My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS

“The Journey of the Pieta”

by Peter von Pazatka Lipinsky

Every time I visit the home of my paternal Roman Catholic (RC) ancestors, I come home with a lot of interesting and pleasant memories that should never to be forgotten. These memories are real treasures which must be preserved and be passed on to my descendants. If I fail to do this, the countless hours I have spent on family research are wasted. For me, it is not sufficient to collect only the names and dates of long gone ancestors. What is more boring collecting just names and dates? To truly understand your ancestors and their way of life, you should attempt to find out a few more details about how they lived. Certain questions naturally arise - what did they do? Were they farmers, fishermen, woodsmen, or traders? What food did they produce or raise? How did they keep their food over winter? What type of clothing did they wear? Did they make their own clothes? What religion did these ancestors follow? These are but a few of the questions that I ask, and I’m sure that you as the reader can likely think of many more such questions By looking for and in finding some of these answers, you will gain a much better understanding of the way your ancestors lived a long time ago. On several visits to my ancestral homeland, I have noted beautiful wayside shrines and wayside crosses varying in size, in theme, in colour and in the materials used to create them. These shrines and crosses have been placed by individual parishioners of the local church in order to request protection from the Almighty from droughts, floods, pestilence, fire, hunger / starvation, sickness or any other possible calamity. These shrines and crosses are also signs of devotion and were erected to also give thanks for good health, a good harvest, and all other bounties bestowed on the different villages and their people. Usually you will find these signs at the entrances to a village, or near the village square in proximity to its church or even on private property. Often you will find these shrines have the same subject, Mary, “Mother of God” although they may come in a variety of sizes and colours. Some of these are wood carvings, creations that are sheer masterpieces of art. To the left: a wayside shrine with a Pieta on private propery in Kashubia

- 10 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS On my travels in southern Germany while visiting my brother, I also found several of these wayside shrines and crosses. My brother had selected several of these shrines and crosses for his paintings. One of these paintings are shown as illustrations in this article. These wayside shrines and crosses are found not only in Germany but in many other nations as well. Some of my ancestors including a Marcel von Pazatka Lipinski used to live in place called an “Abbau” between the villages of Heidemȕhl (now Borowy Mlyn) and Pradzona. This place remained in the hands of the family for many years. A carved wooden Pieta (a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ on her lap or in her arms) was placed next to the house at some forgotten time long ago. It was set in a small wooden structure with the front open, so that passers-by could see Artistic representation of a Pieta the Pieta. The Pieta by Georg Pazatka von Lipinsky served as the guardian of the Pazatka property and the inhabitants as well. This Pieta was well-known throughout this part of Kashubia, and the people believed that the Virgin would hear and answer those who prayed there.

Photo of the original Pazatka Lipinski Pieta

The precise details of the history of this particular Pieta are not fully known. Some historians claim that it was carved by a travelling wood carving artist who was asked by the von Pazatka Lipinski’s to create the Pieta for the family. The “Pazatka Pieta” is a bit different from many of the similar wood carvings that you will see because of the size difference that you note between the Mother of God and Jesus. It is this particular difference, however, that makes this particular Pieta so famous. The “why” and the “how” of this difference in proportions of the two central figures in this carving occurred, we will likely never know. It would be wonderful if the Pazatka Pieta could only talk. Nobody seems to be able to recall when and how this Pieta came into the possession of the von Pazatka Lipinski family, but it is believed that this particular Pieta was carved in the mid 1800s.

Photo: Courtesy of: J.Maziejuk, Poland

- 11 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS

Top right: Shrine with praying Mother of God on private property in the village of Borzyszkowy. Top centre: A shrine in the middle of the village of Brzezno Szlacheckie. Top right: A Pieta on church property in the village of Borzyszkowy. Bottom left: Tall crosses erected as site for people to pray and give thanks. Bottom right: A different type of Pieta in the village of Borowy Mlyn.

- 12 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS

Top left: a Shrine to Mary Mother of God in the village of Ciemno (formerly Zemmen) once home of Peter’s grandfather. All other photographs are shrines from the Baden - Baden area in the Black Forest.

- 13 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS In the 1960s, the priest of the church in Borowy Mlyn, asked the von Pazatka Lipinski family if they could loan the Pieta to the church for an unspecified time. The Pieta was to receive a special place of honour in the church. This, however, never happened, and the Pieta just disappeared from public view. In 1985 during some renovation work, the Pieta was re-discovered in an area of the church behind the organ which contained a little used storage room. Pictures were taken and the re-discovered Pieta received a lot of publicity in the local newspaper “Nasze Gochy”. So, you would think that this would provide the “Happy Ending” to this story. No, this was not the case, in fact far from it! The Priest from the church in Heidemȕhl was persuaded to give the Pieta to someone well-known throughout Kashubia for evaluation and restoration. The Pieta was to be returned to the church after this work was done, but Newspaper article from the front page of this also never happened. The von Pazatka Lipinski “Nasze Gochy” family had the original Pieta duplicated later on by another carver, and it now guards the home of the von Pazatka Lipinski family. This is the story as far as it has unfolded to this point of the von Pazatka Lipinski Pieta. In the course of doing my family research over many years, I found an excellent wood carver in Kashubia (in Pomerania) who came from a place not far from where the story of the original Pieta had taken place. Over the years, I had purchased a few wood carvings from him. Needless to say, that my last purchase of a carving from him was a 2’ tall Pieta This carving is a close likeness to the original von Pazatka Lipinski Pieta, except all elements of the sculpture are more closely in proportion than in the original carving. I guess no two artists truly see the world in exactly the same way. The artist who created these carvings is Szeslaw Birr, and you can find out more about him on “You Tube” under his name. These wood carvings in their very own way tell you about elements in life in Kashubia as it once was and bring back memories that could so easily be lost, of what it means to be Kashubian.

- 14 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS

Szeslaw Birr’s Carvings

Left Kashubian villagers in traditional costume.

Right: the carver’s version of the Pazatka Lipinski Pieta.

By now, you may be asking why did I write this article? I did so because as noted near the very beginning of it, there is more to family research than collecting lists of dates and names . There are many stories out there which need to be collected, preserved, and above all re-told. You may find several stories within the history of your own ancestors. Why not attempt to seek these out? The first of these stories will be the hardest for you to write. By doing this vital first story, you will discover that you have all you need to tell the stories of your family’s past. As a footnote, my Pieta will eventually find a home in a museum with some of my other collected Kashubian artifacts. You may wonder why I bought the Pieta? All I can say is, that I figured having a little extra insurance never hurt anyone, especially if you are of Kashubian ancestry. Post Script: Does anyone really know what happened to the Pazatka Lipinski Pieta?

Above: Hand carved Madonna and Child

Yes, I think I know what happened to the Pieta, and all I will say, is that the Pazatka Lipinski Pieta is in the hands of a very good custodian. The Pieta is very well looked after and will very likely someday re-appear in one of the Kashubian museums. Note: If you wish further information about the different Pietas, just “Google” the word “Pieta” and check both articles and images.

- 15 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society

My German Roots

Volume 5, Number 6, June 2015

Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the AGS Folk Art: “artistic works, as paintings, sculpture, basketry, and utensils, produced typically in cultural isolation by untrained and often anonymous artists or by artisans of varying degrees of skill and marked by such attributes as highly decorative design, bright bold colours, flattened perspective, strong forms in simple arrangements, and immediacy of meaning.”

Muttergottesfigur in Piaszno The shrine to the left is in the wall that surrounds the property of a house in the village of Piaszno, in Kashubia ( Poland ) . This house belongs to Peter’s cousin Reinhard Lietz and his wife Ulla [Ursula]. In the month of May (traditionally the month of the Virgin Mary), everybody decorates it by bringing fresh flowers . This picture is not one of a Pieta, as no Christ figure is present in the representation. You will note that there is a metal sign under the shrine which reads “MODL SIE ZA NAMI”. This means “Pray for us”. Editor’s Note: On several trips back to his ancestral homeland, Peter has collected numerous pieces of Kashubian “folk art” in a variety of forms. These tell him about his heritage, and by collecting them and telling their stories, he in turn keeps that heritage alive and makes it accessible to others. What pieces of your heritage can you preserve?

- 16 Newsletter of the German Special Interest Group of the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society