Zarządzanie krajobrazem kulturowym małego miasta. Przeobrażenia urbanistyczno-architektoniczne miasta Szczytno na przestrzeni XX wieku

The 20th century has fundamentally changed the Warmian and Mazurian urban landscape. Only within the space of one hundred years, this territory has been twice suffered the war damage. The first time, in 1914 – during the Russian army offensive 35 East Prussian towns were destroyed, next time, during the winter and spring of 1945 – as the results of the Soviet army activities and post‐war economy, most of Warmian and Mazurian historical urban complexes suffered huge losses again. In both cases, the post‐war rebuilding was conducted on a great scale and with significant urban landscape results. The last strong note appearing at the turn of the 21st century were some investment activities which were taken just as in violent and significant way without any rules in protecting the public view and spatial or architectural value. The result of such activities was the erasing of the historical town nature and the demotion of its value. Szczytno is one of the small town centers situated on the territory of the Southern Mazuria (the seat of the county, the area – 9,96 km2, the population – 25 759). At the turn of the 20th century, this rapidly developing town, destroyed and rebuilt twice during the 20th century, violently changed its view on the eve of the 21st century. It is a kind of classical example of the changes and processes to which Warmian and Mazurian urban complexes were and still are subjected. These processes are still accompanied by the same problems and questions – how to adjust modern civilization standards and requires to the tradition and past value. With such problems it must has been wrestled during the both of the past‐war town’s rebuilding. The first rebuilding was accompanied with the efforts in referring to the local, building tradition, whereas the next one was quite opposite to the past cultural patterns. In both cases also modernity and landscape modernization were the distinctive background. The analysis of these processes, their ideological, economic and organizing frames is a kind of attempt to answer the general question – how to manage the town’s landscape.