A second prominent warrior with our surname was World War I Serbo-Hungarian Captain Gojkomir Baron Glogovac (pronounced: Gulgowo), who emerged as perhaps the premier Austro-Hungarian company-grade officer and was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Military Maria Theresia Order, a decoration most frequently awarded to General-officers. (4) (37)

Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresia

His large estates were located adjacent to the Village of Glogovac (pronounced: Gulgowo) (9) (Map A)

MAZOWSZE (MASOVIA):

Naturally, successive Gulgowski generations did not all remain at Gulki/Gуlki. For that to occur, this land possession was not large enough. Presently Gulki belongs to Wojewodztwo Mazowieckie. So does Plock, the childhood home of Anna of Plock, prior to her marriage to Duke Henryk in 1357 (55), of great relevance, considering the Gulg/kowski sept represented this area in the Polish sejm. Yet, this was not always the case. Intermittently, the bishops of Lodz exercised governmental power over this region. Lodz, now the second-largest city in Poland, was proclaimed a town in 1423, but during the next three and one-half centuries thereafter was not larger than a village and economically very poor. Still, it was the property of the bishops of Kujawy.

The bishops of Kujawy are included by some historians among the clan of Jastrzebiec, by others under Belina. If this constituted a major reason for our ancestors to leave this region, even prior to being recorded in the register of the Polish nobility by the name of Gulkowski in 1660, cannot be stated with certainty. Fact is, however, that the Mazowsze area is a sandy land and difficult to ranch or to farm, in itself sufficient cause to look for greener pastures elsewhere. Where many other branches of our sept finally ended up will, for a large part, remain a mystery. In view of the above, we had no other alternative but to adopt a strategy where we worked their beginning toward their last-known settlements. Not an easy task, we beg to consider, when the follow-up trace had to take into account the evolvement of our surname, giving the variances of “у” and “u” and “g” and “k” along the way. In doing so, we literally followed the clan shield of the Doliwa, not unlike highway markers.

As far as this particular coat-of-arms is concerned, the Glogowskis are normally associated with the Grzymala. However, regardless under what clan shield they occupied lands in the Inflants, they left this geographical area brandishing the coat-of-arms of the Doliwa. (8) (47) (54)

WOJEWODZTWO POMORSKIE (POMERANIA):

To continue with the identity of locations, we also scrutinized a settlement by the name of Gulkowo, which eventually developed into two villages, i.e. Wielki Gulkowo and Male Gulkowo, presently located in the Wojewуdztwo Pomorskie. The latter still exists under that name today. The former experienced a name change early in the 18th century to Pulkowice, noted as the place in history, where Stanislaw Koniecpolski defeated the Swedish army under Gustav Adolf on 27 June 1629. After 1772, the town was renamed Pulkowitz. Today it has regained its historically renowned identification. See Map R. No discernable remnances of anything or anyone by or close to our surname could be located in this area. The First and Second World War can surely be blamed for this. As an army officer I, Paul, am aware of the military tactic that utilized church steeples as artillery forward observer positions, which spelled their certain destruction by opposing forces’ counter battery fire. To make bad things worse, Soviet tank forces, as a matter of habit, erased from the face of the Earth cemeteries in their path of advance. These infamous practices robbed the civilization of millions of church records, grave markers and personal histories. (52)

Reconnoitering the route even further southwest, taken by many Polish nobles, in search of economic advancement, we scrutinized a cluster of settlements by the names of Gulgowko and Gulgowo in close proximity of the City of Gуrzno (Wojewуdztwo Kujawsko-Pomorskie). Gulgowo, the larger of the two, was known in the 15th century as Golcovo theutonicale and much later as Wielki Gulgowo. Sometime in between, it was also recognized in the literature as Gulkowo major i minor. Map A. Important is that Gulgowko, Gulgowo and Gуrzno owed allegiance to the bishops of Plock and were as such strongholds of the Doliwa clan. These factors also applied to the city of Krotoszyn, at least from 1570 to 1715 and especially toward the end of that time frame under Kasztelan Rozdrazewski. It was an inviting, charming, refined and sophisticated little town that offered an elegant social lifestyle to those who could afford it. (12) (52)

During and after the 1550s, the Polish nobility was permitted to construct or buy houses in cities, and to enjoy urban life without having to pay local taxes. Even if the municipalities they resided in levied a tax, the nobility found ways around that requirement or outright ignored that part of their civic responsibilities.

Little surprise then that the sept of Gulgowski moved to and eventually conducted most of its business from the lovely city of Krotoszyn. At long last, one of our research associates was able to locate a considerable number of church book entries, such as baptisms, weddings and death notices, penned in a journalistic style, in the parish church of St. John the Baptist in Krotoszyn. Excerpts and translations thereof have been prepared on our behalf and are now in our safeguarded possession.

Please allow us a word about the applied research recording practices/techniques, as they pertained to our case. A Zurek associate obtained permission to hand-copy their records for us. The relevant church book entries were put on his laptop computer and he translated the Latin and German entries into English, upon his return to Voelklingen. A Xerox machine was not available. Besides, no one in his right mind would expose the old, fading and dried-out pages to unnecessary heat and extreme light exposure. The enlightened reader will certainly know that prior to the 1772 Austrian/Prussian/Russian partition of Poland all Catholic church registry information was penned in Latin. Thereafter the Prussian kings, who worshipped in the Protestant faith, obliged the Roman Catholic Church to record all further documents for obvious reasons in the German language. Our ancestors’ baptismal, marriage and death records were prepared in an ornamental typestyle, as we had requested. After all, they were and continue to be of significant historical value to us.

The examination of the St. John the Baptist Parish church book entries disclosed the name of our oldest hereto known researchable relative in the year 1701 as Jerzy Gulgowski vel Gуlgowski (Glogowski) de Wielki Gollgowe. Subsequent recordings refer to his descendents as Gulgowski vel Gуlgowski de Gуlgowe and Gulgowski de Gulgowe. All annotations include references to the listed persons as “nobilis,” “Magnifica Domina,” “Generosus,” “Magnificus,” “Generosa Domina,” “Generoso Domino,” or the appropriate abbreviations for them, such as “G.D.” or “M.D.” Pawel Gulgowski is cited on 25 January 1795 as Pawel Gulgowski von Gulgowe. On 5 November 1798, Ludwik Gulgowski’s death entry reads “Ludwik Gulgowski de Gulgowe.” Three times, at the deaths of Ludwik, Pawel and Marciej Gulgowski the records list them as members of the Doliwa clan. This particular manifestation is probably due to the fact that the clan affiliation of the Gulgowski sept was common knowledge in this part of Poland prior to its partition, and the need was felt by my ancestors to reassert their nobility status for the new regime in power to recognize thereafter. (10)

As a special and heartfelt note, we should like to mention to the reader that gravestones of my great-grandparents, Jan and Augusta Gulgowski, were found in Swiezie (Wojewуdztwo Kujawsko-Pomorskie). These deceased relatives of mine are truly most important to this investigation as they represented the missing link between the family papers in my possession, and the parish registry entries at St. John’s. (13)

References 10 and 12 are nearly complete genealogical listings of our male and female ancestors, all the way back to 1701, which represents, next to the fortune of good luck, a rather respectable research result, of which those who found it and we may be rightfully proud, particularly in view of the fact that over 5,000 Szlachta knights were sent to Siberia and perished there after the anti-Russian rising of 1768-1772, which was also known as the “Confederation of Bar.” Stepping back into history once more, after the 1830-1831 insurrection, started by the cadets of the Warsaw Military College, over 25,000 noble and leading Polish citizens were transported to and imprisoned in Siberia, where many if not most died, which must also have had, in one way or another, a tragic impact on our ancestors. (10) (12) (38) (50) (Map I)

GENERATION ONE:

Paul Wilhelm von Gulgowski II, (son of Paul) was born January 21,1977. Paul II married Natalia Ortega-Mondragon on June 12, 2008. Natalia was born on Dec. 9, 1981.

GENERATION TWO:

Paul Wilhelm v. Gulgowski Sen. was born on July 4, 1940. Paul married Heide Maria von Hegenscheidt on July 6, 1989. Heide was born on April 9, 1954.

GENERATION THREE:

Paul Bernhard v. Gulgowski was born on January 5, 1914. He married Katharina v. Look on October 16, 1939. Katharina was born September 22, 1917.

Paul Bernhard died on June 16,1994, and his wife Katharine died on January 2, 1983.

GENERATION FOUR:

Joseph v. Gulgowski was born on August 6, 1878. Joseph married Maria Lilse on December 6, 1902.

GENERATION FIVE:

Johannes (Jan) v. Gulgowski was born on December 9, 1860 in Gulgowek. Johannes married Augusta Brzostowski on August 15, 1882. Augusta was born on August 15, 1864. Johannes died March 5, 1929, in Gulgowek; and Augusta died on November 8, 1937. Augusta belonged to the Clan of Strzemie.

GENERATION SIX:

Franz v. Gulgowski was born in April 17, 1822. He married Catherina v. Dobrowolska h. Doliwa, on December 19, 1851. Franz died on April 5, 1883. Catherina was born on December 19, 1851.

GENERATION SEVEN:

Maciej v. Gulgowski was born on January 25, 1795. Maciej married Zofia v. Bielska, h. Przerowa on June 7, 1819. Zofia's birthday was on September 19, 1799. Maciej died on July 12, 1871. Zofia v. Bielska [according to Kacper Niesiecki, HERBARZ POLSKI and Juliusz Ostrowski, KSEIGO HERBOWA RODOW POLSKICH] was a Princess. Hence, the Gulgowski Dynasty was enriched with the title of "Prince," which was also accorded to Zofia's husband, Maciej von Gulgowski.

GENERATION EIGHT:

Pawel v. Gulgowski was born on February 11, 1764. He married Magdalena von Kopystynska, h. Leliwa, on December 13, 1789. Magdalena was born on January 15, 1766. Pawel died on April 9,1827.

GENERATION NINE:

Ludwik v. Gulgowski was born on February 27, 1735. He married Barbara von Krzeminski, h. Prus III, on June 2, 1761. Barbara was born on July 9, 1738. Ludwik died on November 5, 1798.

GENERATION TEN:

Jerzy Gуlgowski was born in February 13, 1701. He married Wiktoria Telatyzka, h. Belina, on October 24, 1726. Wiktoria was born on March 13, 1705. Jerzy died on September 30, 1769.

GENERATION ELEVEN:

Stanislaus Gol~gowski(Gl~ogowski) married Anna Solezka. Stanislas is the last in my own line that can be proven by civil records.

*****

From this point on, we had to rely on Books on coats and arms and historical accounts:

Jan Golgowski is listed in Herbarz Szlachty Witebskij and Herbarz Polski, in 1697, when his nobility status in the Province of Polock was reconfirmed.

Anna Golgowski (nee Makowskich) was listed in Adam Boniecki's, Herbarz Polski, in 1592.

Piotra Gulgowski, also known as Golgowski, was dispatched by King Sigismund III (Vasa) on March 12, 1588 to the Inflants.

Marcin z Gulgowa (the Polish "z" represents in German "von") was listed at the University of Cracow in 1460.

Szymon z Gulgowawas also listed at the University of Cracow in 1460.

Dobek z Gulgowa is listed, in 1416, as heir to the Gulgowa/Gulkowa estate.

Wojslawa Glogowski and Smiecha Glogowski are listed, in 1406, as heirs of the Gulkowa estate.

Wawrzyniec z Glogowa lub Golkowa is reprimanded by Archbishop Waclaw z Legnicy in 1394.

Henryk III-V Zelazny, was the Duke of Glogow, Oels, Wohlau and Sagan. Henryk married Anna of Plock, on September 5, 1357. Henry died in 1369 and Anna died on February 16, 1362/63. [It is alleged that Henry III-V was the last male of the Piast Line. No record has been found, to date, that he had any offspring, in or out of Wedlock].

Henry II-IV, Duke of Silesia in Sagan was born in 1289. He married Mechthild v. Brandenburg, Margravine, on January 5, 1309/10. Mechthild was born in 1296, and died on March 31, 1369. Henryk died on January 22, 1341/42. [Through Mechthild v. Brandenburg, Henry was related to Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse)]

Prince Konrad I Glogowski-Bytomski, was the Duke of Silesia, and was born somewhere between 1228 and 1231. He married Salomea of Poland in 1249. Konrad died on April 18, 1273, while Salomea died in April 1267.

Henry II, "the Pious," was the Duke of Silesia and Cracow, and was born circa 1196. Henry married Anna v. Bohemia sometime between 1214 and 1218. Anna was born in 1204. Henry died on April 9, 1241. while his wife Anna died on June 23, 1265.

St. Hedwig

Henryk I, Brodaty ("the Bearded"), was the Duke of Silesia and Wroclaw. Henryk was born between 1167 and 1174. He married Saint Hedwig of Meran, the Patron Saint of Silesia. Hedwig was born in 1170 in Bavaria, Germany. Henryk died on March 19, 1238, in Krakow; while his wife, Hedwig, died on October 13, 1243.

For more information about St. Hedwig CLICK HERE

Boleslaw, "the Tall," (1129-1201) was the Duke of Silesia. He married Christina (bef. 1159 - 1204/8).

Wladislaw II, "the Exile" received Silesia and the "Senioral" territory as his inheritance. He was Duke of Kracow and Silesia from 1138-1146. He was King of Poland for a short time. Wladislaw was born in 1105; and died on May 30, 1159. Wladislaw married Agnes, the Margavine of Austria. Agnes, the daughter of Leopold III, Duke of Austria, was born sometime before 1110 or 1111; and she died in 1156.

Boleslaw III Krzywousty was the Duke of Poland in 1102. later called King of Poland. He was born on August 20, 1086, in Krakow, and died on October 28, 1138, in Sochaczew. His wife was Sbislava of Kiev who died circa 1110 or 1111.

Wladyislaw I Herman, King of Poland, was born circa 1043, and died June 4, 1102. He married Judith of Bohemia, who was born sometime between 1056 and 1058. Judith died on December 25, 1086.

Casimir I/Karol Odnowiciel ("the Restorer"), was the Duke of Poland in 1039. Casimir was born on July 25, 1016; and died March 19, 1058. He married Dobronega Maria of Kiev (1015-1087), the daughter of Vladimir, the Grand Duke of Kiev, circa 1041.

Mieszko II Lambert was born in 990 and died on May 10, 1034. Mieszko married Richerza de Lorraine (995-1062/63). Mieszko lost his realm in 1031 and fled abroad.

Boleslaw I "the Brave," was born about 697 in Poznan. He was Duke of Poland, and he died on May 25, 992. He married Emmilde (c. 970- c.1017)

Mieszko I Dagon, Grand Duke of Poland, was born circa 935, and died on May 25, 992. His wife was Dobrawa Premysl of Bohemia (d. 977), (a Czech).

Ziemonislaw/Siemonyst, Duke of Poland was born in Gniesno, and died before 964. He is buried in Poznan. His wife was Gorka.

Lemzek, the Duke of Poland (d. 921).

Ziemowit, Duke of Poland (d. 892)>

The Piast dynasty was founded in 850, The Piasts took their name from a ploughman named Piast (d. 891), who had a wife named Rzepicha. Piast was the first Duke of Poland.

The fact that the dates of death of the Gulgowski wives could not be located in Krotoszyn gives no reason for undue concern, because it surely rests in the customary practice that they returned to the ancestral homes of their origin, once they became widowed, especially since most, if not all of them, came from prominent families with connections to notable Szlachta clans, where they may have enjoyed greater personal luxury and freedom.

Once ennobled, the coat-of-arms bestowed upon a knight became hereditary to all descendents, both legitimate males and lineal females, i.e. unmarried daughters. In today’s world, it would be right and proper to accord equal recognition to the women of the Gulgowski sept, because all of them must have been truly remarkable ladies.

In Adam Boniecki’s Herbaz Polski of 1899, one of the most comprehensive documentation on the Polish Nobility at the time of its publication, the following clan associations are found for the spouses of the Szlachta sept of Gulgowski: Strzemie, Doliwa, Przerowa, Leliwa, Prus III, Belina and Ostroja.

Catherina Dobrowolska of the Battle Clan of Doliwa, who was married to Franz von Gulgowski on 19. Dec. 1851, also held the title of a Russian countess by the name of Dolivo-Dobrovolskii. Through her, Franz von Gulgowski gained personal recognition in Czarist Russia, in the Imperial and Royal Empire of Austria-Hungary and in the Kingdom of Prussia as count. (12) Augusta Brzostowska (in several documents also spelled Brzozowska) was a descendant of Franciszek Ksawery Brzostowski who was made a count by Pope Innocent XII and installed as hereditary count by King Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia in 1798 and as such also recognized in Poland in 1846. (8) She was the wife of Johannes (Jan) von Gulgowski. Zofia v. Bielska (according to Kacper Niesiecki, HERBARRZ POLSKI and Juliusz Ostowski, KSIEGA HERBOWA RODOW POLSKICH) was a princess.

Our nobility study features for the most part the marital successes of the male members of the Gulgowski-Doliwa clan. To let this stand without paying at least some respect to the female members of the Gulgowski-Doliwa dynasty would be an unforgivable oversight.

Partial Representation of the Gulgowski-Doliwa
Cadet Line Family Tree

To prove this case in point, the readers' attention is invited to the above family-tree excerpt. The Polish nobility surname highlighted in yellow on the bottom of the above chart indicates that Zygmunt Brzozowski, a descendent of the counts of the Szlachta Clan Belina, married Maryla Gulgowski in or about the year 1897. Obviously, Maryla had done quite well for herself as far as her marital connection was concerned.

The top Polish nobility surname highlighted in yellow refers to Jan Poniatowski h. Ciolek. He married Zofia Gulgowski approximately in the year 1937. Obviously, considering the high prominence of the surname Poniatowski, Jan is a descendent of Count Stanislaw Poniatowski, Castellan of Krakow, and Princess Konstancja Czartoryska. A brother of Stanislaw was Michael Jerzy, the Roman Catholic Primate Cardinal of Poland from 1784-1794. However, the most imminent of the Poniatowskis was the last elected native King of Poland, Stanislaw II August Poniatowski. In that capacity, King Stanislaw II was also the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the Duke of Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samigitia, Kiev as well as other duchies. Clearly, Zofia married into one of the most esteemed families and Szlachta clans of Poland.

True historians however know that King Stanislaw August did not ascent to the Polish throne without the coup d'etat on 7 September 1764, which was supported by Russian troops and the best wishes of the future empress of Russia, Catherine the Great, who had become irresistibly infatuated with the flamboyant and intelligent Polish nobleman and who had wished him, at least at that time, all the success in the world.

King of Poland, Stanislaw II August Poniatowski

And his Ciolek family coat-of-arms

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE:

Ever since early medieval times, the Polish Szlachta blended the possession of agricultural landholdings and noble birth with military or political power/involvement, sometimes with profoundly tragic consequences.

Starting with the 19th century, the most notable Gulgowski held the rank of General of Cavalry in the Czarist Russian Army and had served on several occasions as Governor General of the Province of Suvalki. As commanding officer of His Imperial Majesty’s Dragoon Life Guard Regiment, he was a celebrated hero of the Turkish-Russian War of 1877-78 and was awarded several high Russian decorations, among them the Orders of St. Anna, St. Vladimir and St. Stanislav. Of the latter, he was a Grand Knight. (42)

The above replica represents the book cover to the official accounts of His Imperial Majesty's Dragoon Life Guard Regiment during the Turkish-Russian War of 1877-1878, during which then Staff Captain Nikolai Gul'kovskii was mentioned 23 times for service, merit and bravery in the performance of his duties to Holy Mother Russia.

For more information on Russian Orders CLICK HERE
For information about Royal Russia CLICK HERE

General Gulgowski's extensive noble estate surrounded the Village of Gulkova. (Map M)

However, the general was not the only prominent Gulgowski who lived during the times of the Russian Czars.
For a few interesting sources about Gulgowski ГУЛЬКОВСКИЙ (in the Russian language) click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Another individual with our surname is listed among the noble Russians, who, at one time or another, served in the Upper House of Deputies within the Sovereign Moscow Capital Government.

AN UNFORGOTTEN SACRIFICE

Without reservation, supreme hero status must be accorded to Andrzej Gulkowski, Tadeusz Antoni Glogowski, Waclaw Leon Glogowski and Walenty Glogowski, who were brutally murdered by the Stalinist regime of the Soviet Union in 1940 in the Forest of Katyn, in the end a supreme sacrifice for the greater glory of Poland. (30)

CLICK HERE to view the Map showing the location of Katyn Forest

THE GULGOWSKIS ON THE MOVE

However, there is ample evidence in the attached literature citations, the church records and, by name association, in the below stated geographical dictionaries, Nobility Institute listings and encyclopedias that the Gulgowskis owned extensive real estate in the Kingdom of Poland, the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth, Czarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the former Duchies of Pomerania and Silesia, and they were as officials of state or deputies appropriately active in national and regional politics. (24) (25) (26) (41) (52) (Map N)

Reference sources 23 and 63 confirm beyond any reasonable doubt that the noble family of Gulgowski seemed to have survived the first partition of Poland in 1772, fragmented or separated from one another for tax or political reasons perhaps, yet with their nobility status intact. State of Prussia mandated and recorded nobility landholding registries certified the sept of Gulgowski possessing and profitably managing extensive agricultural estates in the Kaszubian areas of Tuchula, Swiecie and Chelmza (Wojewуdztwo Kujawko-Pomorskie). The individual village names were: Bresin, Kielpin, Mliniec, Drozdowo, Szollowa and Rownionitza. Bresin, Kielpin, Mliniec and Drozdowo were listed in Polish and German sources as noble estates. (24) (52) (63)

The Gulgowski noble estate in Kielpin, photographed in 1936, was built in 1767 or earlier.

The dilapidated Gulgowski aristocratic mansion.

It served from 1941-1949 as a headquarters for successive secret police organizations, who utilized the adjacent buildings as prisons and interrogation centers. After that, the complex was used for several years as a school for delinquent adolescents. Over the years this plot was subject to much abuse.

Stable ruins viewed from the right-hand side of the Gulgowski noble mansion.

These outbuildings were originally used as animals stalls,
and later as prison cells

The countryside between the run-down buildings
remains well manicured, as has been the custom in Kaszubia since time immemorial.

Paul in front of his ancestors' noble estate.

What was disappointing, was the knowledge that this estate once was the home of 50 horses, a 1,000 head of cattle, 3,000 sheep, and 10,000 geese and chickens. The estate was also home to a warm, comfortable, and generously managed workplace for hundreds of employees who earned their living in the estate's dairy.

Nevertheless, here too, the official County of Konitz administrative records show a series of noble estate name changes. Just one example: Kielpin was first changed into Kelpin and lastly into Kelpen. As one can see, nothing in life is ever easy and totally in the open. (58)

Although there was never any doubt in the minds of the authors, as substantiated by a multitude of records, that the Gulgowski estates possessed in fact noble status, some of our still presently living relatives maintained that these are land holdings were mere exceedingly large agricultural holdings owned by farmers.

Now, luckily for us, a dear lady from Calgary, Canada, Mrs. Margaret Roehl-Graham, has come forward and did mail to us two faded photographs depicting two structures of one of the Gulgowski Rittergueter (Knightly Estates), where her father had worked as Verwalter (Managing Official), as indicated on a Matzkau Rittergut printed stationary.

Matzkau-Gulgowski Noble Estate 1923

Stables at Matzkau-Gulgowski Noble Estate

Stationary Rittergut Matzkau

The Third Reich and World War II did not spare the Gulgowski settlement of Bresin a rather unusual and highly unexpected sight of anguish. Under the new name of Matzkau, it became a rather large and well-fenced-in concentration camp for members of the SS and police, who had committed the unforgivable offense of being flagrantly disobedient to orders on how to treat Jews and other opponents of the Hitler regime. How was that possible, one might be inclined to wonder. The answer is relatively simple: Tall, highly intelligent and good looking young men were probably involuntarily inducted into the military arm of the SS or police establishment. Upon receiving orders that went against their moral convictions and Christian upbringing, they rebelled against crimes against humanity they were supposed to commit. As this was not tolerated, they ended up in a concentration camp, especially designed for them. How they were treated there, we leave up to the imagination of the reader. We offer this paragraph to all those who can appreciate the difference this information makes to commonly held believes about the entirety of the SS and police organizations in Nazi Germany. (56) (63)

An example in case is Josef Mayr-Nusser who was born in 1910 in the Tyrolean City of Bozano. Already in his youth, he was an active member of his Roman-Catholic congregation. In November 1939, he joined the resistance movement “Andreas-Hofer-Bund” against the Nazis. The Gestapo never wised up to his activities there, and in September 1944, he was drafted into the SS and sent to Konitz, Westprussia, for basic military training. On the 4th of October 1944, he refused to take his SS oath of allegiance because of religious reasons. This was considered treasonous conduct by the powers in being and he was brought to the SS and police concentration camp in Matzkau, where he was tortured to death. Today, Josef Mayr-Nusser is considered a Tyrolean martyr for his faith. (68)

The area of Swiecie was also the home of Marianna von Gulgowska, the only noble Gulgowski locatable with a mortgage record. (1) (7) (32) (33) (57)

The previously described socioeconomic conditions prevailed with minor variations, such as branching out into industrial manufacturing, until the conclusion of World War I.

The economical and sociopolitical decline of the German Empire under Wilhelm II. also precipitated the financial ruin of the Szlachta family Gulgowski and their eventual misfortune in Poland and Germany only grew under the rule of fascist Germany and the occupation of Poland under the former Soviet Union, which resulted, among other things, also in our immigration to America. The single, mostly fortunate exception being that of my grand-uncle, Pan Izydor (Ernst-Seefried) Gulgowski, who successfully managed to hold on to his estates by converting them into a major Polish state-sanctioned ethnographic park, that is still enjoying high cultural status today. (2) (15) (16) (17) (48) (60) (65)

The reader will be pleased to learn that the City of Gdansk has dedicated a street with the name Gulgowskiego after him, and the City of Koscierzyna has christened a whole neighborhood in his honor, while the village in the Kaszubski Ethnographic Park, naturally, also displays his name. Besides, a few kilometers south of Koscierzyna, a 1936 map depicts a village by the name of Gulgowa. (Map H). And last but not least, right on the borderline between Weyherowo and Kartenzy is the hamlet of Gulgow (Map G), which also contributed to immigration to America. (18) 19) (29)

CLICK HERE for photographs of the Kaszubian Park and information about what is there.

By the way, the governmental administrative district of Weyherowo (Powiatu Wejherowskiego) displays in its official flag both the Pomeranian Griffin and the three roses of the clan of Doliwa. (64)

Returning to the subject of military/political exercise of power, References 44, 46 and 53 below clearly indicate that the Gulgowski knights represented the Palatinate of Plock at the Constitutional Assembly in the year 1697 and 1764 and maintained a prominent and highly representative residence in that area. (14) (43) (Map O)

However, the information above depicts only the latter half of the Gulgowski surname odyssey. Boguslaw Kreja’s Ksiega Nazwisk Ziemi Gdanskiej, published at the University of Gdansk in the year 1998, sheds some astonishing light on the evolvement of our last name. This publication was not known to us until approximately three years ago. It cements scholarly and states authoritatively that the royal surname Gulgowski is the result of a transformation over time in which “Glog” over "Glug" [a derivative therefore of “Golg,”"Golk," or "Gulk"] eventually changed into “Gulg,” as in Gulgowski. (35)

Not really surprising is the fact that Kreja, beyond question, links the name Gulgowski to the royal Silesian enclave of Glogowko Krolewskie, which was also the site of an abbey by the name of The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, established 1358 by Anna Plocka, wife of Henryk III-V Zelazny, Duke of Glogow Zaganski. (22)

After 1772, Glogowko Krolewskie experienced a name change to Koeniglich (Royal) Glugowo and eventually ended up as Koenigsgulgau (Royal Gulgau), a linguistic phenomena, based on contemporary geopolitical necessity. This undoubtedly also had a major impact on the way Gulgowski relatives spelled their name or had their name by the new authorities in power spelled for them, while living under Austrian, Prussian or Russian rule. (58) (Map B) (Map Q)

These geopolitical changes notwithstanding, the surname Gulgowski is unquestionably a Polish and not a Kaszubian or German name,(in German it would be “von Glogau”) and its definitive origin is undoubtedly the Silesian City of Glogow with all its cause-and-effect implications. (34) (35) This irrefutable evidence places the Gulgowski/Glogowski sept in clear reach of the Piast Dynasty connection. (55)

After the death of Henryk III-V Zelazny in the year 1369, Silesia and Glogow became subject to the internal strive between several Polish and foreign dukes and their futures became uncertain. This upheaval was greatly complicated by the tragic devastation of the area by an all-consuming fire in 1291 that required a reconstruction effort, which went well into the middle of the 14th century. And if this was not bad enough, in 1295, the plague made its entry into the Duchy of Glogow with heart-breaking consequences reaching well into the 14th century. Thus far, the history of the Duchies of Silesia in general and the Duchy of Glogow in particular as reported by the Glogauer Heimatbund e.V. (Glogow Historical Society, Registered Association).

Drawing of Glogau Castle Reconstruction Plan after the Tragic Fire of 1291

The Gulgowski Ducal Palais in Lower Silesia.

Nevertheless, a few of the Glogowski/Gulgowski sept members must have survived these ordeals. One of them, Wawrzyniec z Glogowa lub Golkowa had manifestedly enjoyed life abundantly enough to be reprimanded by the archbishop of Wroclaw, Waclaw z Legnicy, in 1394. Despite this incident, his nobility was reconfirmed in Leczyca in the year 1396. The following of his descendents are listed: Wojslawa and Smiecha 1405, Mikolaj 1405, Dobek 1416, all heirs of the Gulkowa estate. Marcin, son of Szymon Gulgowski, was officially listed at the University of Cracow in 1460. (12) (20)

King Sigismund Vasa
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Line of Casimir IV to the Vasa Line

The next time history revealed the activities of our ancestors was under Royal Decree 258 of 11 March 1588, where and when King Sigismund III (Waza) authorized a certain Wojciech Slupski to purchase the estate Ostabkowska in the governmental district of Buskin from the descendents of Lord Gulgowski. Under the Royal Decree 259 of 12 March 1588, the King approved for lifelong estate ownership lands for Lord Piotra Gulgowski (also called Golgowski). (67). These estates were located in a domain known as the Inflants, in an area not too far from Polock where the properties named Ludczyc, Czerna and Drymosszczyzny were situated. (20) (21)

This completes the circle of our research as much as momentarily possible. And it makes us whole to the extent history has opened itself up for our contentment. However, we will never be totally satisfied until the slightest gap in the armament of our past is closed. As this is a generational effort, we are looking forward to our son to step up to this challenge and experience the thrill of meeting the ancestors not yet found and learn what they have to tell us, as they give their belated accounts or at least a summary of their lives on which we build our successes.

RELATED LINKS:

The Katyn Memorial Wall. This link has a listing of all Polish murdered during the Stalinist regime in 1940.

The Coat of Arms of H. H. Chev. Commodore Prof. Dr. Paul W. Margrave Gulgowski-Doliwa
can be seen HERE
The Coat of Arms of H. H. Chev. Lt. Colonel Paul W. Margrave Gulgowski-Doliwa II
can be seen HERE

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