Academic conference, “On the 100th anniversary of the Baltic Institute in Toruń”, Toruń 10 December 2025

Abstract

On 10 December 2025, the building of the Copernican Library in Toruń housed an academic conference titled, “On the 100^th Anniversary of the Baltic Institute in Toruń”. The initiative to commemorate the anniversary of the establishment of the mentioned institution taken by employees of the Faculty of History, NCU, was joined by Mayor of Toruń P. Gulewski, President of the City Council Ł. Walkusz, and Marshal of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship P. Całbecki. The Baltic Institute has become a permanent element of the scientific oeuvre of Toruń in the interwar period. Members of this renowned institution actively participated in the attempt at establishing a university in Toruń, with many of them co-creating Nicolaus Copernicus University immediately after the war. In Toruń, the Baltic Institute existed until the outbreak of the war (from 1937, it was gradually moved to the newly founded Gdynia), and after it ended, it was reactivated on the Coast – first in Gdynia, then briefly in Bydgoszcz, and then in Gdańsk. The lecturers presented the academic oeuvre of the Baltic Institute from the Toruń period pertaining to museum studies (I. Markowska, A. Kroplewska-Gajewska), archaeology (J. Gackowski), ethnology (R. Kleśta-Nawrocki), geography (H. Pomianowska), and marine economy (B. Poświata). A closer look was offered also on the circumstances under which the Institute has been formed (P. Olstowski) and its most distinguished Director in the interwar period J. Borowik, PhD (T. Krzemiński). The speakers included individuals from the University of Gdańsk (B. Chrzanowski and J. Nocoń), who provided insights into the history of the Baltic Institute staff in the times of the occupation and in the post-war period of its existence. The session was accompanied by a commemorative exhibition of the Institute’s published papers included in the collection of the Copernican Library in Toruń. In 2026, a post-conference publication will be released. In the space of the Toruń old town and in the front area of the Marshal Office, a poster exhibition will be presented to provide a closer look at the period in which the Baltic Institute has existed. In turn, on the façade of the building at 1 Żeglarska Street, which housed its directorate, a commemorative plate will be unveiled.