Multicultural Lodz

LODZ OPEN TO THE CULTURE OF OTHER COUNTRIES

In the 19th century, industrial Łódź was formed together by four nations - Poles, Germans, Jews and Russians. Germans and Jews were craftsmen and set up factories where Poles, who came to Łódź as the promised land from small towns and villages, worked. All this happened in the territory of the
Russian Sector of partitioned Poland. Cultures and languages interpenetrated, what traces have remained to this day, among others for example in Łódź cuisine and language.

Material souvenirs of multicultural Łódź are, above all, churches and cemeteries. One of the largest Jewish necropolises in Europe is located in Łódź The mausoleum of Izrael Poznański is probably the largest Jewish tombstone in the world. Also the neo-Gothic chapel of Karol Scheibler in the Protestant part of the Old Cemetery, symbolizing the fame and wealth of the manufacturer, is considered one of the largest and most beautiful tombs in Europe

Dialogue Center in Lodz

The mission of this Center is to promote intercultural and interreligious dialogue and to present the achievements of various cultures - in particular those that are known from the history of Lodz.

Particular emphasis is placed on Jewish culture, although the exhibitions, panels, workshops and lectures organized by the institution also connected with German, Russian, and also Ukrainian, Romani or Armenian topics.

The Center conducts educational activities, spreading knowledge about various cultural and religious practices. It supports the idea of tolerance and combating discrimination, initiates discussions about living in a multicultural and multi-species world.

The memory of multicultural Lodz is cultivated especially during the annual Lodz of Four Cultures Festival which is a continuation of the Dialogue of Four Cultures Festival. At present, the event is organized by the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, an institution which popularizes the multicultural and multiethnic heritage of Lodz.

Festival events are held in distinctive, typically Lodz locations, continuing and strengthening cooperation with cultural institutions and artists from Lodz by taking advantage of their enormous substantive and artistic potential.

Artists from Israel, Germany, Belarus and Ukraine will perform for the audience. There is also no shortage of phenomenal Polish performers. Original concerts are prepared, including outdoor ones.