
my mom taking in the incredible view.
that light 😍 i will never get over it. it is the most calming and pacifying light there ever will be.
and the night falls upon the earth.
the beach in dębina is not very wide which created a feeling of coziness and snugness. i imagine it might be a perfect place to meet up in the middle of the night and have a little tête-à-tête ;) because seriously, perfect place for lovers.
the last light of day.
we spent the next morning and early afternoon at the beach again, but in the late afternoon the weather turned and it started to storm and rain. it let up a little bit in the evening, which we took as an opportunity to have a little stroll around the village.
even on stormy and rainy days the sea captures you with its incredible beauty. i mean, look at that dramatic light! the beauty about the sea to me lies within its ability to look different everyday, one day it sports calm waters, the next day the waves roll in hard and heavy. the endless open space out towards the open sea discloses skies that create incredible displays of light and shadow. it always leaves me without any words - just an incredible powerful appreciation for the magic it unfolds.
walking through twilight forests... the woods around dębina consist of mainly pine and oak trees, interspersed with little patches of beeches. the pines are what make the baltic sea so characteristic to me, mostly because of their distinctly heavy and spicy scent ( resinous and turpentine-like ). it is a scent i absolutely adore, and which will always remind me of the sea, no matter where i will take in the scent. in combination with the scent of the sea it creates a special sensory experience, one that isn't easy to forget.
in the village i spotted a cute little gate ❤
this building looked like it had once been a mill or a factory. in this evening light it looked really wonderful. dębina had a glass factory until 1906, and though it's said that the factory buildings were all torn down, i surmise buildings like these were also part of it, but later conversed into living quarters.
found these gorgeous, gorgeous frilled begonias.
PRL architecture of yore. you can find several small resort sites in dębina, some more modern, but also some looking quite run-down and abandoned. this was one of the sites. it wasn't entirely abandoned, though, people still can rent some appartments in these houses ( some of which actually are in a slightly better condition than this one ). i was reminded by GDR tourism architecture, which was not too different at all. poland and east germany share a soviet-backed communist history and the architecture resembles each other very closely due to the availability of the same resources all over the soviet bloc and i really enjoy finding these commonalities.
with a little bit of love and effort i think you could turn these holiday homes into something really cute ( maybe even into regular appartment houses? ). it often pains me to see something with great potential deteriorating like this. but then again... you know i love some good dereliction as well 😅
this house was one of those that was actually still used for holiday appartements. the appartments are quite inexpensive and not overly luxurious - so if you're not very big on money and don't care too much about staying in a really simple and stylistically underwhelming environment, these probably will serve you fine. i actually couldn't care less about where i am accommodated ( it needs to be clean, though ), because i would be out and about anyway, exploring the landscapes, cities and the country i am in. i guess most people do appreciate a more comfortable and luxurious lodging today, though, so i'm not sure how long these appartment houses will withstand the pressure of leveling up. i'd prefer a contemporary renovation of these with regard to maintaining the old structures, but let's face it... eastern bloc architecture is not really the most popular of the architecture styles, as much as it pains me to say that out loud. i am mostly glad that at least some examples of it still survived to this day, and it's always like finding easter eggs :)
the resort was very close to some fields and nature, which is actually something i'd appreciate as a vacationing person. the balconies looked out towards a lake that's about 3 kms away - lake gardno. we never found our way there, unfortunately, though i was hoping to eventually check it out, but what can you do? sometimes there's simply no time and when you have to gather to other people's wishes and wants ( those of my parents, lol ), some things are just meant to be set aside. and we had so much more to explore anyways.
since the evening entailed some rain showers, but also quite a few rays of sunshine breaking through, we discovered a tiny strip of rainbow goodness in the distance.
the fields were all overgrown with meadowsweet 😍 the scent they give off is utterly divine.
when i think of eastern bloc architectural elements, concrete stone paths come to my mind very often. especially in rural areas these are very common. i kinda like them, they lend some sort of an industrial feeling to an otherwise very pristine landscape, and i like the contrast a lot.
the meadowsweet was also liked by this sweet cat, which chose to sit on a very narrow pillar. so typical 😂
a ruin we found. love the tree growing right inside the structure, with twigs and branches stretching out its windows 😍
the rain clouds moved away for a bit again to make way for a last glorious appearance of sunset light!
spotted a tiny snail with a lovely house pattern 🐌
as we made our way back to our home, we passed by some camp huts in a dark patch of the woods. not sure if these were still used, they, too, looked quite forlorn and dilapidated. also, kinda super creepy, lol.
loved this grimy but very modern-looking bus stop 😍
this old sign probably dates back to when the resort and the camp were first opened. i reckon that the city of wrocław ( breslau ) probably had ties to dębina and sent their kids to summer camp here.
now that you've seen a first glimpse of our time in poland i hope y'all stay curious for more ❤
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