At home on both sides

Could baker Krause ever have imagined that an international family would one day live in his bakery on Steinweg in Görlitz? "Probably not," say Agnieszka and Philipp Bormann. They bought the former bakery from Krause's children and renovated the venerable building. The Bormanns moved in in December 2015. The house offers plenty of space for the family of five. Besides the parents, there are three boys, aged ten, seven, and three. "They joined us at a very happy time in our lives," Agnieszka Bormann told the SZ. The 43-year-old and her husband, also 43, are not originally from Görlitz. He comes from Hildesheim, and she from Kielce, Poland, north of Krakow. In Görlitz, they have found a new home together, where they feel very comfortable. "We are committed Europeans," the Bormanns say. They feel just as at home in Görlitz as they do in Zgorzelec or the surrounding areas. They are both border crossers and glad that this border no longer truly exists. "We live on both sides," Agnieszka and Philipp Bormann emphasize, and they are certain: without the fall of the Berlin Wall, their lives would have been completely different. They most likely would never have met. But as it is, they were able to witness Görlitz's rebirth as a historical monument. How everything is changing, most of it for the better.
 
What has become possible gives them courage and confidence. "For me, it's exciting here. It's a beautiful and convenient place to build a new home," says Agnieszka Bormann. The short distances in the city, the good infrastructure that's all within walking distance—the 43-year-old particularly appreciates these things. She missed this life on both sides of the Neisse River when she lived in Dresden for a while. "There, I was too far removed from the atmosphere I know and love so much in the border region." Görlitz finally opened up a professional future for her after she completed a highly practical postgraduate program in addition to her German studies in Poland. This led her to the International Institute for Cultural Infrastructure Saxony, a collaboration between the Technical University of Dresden and the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. It is located in Klingewalde Castle. There, in Professor Vogt's office, Agnieszka met Philipp Bormann. That was in 2003. Three years later, they were a couple, and they have been married since 2011.
 
Philipp Bormann has lived in Görlitz since 1997. After completing his civilian service, he studied for a year at Humboldt University in Berlin. He read in a newspaper about a study opportunity in Görlitz and Dresden that placed a strong emphasis on economics. Bormann traveled to Görlitz. "For a long time, there was nothing but forest. Once I arrived in Görlitz, the city immediately captivated me," he recalls. An application process and the move to Görlitz followed. “I haven’t regretted it for a single second,” he says. The Bormanns have made Görlitz their home. “We don’t want to leave here anymore,” they agree, though they don’t completely rule out the possibility of a change of scenery in retirement. Sunny Italy would be their shared favorite. But retirement is still a long way off. Right now, the Bormanns are very grateful for their circumstances. They’ve worked hard to create them, but they’ve also been given an easy ride. They’re convinced of that. “We have an old house here, and renovating it was our way of saying we’re staying put,” they say.

Of course, their jobs are a prerequisite. Philipp is an advisor to the general director of the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater, and Agnieszka is the cultural officer for Silesia at the Silesian Museum in Görlitz. Their fluency in both German and Polish is a real advantage in these roles. Agnieszka goes to both German and Polish cinemas with friends, while Philipp avoids Polish cinemas, finding them too challenging. "I learned Polish with the children and understand almost everything," he says. He communicates well with his in-laws in both Polish and German. The boys are growing up bilingual. "For the children, it's perfectly natural; they don't see anything special about it," explains Philipp Bormann. Since their eldest son started a bilingual program at school, he often speaks to his mother in Polish. "Before that, he only spoke her language when he was attending music school in Zgorzelec," says Mr. Bormann. Until then, Polish had been "Grandma's language" for the boy, because his grandmother is Polish and speaks very little German. "Our son has now truly understood the advantages of being bilingual," Philipp Bormann says proudly. His younger sons are following in their brother's footsteps. So it's no wonder that meals at the family's large table in the kitchen-living room are quite lively: German and Polish are spoken simultaneously. One person asks a question in German, the other answers in Polish, or vice versa. And no one finds it strange because they all understand each other. Normally, German is spoken at home. "But if Grandpa from Poland is sitting next to us, the youngest son, for example, switches to Polish as if it were the most natural thing in the world," Philipp Bormann explains, pleased that his children are so fluent in both languages. Sometimes they act as interpreters at daycare, school, or during their free time when they meet other children. The 
 
Bormann family lives not only across borders but also across religious denominations. Agnieszka was raised Catholic, Philipp Protestant. They haven't had their children baptized yet. The three boys are to decide for themselves which religion they want to follow when they're older. At school, the children attend Protestant religious instruction. That, in turn, would probably please baker Krause. And who knows, perhaps the man would be delighted to see how well such a German-Polish family functions – true international understanding on a small scale, lived anew and intensely every day.
 

Source: Sächsische Zeitung
Text: Gabriele Lachnit
Photo: Nikolai Schmidt 

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