Ignacy Drexler: Reconstruction of villages and towns in our land [1921].

“Reconstruction of Villages and Cities on Our Land” by Ignacy Drexler is a publication of exceptional historical significance – published in 1921, in the first years of the reborn Republic of Poland, by the Ossoliński National Institute in Lviv and Warsaw. This is the second edition of the work (the second edition), enriched with “one hundred engravings” – one hundred illustrations documenting the issues discussed.

The book is a practical manual and manifesto for rebuilding the country after the devastation of World War I. In it, Drexler, an engineer and urban planner, presents a comprehensive vision of the reconstruction of the Polish countryside and cities – from legal and administrative issues, through regulatory plans, to technical and aesthetic solutions. It is a work that grows out of the spirit of organic labor and positivist faith in the possibility of national rebirth through systematic, rational work at the grassroots.

For researchers in the history of urban planning, conservationists, economic historians and anyone interested in the reconstruction of Poland after World War I, Drexler’s publication is an invaluable source of knowledge and testimony to the challenges of the time.