Romanticism represents a central epoch in Polish literary and cultural history that continues to have an impact to this day. It is regarded, with good reason, as the decisive, almost paradigmatic formation for Poland’s cultural identity. The Romantic canon of arts, music and literature has a strong identity-forming function and continues to influence (in part through politically motivated ideologization) how Poland understands itself – and is understood by others. However, this sometimes encounters counterreactions or polemical demarcation from a Polish identity as it was shaped in the Romantic period. While the debates about Polish Romanticism continue, even in a controversial manner, its rank and significance are undisputed.

In the summer of 2027, an exhibition at the Deutsches Romantik-Museum (“Spirits of Freedom. Polish Romanticism”. Frankfurt am Main) will provide insights into the characteristic features of Polish Romanticism and shed light on its connections within European contexts. Our conference prepares this exhibition from an academic perspective by focusing specifically on its trans- national dimensions. The aim of the conference is to recontextualize Polish Romanticism in a broader international framework of reference and influence. In particular, the relationship to German culture, to its literature and philosophy, was formative for Polish Romanticism, which manifested itself in a variety of ways (like the influence of Herder’s folk ideas or Goethe’s Werther on Mickiewicz). But other European cultures also provided ‘contexts of reference’ (‘Anlehnungskontext’, Niklas Luhmann) – or even ‘contexts of rejection’ – for the development of an independent Polish Romanticism.

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The conference languages are German, Polish, and English. Part of the conference will be interpreted simultaneously into German and Polish. Presentations may be given in any of the three languages. The organizers will cover travel and accommodation costs, provided sufficient funding is available.

Abstracts (max. one page, 2500 characters, biogram 500 characters) are requested with topic suggestions for presentations (25 minutes) or short panels (90 minutes) with several thematically coordinated presentations led by one or more persons. This call for papers is open to scholars at all career stages.

Please submit proposals by January 15, 2026, to: maj-mehrvarz@dpi-da.de and loew@dpi-da.de.