Pomeranian Adventure Tour -- Kartuzy and the Kashubians

From Kolobrzeg we traveled to Kartuzy, a town in the Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania region in northwestern Poland with a population of around 15,000. The town is an important center of the culture of Kashubians. It was founded as a cloister for Carthusian monks, after whom it received its name.

Kartuzy is the unofficial capital of the Kashubians, a West Slavic ethnic group with a language and traditions apart from the Poles. They are direct descendants of an early Slavic tribe of Pomeranians who took their name from the land in which they settled. The first reference to the Kashubians dates to the 13th century. During this period the Dukes of Pomerania included "Duke of Kashubia" in their titles. When the Swedes took over parts of West Pomerania after the 30 Years' War, the Swedish kings titled themselves "Dukes of Kashubia" from 1648 to the 1720s. The area was again under Prussian rule after that period.  Some allowance was given to the use of the Kashubian language.

In the 1830s, several hundred Kashubians emigrated to Upper Canada and created the settlement of Wilno, in Refrew County, Ontario, which still exists today. In the 1870s a group of Kashubians and Germans established a fishing village in Jones Island in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two groups did not own rights to the land, and they were evicted and relocated elsewhere in Milwaukee in the 1940s.

Kashubians declare Polish nationality and Kashubian ethnicity, and consider themselves both Polish and Kashubian. The total number of Kashubians vary based on differing definitions of Kashubians, with estimates as low as 50,000 or as high as 500,000. About 50,000 Kashubians speak Kashubian, a West Slavic language. The earliest surviving example of written Kashubian is Martin Luther's 1643 Protestant catechism. Kashubian presently enjoys legal protection in Poland as an official minority language. Today, in some towns and villages in northern Poland, Kashubian is the second language spoken after Polish and it is taught in regional schools.

The traditional occupations of the Kashubians were agriculture and fishing. These remain popular occupations, and the tourist industry is growing in the Kashubian region.  The region has over 1,000 lakes, and its beauty and unique culture is popular with tourists.

Most of the pictures below are from the Kashubian cultural museum in Kartuzy. 

Map of Kashubian Region	Map of the town of Kartuzy	Relief map of Khasubian region	Area around Kartuzy	Kashubian region has over 1,000 lakes
Boat made from fir dating to 1788	Fish traps and nets	Fishing gear	Utensils and basket work	Woodworking tools
Scythes and other hand tools	Farm tools	Straw shoes used by fishermen	Staw containers	Trough used to mix items for baking
Kitchen hutch	Kitchen tools	Kitchen spoons	Serving bowls	Butter churns
Symbols used to help kids learn Kashubian alphabet	Ceramic containers	Beautiful ceramic container	Black ceramics	Colorful ceramics
More ceramics	Ceramic nativity scenes	More beautiful ceramics	More ceramics	More black ceramics
Sampling of ceramics	Vase (Photo courtesy of the Marshalls)	Ceramic stove	Toys	Song used to learn Kashubian alphabet
Musical instruments	Snuff boxes made from animal horns	Male clothing	Female clothing -- note intricate embroidery work	Embroidery sampling
More embroidery	Loom	Basket work	Wood carving	Wagon used to fetch a bride and her belongings
Hope chests	Hope chest	Kitchen table	Crib	Cradle
Bed with straw mattress	Adult bed with winter heater	Drawer bed	Bed ends used with boards to create guest bed	Ceramic clock
Closet	Ceramic Jesus and mother	Bed used to about age six	Crucifix hung in living area	Wooden bird (Photo courtesy of the Marshalls)
Items made from animal horns