Alexander Treichel (1837–1901) – a forgotten ethnographer of the borderland of Kashubia and Kociewie

Abstract

Alexander Treichel was mostly known as an amateur archaeologist. His truest passion was to portray customs of Pomerelian autochthons in 19th century. Having graduated from law and economic studies in Berlin, he decided to return to Pomerelia so as to inherit and run his parents manor in Wilcze Błota near Stara Kiszewa. Throughout the years, he was wandering around the villages around Kościerzyna, in which he wrote down pieces of the Pomerelian folklore sung and told by local housewives. He shared knowledge of local customs gained during these journeys at sessions of the Berlin Society for Anthropology and the Danzig Research Society. Fortunately, glass negatives depicting Treichel himself, as well as scenes of rural everyday life, including field works, preserved the whirlwind of history. Unfortunately, however, his scientific output remains to await discovery.