A typical Kaszubian village, nestled within the countryside, hardly visible from the main highway, where not much has changed over the past centuries, humble, yet honorable, exuding an undeniable strength of perseverance.

     Meeting with extended relatives who also bear the name Gulgowski was an indescribable pleasure. These folks welcomed us with open arms and hearts, just as so we had always been members of their fold. Kindly, considerate and generous to a fault, we were greeted with the three traditional Polish kisses.

     The patriarch of the Gulgowski family is presently Professor Zygmunt Gulgowski (93), a retired master teacher and professor of pedagogy, who had declined to become a leading official in the Ministry of Education in Poland, because he had refused joining the Communist Party. The penalty for this refusal was being relegated to work at the lowest educational level. Still, the hundreds of teachers he prepared for their profession honor him for his wisdom once every year by celebrating him with a lavish party. Much was learned about our ancestors by conferring with him and his son Michal and daughter Barbara. The pictures notable in the photograph below have been painted by Zygmunt.

Together with three of the other 114 Gulgowskis in the world

     Of the 17 small towns, villages, settlements and noble estates the Gulgowskis founded in Pomerania, Kaszubia, Greater Poland, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, two major estates can still be traced in Kaszubia today. One of them has become the Kaszubian Ethnographic Park founded by Ernst Seefried (Izydor) Gulgowski and his wife, Teodora.

Gulgowski Ethnographic Park

     Izydor and Teodora loved Kaszubia so well that they dedicated their entire estate to the creation of the what is today known as the Kaszubian Park of Ethnography. As history has shown, this action saved their noble estate from being confiscated by the anti-nobility wave within Poland after World War I and during the Communist Era after World War II.

Paul in front of Izydor Gulgowski's red-brick schoolhouse



Paul seated behind Izydor's desk

     Izydor was first and foremost a school teacher. Still, he had found time to publish the book "Von einem unbekannten Volke in Deutschland" – "Of an Unknown People in Germany." Everywhere one goes in Kaszubia today, he is celebrated and revered with undiminished intensity as the father of the Kaszubian identity. He had returned to the Kaszubian people their long-lost roots, for which they continue to be grateful beyond any verbal description.

Izydor and Teodora



Izydor's book "Of an Unknown People in Germany"

     It is not practical to list or show pictures of the many 18th and 19th century Kaszubian cottages, farms, manor houses, windmills and the wooden church, dedicated to St. Barbara. A few examples will hopefully suffice.

    Reception in the office of the Ethnographic Park's director, Ms. Teresa Lasowa. Pictured are also Zdzisia Gulgowski, Lidia Gabig (our capable interpreter), Paul and Jan Gulgowski.

Ethnographic Park



Ethnographic Park



Ethnographic Park



Ethnographic Park



Ethnographic Park

    The affectionately maintained graveside of Izydor and Teodora Gulgowski, the undisputed and deeply loved "Romeo and Juliet" of the Kaszubian people. Young people meet here to pledge their eternal love to one another.

     The next epoch in our travel agenda held less gratifying news. The noble estate of the Gulgowskis in Kielpin, still appreciable in one last vintage remaining photograph, is today not more than an empty-shell eyesore and a deep-cutting heartache. The pictures below will do the rest of the explanation.

Gulgowski Noble Estate, photographed in 1936, built in 1787 or earlier

    The dilapidated Gulgowski aristocratic mansion served from 1941 through 1989 as headquarters for successive secret police organizations, who utilized the adjacent buildings as prisons. Thereafter, the building complex was employed for several years as a school for delinquent adolescents. No group of buildings was ever subject to more abuse.

Previously animal stalls, later prison cells



The countryside between the run-down buildings remains well-manicured
as it is the custom in Kaszubia since time immemorial

    Paul in front of his ancestors' noble estate, with bitterly disappointing thoughts on his mind, reminding him that this extensive noble estate once was the home of 50 horses, more than 1,000 heads of kettle, 3,000 sheep, ten thousands of geese and chickens, and, most of all, the warm and comfortable workplace for hundreds of contented employees, many of whom earned their living in the estate's dairy operation.

Mary with Child – Entrance Relief

     The final and much more elating travel experience gravitates around the Marienburg in Malbork, Poland. The Marienburg castle stands guard on the right banks of the Nogat River, the eastern branch of the Weichsel. It was the stronghold of the Teutonic Order and the residence of the Grand Master of the Order. The Order was dedicated to the Mother of Christ and its castle is the largest Gothic red-brick structure in the world. The stronghold began to be erected in 1198 as headquarters for a Christian Order of knights, priests and serving brothers.

     Next to its Christian missions, fighting disbelievers and attending to the sick and injured, its real-world function was to advance German national interests toward the East. The Teutonic Knights were attired with white mantles, bearing black crosses, the later base insignia for all Prussian and other German armed forces in the future to this very day. The influence of the fortress was diminished with the Teutonic Knights being defeated by the Poles in 1410 at the Battle of Tannenberg. The high point of its history was under Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode (1351-1382).

The Marienburg Fortress presiding with majesty over the Nogat River



Paul and friends in front of the Marienburg Fortress



Hermann von Salza, the 4th Grand Master of the Order



Paul in the seat of the Grand Master



One of the many small chapel altars in the Marienburg Fortress

     The real reason for our visit to the Marienburg Fortress, however, was to ascertain with absolute clarity that knights of the Doliwa Battle Clan fought, despite all controversy, on the side of the Teutonic Order. This theory or similar myths expressed with reservation in books can finally be set straight: Original wall paintings within the castle clearly prove that the Doliwa knights definitely fought alongside knights of the Teutonic Order and were accorded positions of responsibility at higher echelons in the Order.

Doliwa Knight von Lyskomski



Doliwa Knight von Botz

     We thank our dedicated readers and our hosts in Poland for giving this article their kind and considerate attention. May our Holy Lady Mary bless you all.

Statue of St. Mary

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