Memorial crosses in Poland: A commonplace and contested element of public roads

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to show spatial regularity of roadside memorialisation as well as public opinions on the phenomenon in Poland. Field studies covering 623 kilometres of public roads showed that out of 100 roadside memorials, the majority (98%) are memorial crosses A correlation between the distribution of roadside memorials and the road category and related accident rate was noted. Internet questionnaires, on the other hand, indicated that opinions on memorial crosses are nearly equally divided in Polish society: 52% are for leaving them along roads and 48% are for their removal. Furthermore, an analysis of web discussions has shown that memorial crosses are seen by society either as traditional components of road infrastructure, or objects of religious cult, or cross-cultural markers of death and grief.