Author's meeting with Philip Springer

There are places that seem familiar, although we have never been to them before. What is hidden in the landscape and what traces does history leave in it? This is what Filip Springer tells about in the book “Mein Gott, how beautiful”. We will meet the author on November 4 at 18:00 at the Elbląska Library. The conversation will be moderated by Dominik Żyłowski.

Filip Springer (born 1982) is a writer and photographer. Author of books on space and architecture: “Miedzianka. The story of the disappearance” (Black, 2011), “Badly born. Reportage on the architecture of the PRL” (Karakter, 2012), “Zaczyn. About Sofia and Oscar Hansen” (Karakter, 2013), “A bathtub with a colonnade. Reportage on Polish Space” (Czarne, 2013), “13 floors” (Czarne, 2015), “Book of Delights” (Agora, 2016), “The City of Archipelago. Poland of smaller cities” (Karakter, 2016), “Twelve: Do not think that you will run away” (Czarne, 2019), “Mein Gott, how beautiful” (Karakter, 2023) and “The Gray Hour. It's time for a new architecture” (Karakter, 2024). He cooperates with the Institute of Reportage, at which he founded the School of Ecopoetics with Julia Fiedorczuk. Since 2026, editor-in-chief of Fathers magazine Fathers.

About the book “Mein Gott, how beautiful” from the description of the publishing house Karakter:

This is not a reportage. It is a half fictionalized, half documentary story, the main character of which is the landscape. Cycling through the eastern provinces of Prussia, later known as the Recovered Lands, the author follows in the footsteps of people who, with a vision of progress, joined the industrial revolution, gradually transforming the world around them. Part of the story takes place on the Oder River — the first regulated great river in Europe; part in the Prakwica forests, where Emperor Wilhelm II, battling his own demons, exterminated the deer population.

Springer looks at the landscape as nineteenth-century lithographers, the builder of the Prussian railway or the father of Polish photography, Jan Bułhak, looked at it. In this way, he tries to understand why in him it is difficult to ignore the premonition that he has once been in this place.

The task is implemented as part of the project “Close Sites: People, Places, Stories” co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund — a state special purpose fund.