Transit of cultural heritage in Silesia as an element of city promotion. On the example of Boleslawiec Ceramics
Authors:   The Silesian University of Technology, Smołka-Franke Brygida ,   Department of Organization and Management,   Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
Published: February 2025

Purpose: Representatives of various nations and cultures have marked their influence on the
multicultural heritage of Silesia. In the centuries-long intricate history of this region,
which is special because of its location, various cultural options clashed, which left their mark
on its diversity, creating a specific cultural mosaic.
The present area of Lower Silesia was subjected to a particular influence of German culture,
until a new balance of power and division of political influence in Europe took place after World
War II, which involved the shift of Poland's borders westward and the incorporation of lands
referred to from then on as “recovered”.
Both the period of resettlement and the settlement of the incorporated western lands led to
a great deal of socio-cultural turmoil, which is described in recent publications by Zbigniew
Rokita (Rokita, 2023) and Karolina Kuszyk (Kuszyk, 2019), among others.
One of the elements of the changes taking place in the area was the issue of the transit of the
cultural heritage found there. The purpose of the article, therefore, is to show the process of
acquisition and use, and therefore the transit of such heritage, which has now become the basis
for the creation of a brand that is associated almost worldwide with Polish culture. The brand,
which at the same time is a key element in the promotion of one of the historic Lower Silesian
cities - Boleslawiec, and thus the promotion of the entire Lower Silesian region, and even the
whole of Poland, is the Boleslawiec Ceramics.
The article will present examples of building a regional product brand and creating
a contemporary image of the city based on this “adapted” cultural heritage.
Project/methodology/approach: The article is explanatory and descriptive in nature.
The research methods adopted in this paper indicate a qualitative type of research.
These include, both the technique of observation and content and document analysis, i.e. on the
basis of observed phenomena and facts occurring in urban space, as well as the analysis of the
literature on the subject and found factual data (desk research), the process of creating the image
of the city based on a specific regional product will be shown.
Findings: Modern cities are increasingly using the following to build their image in
an innovative way: cultural heritage, special qualities or symbols of the landscape, but also the
creative industries that characterize them.
Originality/value: The innovation of the article is to analyze the ways in which the city carries
out promotional activities, conducive to promotion and development, using the attributes that
distinguish the city and thus make it original, attractive and interesting, with a particular focus on creative industries. The results of the analysis and formulated conclusions may allow the use
and implementation of similar solutions in other cities to stimulate their future development
and build their own image.
Keywords: cultural heritage, cultural transit, image of the city, branding, creative industries.
Category of the paper: empirical research (observation) and desk research.