Lvov – Wrocław. Two towns, two regions, two universities

Abstract

Wrocław and Lvov are two big metropolises full of historical monuments which were located on the borderlands of terrains occupied by nations with glorious past and their own universities. The location played a decisive role in the fact that both universities were involved in political and national conflicts. Lvov defended Polish traditions in the East and Wrocław initiated and organized the intellectual fight for maintaining the German eastern borderland. Jan Kazimierz University (Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) in Lvov was founded earlier than the University of Wrocław. The first was Polish in character, the latter was German. Political changes after the Second World War resulted in liquidation of the Jan Kazimierz university in Lvov. It was replaced by the national Ukrainian university. The German university in Wrocław was also liquidated. The new Polish university used its building and libraries. At the same time inherited from Jan Kazimierz University its cadre and ethos and referred to the most prominent German scholars.