New Construction or Reconstruction: Town Planning in the Administrative District of Zichenau (1939–1945)

Abstract

Using Ciechanów and Płock as examples, this article discusses the different strategies German urban planners pursued in occupied Poland to adapt the existing cities in terms of infrastructure, aesthetics, and ideology. Characteristic here is the multitude of actors involved and the far-reaching consequences of their decisions on the reality of occupation for the civilian population. This leads to the question of the extent to which architecture and urban planning should be understood as an integral part of German occupation policy.