Challenge
The platform had to serve two very different but equally demanding audiences: academic researchers and archivists requiring depth, precision, and complex content relationships; and members of the Polish community in Germany who wanted a welcoming, navigable space for connection and cultural identity. Both audiences needed the content to be accessible in German and Polish, with a multilingual architecture maintained over many years of ongoing development.
The content itself spans centuries and covers biography, historical events, locations, artefacts, photographs, oral testimony, and community contributions — requiring a flexible CMS that could handle complex relational content structures while remaining editable by non-technical staff.
Solution
We developed the complete digital museum on Drupal 8, designed to reflect the cultural significance of the project with an authoritative yet accessible visual language. The Atlas der Erinnerungsorte — a fully interactive map of Polish memory sites across Germany and Poland — became the centrepiece of the platform, allowing visitors to explore history geographically and by era (from before 1771 through to the present day).
The Drupal architecture provides the flexibility to manage diverse content types: historical documents, eyewitness accounts, biographical entries, photographic archives, and current community contributions. The platform operates in both German and Polish, with SEO optimisation ensuring visibility for both language communities.
Our Services
- Drupal 8 Development: Complete platform design and build with custom content types for archive, biography, exhibitions, and community content
- UI/UX Design: A design language reflecting the cultural weight of the project while remaining accessible and navigable for broad audiences
- SEO: Multilingual SEO strategy for maximum visibility in German and Polish search contexts
- Ongoing Development: Continuous feature development and maintenance since November 2017
Result
A vibrant online museum that makes German-Polish history digitally accessible and serves as a networking platform for the Polonia in Germany. The project contributes sustainably to memorial culture and to intercultural dialogue between two of Europe's most historically connected nations.
