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The influence of Georg Wenker’s german sentences on their Polish translations in the survey for the all-German dialectological atlas

Wpływ niemieckich zdań Georga Wenkera na ich polskie tłumaczenia w ankietach do ogólnoniemieckiego atlasu dialektologicznego

Author(s): Dorota Krystyna Rembiszewska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: Polish dialectology; Masurian dialects; Polish-German linguistic contacts

The subject of the article is sentences selected from 80 questionnaires in 3 districts of Eastern Masuria: Ełk, Olecko and Gołdap districts. They come from Georg Wenker’s 19th-century questionnaires collected for the German linguistic atlas. The analysed translations give a certain image of the influence of the erman language on Polish dialects located in that part of Prussia which was the farthest in the East of Prussia. The questionnaires show germanisms typical for those areas where Polish was spoken which were under German influence (e.g. overusing personal pronouns, using the preposition przed ‘before’ instead of dla ‘for’ – przed matkę ‘before mother’ instead of dla matki ‘for mother’), however a part of given syntactic and lexical equivalents is an example of an ad hoc translator’s creativeness which resulted from specific circumstances of translating the sentences prepared for the needs of a questionnaire (e.g. free translation of the noun Kinderei and verb durchlaufen). The questionnaire records from Eastern Masuria despite numerous features confirming influence of the German language (graphic, lexical, syntactic) prove quite good command of Polish, especially in its regional variety towards the end of the 80’s of 19th century. As we know, due to regulations of educational authorities of the Reich, the situation and status of the Polish language changed in the next years in favour of domination of German.

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The characteristics of the evolution of communicative-stylistic variants in the history of Polish language

Uwarunkowania ewolucji odmian komunikacyjno-stylowych w dziejach polszczyzny

Author(s): Stanisław Dubisz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: the history of Polish language; language communication; communicative-stylistic variants of a language; stylistics; style

The process of creation of communicative-stylistic variants of the Polish language depends on the changes of language communication in the Polish society, dominants of these variants in subsequent periods in the history of Polish language, determinants of language communication, types of public discourse and areas of public communication. This evolution consists of three periods in the history of Polish language: old Polish (10th–15th century), middle Polish (16th–18th) and new Polish (19th–21th) century. In the old Polish period the Polish ethnic language is in its development stage; in the middle Polish period it becomes a national language; in the new Polish period it gains a full spectrum of sociolinguistic functions. In this whole evolution process the range of communicative-stylistic variants of the Polish language extends itself and is an object constant stratification.

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Polish songs in Belarus: presence, interlingual and stylistic attractions

Польская песня в Беларуси: бытование, межъязыковые и стилевые аттракции

Author(s): Galina Kutyriowa-Czubala / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: interaction; metre; accentuation; the music homonymy

A significant number of Polish songs has preserved in Belarussian folk culture until nowadays. Those, as rule, are non-ceremonial songs – existential, love, dancing songs. In some separate regions, especially in western Belarus, Polish song traditions can be clearly traced in different kinds of ceremonial songs – Christmas carols, paschal, harvest and wedding songs. They appear as verbal (textual, verse-structural) but also as musical (rhythmic, melical) signs of different types and Polish borrowings scale in the tradition of Belarussian village. These are: inclusions of fragments (generally refrains), embodiment of certain connotations, expressions and even Polish sounds into traditional Belarussian texts. Belarussianism in Polish songs are marked out in phonetics and grammar (morphological changes). Under the influence of Polish dancing and also sentimental lyrical songs we observe the change in the early verse-sung accentuation in old Belarussian incantations (wedding, harvest songs). Heterometric verses with constant syllabic structure emerge. To a certain degree it leads to the type-genre evolution of the West Belarussian autochthonic ceremonial songs. The metric innovations create a paradigm of musical homonyms. This type of homonymy is an important stylistic indicator of mixed ethno-cultural zones.

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The image of folk medicine (lekarowanie) in Belarus in light of dialectalogical and ethnolinquistic studies

Obraz ludowego lekarowania na Białorusi w świetle badań dialektologa i etnolingwisty

Author(s): Krystyna Szcześniak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: ethnolinguistic; dialectologist

The paper presents the analysis of the Belarussian zamowy from the point of view of dialectologist or ethnolinguistic information source. These disclose the names of diseases, names of plants (which are so designata used in the treatment of folk lekarowanie and mentioned within the text, and also likely to be one and the other at the same time), the names of the treatments (przelewanie, zamawianie, etc.), and the names of the people performing them (znachor, wiedźma and others), including construction, structure of zamowa and various tokens used within it. The examples collected from the collected material prove that the texts of zamowy can be and are not yet explored wealth of dialectal Belarussian language features and enrich our understanding of ethnolinguistic on data stored in the circle theme.

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Language melting pot of the present times

Językowy tygiel współczesności

Author(s): Stanisław Gajda / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: language reality; language communication technology; national identity; axionormative system; language policy

The author reflects upon the transformations of contemporary language reality. He considers such factors causing changes as new communication language technology (Internet), rebuilding of the axionormative system and glocalisational context transformations. He also pays attention to the fact of epistemological evolution as well as to the importance of responsible language policy.

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Ukrainian linguistic traces in Nasze wesele by Paulina Hołyszowa of the vicinity of Chełm

Ukraińskie ślady językowe w Naszym weselu Pauliny Hołyszowej spod Chełma

Author(s): Michał Łesiów / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: wedding customs; wedding folk-songs; Polish border speaking; Ukrainian Chelmian dialect; language borrowings

The text of the stage adaptation, which reconstructs the wedding ceremony in the village of Strupin Duży with many examples of wedding songs, was published in 1966 as a composition written by the folk poet Paulina Hołyszowa, the resident of this village, on the basis of actual rites and songs sung at the genuine wedding in this region. The analysis of the song texts in the eastern-borderland Polish dialect in this work shows that a large portion of them have their equivalents in a number of songs recorded in the Ukrainian dialectal form in many folkloristic collections, principally in the song collection Chełmskie [Chełm region] published by Oskar Kolberg. We can therefore safely guess that many songs in Nasze wesele were transformed by the author of this stage adaptation: they were “translated” in a specific way from the version in Ukrainian into the local eastern-borderland Polish dialect, many lexemes having been left “not translated” in order to retain the proper rhyme or rhythm of the songs, which was illustrated by many examples in this study. The article is a contribution which broadens the knowledge of the language of folk songs sung by the Poles of the Polish-Ukrainian cultural borderland.

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Other Slavic vocabulary in Slovene dictionaries throughout the centuries

Leksyka innosłowiańska w słownikach słoweńskich na przestrzeni wieków

Author(s): Bożena Ostromęcka-Frączak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: Slovene lexicography; Slavic borrowings; Slovene vocabulary

The practice of including the material from other Slavic languages in Slovene dictionaries had been applied in Slovene lexicography from the very beginning; see glosses, J. Dalmatin’s Register, H. Megiser’s dictionaries. From the second half of the 17th century, Slovene authors of dictionaries had used contemporary Croatian Kajkavian dictionaries by J. Habdelić, I. Belostenec, A. Jambrešić. In the second half of the 18th century, due to personal contacts, the influences of the Czech language (M. Pohlin) and the Slovak language (O. Gutsman) became noticeable. The situation of the Slovene language (which was exposed to the strong influence of German) and the fight for the preservation of the national identity caused the authors of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries to search for common Slavic vocabulary. They introduced Russian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Old-Church-Slavonic, and rarely Polish words, e.g. V. Vodnik, A. Janežič, M. Cigale. It was a way to eliminate German borrowings. Additionally, these authors used new Croatian, Serbian, Russian and Czech dictionaries, e.g. Heym, Schmidt (Russian); Dobrovský, Konečný, Jordan, Šumavskij (Czech); Mažuranić-Užarević, Šulek, Drobnič (Croatian); Karadžić, Isajlović (Serbian); Miklošič (Old-Church-Slavonic); Knapski, Trotz, Mrongowiusz (Polish). It is also important that the tendency to include material from other Slavic languages could have been observed at that time not only in Slovene lexicography, but also in Slavic lexicography, e.g. Polish (S.B. Linde), Czech (J. Jungman).

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Confusing names of ‘eyelids’, ‘eyelashes’ and ‘eyebrows’ in Slavonic dialects

Mieszanie nazw dla ‘powiek’, ‘rzęs’ i ‘brwi’ w dialektach słowiańskich

Author(s): Janusz Siatkowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: Slavonic dialectology; dialectal lexicography; linguistic geography; names of body parts

Polysemy is a distinctive feature of words defining body parts. This was noticed in dialectal research a long time ago. It is confirmed in OLA's materials, therefore Volume 9 of OLA presents numerous maps of pairs for those body parts which have the same names. As it repeated many times in independent research it is unlikely that these are common mistakes. There must be a deeper reason for this fact. Confusing names of body parts has a lot of reasons: the fact that some parts are close to one another, e.g. ‘thigh’ and ‘hip’, confusing smaller parts with wholeness, e.g. ‘cheek’ and ‘face’, similar look, e.g. ‘calf’ and ‘thigh’, similar functions, e.t.c. According to the presented materials the main reason of confusing names of ‘eyelids’, ‘eyelashes’ and ‘eyebrows’ is the fact that these body parts are close to each other. Even clear semantic motivation which indicates basically only one given body part does not disturb transferring the meanings.

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The language of everyday Polish communication – genesis and the control factors

Polszczyzna codzienna – geneza i czynniki stabilizujące

Author(s): Kwiryna Handke / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: everyday Polish; century XX/XXI; distinctive characteristics

The article deals with language in its specific realization (the level of parole) in everyday popular communication in a given place and time, i.e. the vivid language of spontaneous statements and dialogues. The field of direct observation is the Polish language of the last quarter of the century, and more precisely over the years since 1989, to which the author gives the name of the “language of everyday communication, everyday Polish”. Its main characteristics are: 1. Exceptional speed in creating, accepting and introducing new lexemes and word forms into social circulation and also of giving new meanings to already existing words or expanding their previously accepted meanings. 2. The introduction of numerous and various foreign elements, mainly English ones. 3. The introduction of numerous elements of slang, i.e. trivial and even vulgar lexemes. 4. Today’s Polish social space is dominanted by a youth who impose their style of behaviour, also in terms of linguistics. As a consequence, newly created morphological forms and word combinations need not be correct, nor elegant, but on the contrary – they are meant to be unexpected, surprising; on the one hand they are supposed to form a part of commercialised culture, and on the other constitute a part of a laid-back style of life. 5. The everyday Polish of our times is full of expressivisms, manifesting mostly negative emotions. 6. The image of contemporary everyday Polish reflects perfectly well an important characteristic of Poles, i.e. their huge word formation ability, a creativity in the widest sense of the word. Poles not only create numerous new forms of words, but above all give new meanings to words and enrich everyday communication by new word combinations of accurate, frequently funny senses and extended meaning.

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The phonetical processes in the subdialect of Lozovatka village in Kryvyi Rih district of Dnipropetrovsk region

Фонетичні процеси у говірці села Лозоватка криворізького району дніпропетровської області

Author(s): Mykola Verbovyi / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 57/2011

Keywords: subdialect; texts of a dialect; phonetical building of the steppe subdialect; phonetical processes

The article deals with a description of phonetic structure of steppe subdialect of a certain settlement (Lozovatka village in Kryvyi Rih district of Dnipropetrovsk region). The author investigates the features of display and functioning of vowels and consonants in a dialect speech, and also pays attention to phonetic changes and processes determined by co-ordination of sounds in living dialect speech. The analysed phonetic phenomena, firstly, characterize the examined steppe subdialect as an integral language system, and secondly, are the continuation of general active tendencies in the phonetics of the Ukrainian language. These tendencies appeared and started to operate at the early stages of the language development. Subdialect speech fixing in the form of connected dialect texts enables to study and describe the subdialect phonetical building which, taking into account the connections between different language levels, helps to the objective understanding of essence of the analysed phonetic phenomena. The given analysis testifies that in a number of cases the examined language material allows not only to check, but also to specify our knowledge on the steppe subdialect, already known from the Atlas of Ukrainian language and correspondent dictionaries.

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First Steps in Mastering Socialist Realism: The Collective Working Method 1945-1955

Pirmie soļi sociālistiskā reālisma apguvē: Kolektīvā darba metode 1945-1955

Author(s): Ilze Konstante / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: socialist realism; painting; team-work; Artists' Union of Latvia; figural compositions

On 13 October 1944 Riga once again became the capital of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR). The political re-education of artists who now had to comply with tenets of Socialist Realism was resumed with new vigour. In 1934 the classical definition of the term was voiced at the 1st All-Union Writers’ Congress – “a truthful reflection of life in its historical and revolutionary development, national in form and socialist in content”. A wide gap opened up between normative idealisation and reality, involving a xenophobic opposition to Western art and literature. The first exhibition of LSSR fine arts was organised in 1941 largely continuing the pre-war traditions of Latvian art. Exhibition reviews stressed that art should be transformed according to the new era and made appropriate to the new, socialist spectator; art should break the old shell of subject-less still lifes and landscapes that are unable to organise working people’s emotions, thoughts and will. Soviet ideology was first inculcated in the new generation; the LSSR Art Academy denounced apolitical, meaningless works which were to be replaced by “true events from the life of the socialist country”. “Passivity”, “formalism” and “subservience to capitalist Western art” were labels used to expel artists from the Artists’ Union which meant they were denied commissions, studios and materials. In 1950 the Artists’ Union attempted to introduce team-work which had been known in the USSR since the start of collectivisation and socialist production. There were already numerous examples in Soviet art. The first collective work by Latvian artists was the decoration of the LSSR pavilion at the All-Union Agriculture Exhibition. Competitions were announced in 1951 and many teams were created as there was much interest in artists’ circles with intrigues and fierce passions. However, when it came to the submission of sketches the number of approved artists declined significantly. In the end, the pavilion featured panels by Arvīds Egle and Pēteris Ozoliņš, Harijs Bobinskis and Arnolds Pankoks, and Džemma Skulme. The first easel-painting team involved Antons Megnis, Ādolfs Melnārs and Jūlijs Viļumainis. In 1950 they submitted a sketch for a large-scale figural composition “Firing on a Workers’ Demonstration in Riga, 13 January 1905”.The pathetic gestures were far removed from the dramatic effect they attempted to convey and the trio split up after the completion of the work as they were unable to merge their approaches.The same year another painters’ team – Džemma Skulme, Oļģerts Urbāns and Arturs Mucenieks – took up the subject “Discussing the Sowing Plan at Eleja District Collective Farm “Ausma””. They co-operated quite well but the outcome was far from satisfactory. Collectively created works sometimes emerged in later periods of Soviet art but they were no longer dictated by the state but by the artists’ desire for commissions and to solve some artistic problems more successfully.

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"National Decorativism". Translated into Latvian by Ansis Cīrulis

"Nacionālais dekoratīvisms". Latviešu valodā tulkojis Ansis Cīrulis

Author(s): Ilze Martinsone / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: Ansis Cīrulis; decorative arts; interior design; Art Deco; national identity

The review examines the publication "Ansis Cīrulis" (Riga, 2008) dealing with the versatile Latvian artist Ansis Cīrulis (1883-1942), active in both fine and decorative arts. The format combines the elements of a catalogue and collected essays by several authors, explorings various aspects of his output: ceramics and early career by art historian Rūta Rinka, national and state symbols by historian Modris Esserts, painting and drawing by art historian Dace Lamberga; graphic design and posters by art historian Zaiga Kuple, stylisation in applied arts by art historian Santa Podgaiska.

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The White Palace of Vecgulbene Manor - Its Builders, Architects and Fortunes

Vecgulbenes muižas Baltā pils: cēlēji, arhitektūra un likteņi

Author(s): Jānis Zilgalvis / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: Vecgulbene manor; architecture; Latvia; renaissance; villas; Andrea Palladio; neo-gothic; eclecticism; Wolff family

Vecgulbene (Alt-Schwanenburg) manor is situated in Gulbene District within the territory of the town of Gulbene, which has been a crossroads since ancient times. The manor is known as one of the most prominent and splendid ensembles in Latvia and possibly in the Baltic region. This place suffered considerably during the wars and the Soviet period and therefore the research and promotion of these cultural and historical values would seem to be an urgent task. Construction and reconstruction of the so-called White Palace at 12 Brīvības Street has been dated differently by various sources. First it was stated that the central part had already been built in 1763 and reconstructed in 1840s –1870s. Art historian Dainis Bruģis holds that the Palace was built around 1840, which seems to be a more plausible version; construction was carried out by the Wolff family, possibly by Rudolf Gottlieb Magnus von Wolff (1809–1847) and entries in his daughter Isabella’s diary attest to this. Rudolf von Wolff had travelled to many countries including Italy. The style of Italian villas evident in the White Palace surely comes from Rudolf’s taste and interests. The Palace was inherited by Rudolf’s son Johann Heinrich Gottlieb von Wolff (1843–1897) who reconstructed and enlarged the building in the last quarter of the 19th century. The architecture of the Palace was influenced by the Renaissance. The project resembles the Renaissance villas found among Andrea Palladio’s works. The central two-storey block was almost cube-shaped and flanked by single storey wings at both ends. The façades were lavishly decorated. The central volume featured wide, fluted Colossal order pilasters; triangle-shaped, plastic frontons were placed over the ground floor window openings. The park side had a wide terrace that connected the building with the surrounding environment; the terrace is similar to Villa Pamphili by the 17th century architect Alessandro Algardi. The original exterior is captured in a photo published by Heinz Pirang in the 1860s and also preserved in a drawing by Wilhelm Siegfried Stavenhagen from 1862. The next landlord Heinrich von Wolff disliked the Palace and ordered wide-scale reconstruction works. Retaining the core of Italian villa and Renaissance forms, the building acquired two towers – one by the main entrance and the other at the end of the opposite single storey block that became the main vertical accent. The building was changed from symmetric to asymmetric, adding an expressive silhouette and picturesque shapes typical of Romanticism-inspired Neo-Gothic palaces. The decorative finish of the façades was very elaborate, especially that of the two towers, featuring ornamental and sculptural decorations. These are reminiscent of decors found on Riga’s Eclecticism-style buildings. The author of the reconstruction remains unknown, but these decorations had been mass produced and available to any well-off person at the time.

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Perception of Monuments and the City Environment: Changeability of Trends and Semantic Aspects

Pilsētvides un pieminekļu uztvere: iespēju un semantikas plānu mainīgums

Author(s): Ruta Čaupova / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: monumental sculpture; Latvian sculpture; modern sculpture; Western scultpture; monuments to Lenin; city environment; contemporary monuments; memorials

We know that while creating powerful images, the builders of ancient temples and sanctuaries also believed in their beneficial effect and potential to secure a channel of interaction between people and the divine energies of nature and the universe. Unfortunately, over the centuries monumental sculpture, in turning to the much more pragmatic tasks of serving various ideologies, lost both this transcendental orientation and the belief in the immortality of skilfully executed sculptures. Ideological contradictions, often related to the wanton destruction of monuments, have witnessed a hectic escalation in a milieu haunted by political and social collisions. Monarchic, despotic and totalitarian regimes of the 20th century have degraded the repertoire of monumental sculpture into a set of pathetic gestures, demonstrative bill-board style and banal clichés. More sensitive viewers took a dislike to the didactic, obtrusive, official tone of such monuments. However, it cannot be denied that at least the partial democratisation of public relations and commission practice enabled the erection of monuments not just to statesmen but also to creators of cultural values and contributors to some humane undertaking. Although these might feature repeated the standard busts and figures, attitudes towards the commemoration of popular cultural figures could be responsive and even warm-hearted. The true reputation of the cultural representatives, their output being rooted in the collective consciousness of the nation, adds to the perception in these cases. A typical example is the granite monument to the Latvian writer Rūdofs Blaumanis by Teodors Zaļkalns set up in the Riga canal parkland in 1929. From foreign examples one could name, for instance, the bronze monument to the world-famous Irish writer James Joyce, represented as a seemingly simple image in a distracted posture standing by the street in Dublin; there is also the Swedish poet Carl Michael Bellman’s monument in Stockholm and several other intimately treated representatives of the creative professions in various cities all over the world. Successful examples in this context are the figural monuments to two legendary Latvian artists – Kārlis Padegs and Voldemārs Irbe – in Riga, created by the sculptor Andris Vārpa and architect Arno Heinrihsons as a result of a private initiative in the late 1990s. They are located by the street and the stream of pedestrians; associative links to particular events in these artists’ lives enrich the perception of the works. In the creative expressions related to modern sculpture, a dominant attitude towards monument commissions for most of the 20th century was that only the artist’s creative will could ensure the presence of artistic value. In the context of contemporary art, alternative proposals of monument perception related to ironic attitudes and various actions emerged in the 1990s.

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Chronicles

Hronika

Author(s): Kristiāna Ābele / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: Institute of Art History; Art History Department; Latvian Academy of Art

The overview presents major events at the Institute of Art History and Art History Department of the Latvian Academy of Art from January to August 2009, such as publications, conferences, research trips, list of defended BA works, MA works and PhD work as well as PhD works in progress.

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A Seminar on Issues of the Rehistorisation of City Centres

Pilsētas centru rehistorizācijas jautājumiem veltīts seminārs

Author(s): Elita Grosmane / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: urban planning; city centres; cultural heritage; architecture; reconstructions; Poland; Baltic states; seminars

The article reports the seminar "Kopierte Vergangenheit. Rehistorisierungen von Stadtzentren in Polen und Baltikum" ("The Copied Past. Rehistorisation of City Centres in Poland and the Baltic States") held in Sankelmark from 13 to 15 March 2009. The event was organised by the Northern Education Centre with participants from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Kaliningrad and Latvia.

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The Latvian Exception: Treasures of Latvian Museums and Archives Evacuated by Nazi Germany during WWII and returned by USA Forces to the USSR in 1945

"Latvijas izņēmums": Nacistiskās Vācijas Otrajā pasaules karā evakuētās un ASV karaspēka PSRS 1945. gadā atdotās Latvijas arhīvu un muzeju vērtības

Author(s): Jānis Kalnačs / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: Latvian museums; Latvian archives; cultural values; collections; World War II; evacuation; restitutions

One of the most successful cases of recovered cultural treasures taken out by Germany during WWII is still almost unknown even in such Latvian cultural institutions as museums and archives. In 1944 Germany had planned to evacuate the oldest and most significant documents pertaining to German influence in Latvian and Baltic political and cultural history and the property of Baltic Germans as well as important documents and cultural testimonies of the newly founded state of Latvia. There was a plan to evacuate more than 1200 crates of historical documents and other valuables from the State History Archive, Riga City History Archive, Latvian History Museum and its affiliate the Dom Museum, Riga City Art Museum and other institutions as well as about 23 000 packages of State History Archive documents to Opava (Troppau in German). The repositories were arranged in the surrounding Sudetenland palaces that had been seized from the Czech Republic and a department of the German State Archive was situated there. This plan, carried out by Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg in all countries of Eastern Europe, was not as successful as had been envisaged because the employees of the State History Museum hid part of the most valuable items such as the numismatic collection, silver pieces and archaeological discoveries, in the Riga Castle. The State History Archive staff also replaced some of the most valuable documents with less significant ones. Some of the Western European paintings meant to be taken away also possibly stayed in Riga. Most of the items that had been brought to Opava were returned on two trains to Riga already by autumn 1945, so the rather empty repository shelves of Latvian historical documents, artefacts and artworks were now refilled. (Some of the Latvian cultural values had been transferred to Bohemia with quite minor losses in 1945. The State History Archive had suffered more damage.) Perhaps because this process passed off so quickly and happened so long ago, these events have been undeservedly forgotten by now. Materials were returned by different means. In autumn 1945 a train carrying nine wagons of archival materials returned to Riga. It is possible that these had been left behind by the Germans in Opava as it fell to Soviet forces at the end of the war. However, the most precious treasures were more difficult to recover as the Castle of Trpisty and the Abbey of Kladruby were taken by the US army shortly before the end of the war. American army specialists in cultural heritage did not consider their findings as especially valuable so they handed them over (supervised only by Mērija Grīnberga, an employee of the Riga History Museum) along with Ukrainian historical documents (supervised by the Ukrainian scientist Nikolai Geppener) to the Soviet Army in October 1945. This restitution can be called the “the Latvian exception”. During this largest of post-war restitutions, about 1160 boxes were returned by the Americans to the USSR.

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How Pleasing is the Reality of Material Culture Heritage in Latvia?

Vai iepriecinoša ir Latvijas materiālās kultūras mantojuma realitāte?

Author(s): Elita Grosmane / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: culture heritage; material culture; archaeology; architecture; wooden buildings; reconstructions

The review examines the collected articles "Latvijas materiālās kultūras mantojuma saglabāšanas problēmas: Rakstu krājums" (Riga, 2008). The publication includes the papers presented at the seminar on the problems of material culture heritage preservation. It was organised by the Department of History and Philosophy of the University of Latvia on 26 February 2009.

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The Immured Upright Man Found in St. James' Church in 1774: Versions and Additions to Brotze's Commentaries

Rīgas Sv. Jēkaba baznīcā 1774. gadā atrastais stāvus iemūrētais cilvēks: versijas un papildinājumi Johana Kristofa Broces komentāriem

Author(s): Aija Taimiņa / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: memorial culture; Johann Christoph Brotze; St. James' Church in Riga; family tombs; Engelbrecht von Meck; Catharina Gyllenstierna

In mid-1774 reconstruction works were carried out in the interior of Riga’s St. James’ Church. Because of public health concerns, part of the Church interior related to memorial culture was deliberately destroyed – memorial plaques, epitaphs to Riga citizens buried there since the late 13th century as well as family tombs. The decree of the Russian Imperial Senate (1771) and the orders of Vidzeme Governor General J. Brown (1773), forbade the burying of the dead inside churches. Without exception, all nobility with family tombs in Riga churches had to wall them up immediately. Ancient memorial signs were doomed to perish. However, Johann Christoph Brotze (1742–1823), teacher at the Imperial Lyceum close to the church, had started to copy the ancient tombstones, epitaphs and inscriptions found in churches. Brotze must be acknowledged as the pioneer of monument research of ancient Livonia’s memorial culture. In September 1774 the above ground part of the von Meck family tomb was pulled down along with a small pillar located in the tomb corner by the church window. A man’s upright body in a silk garment without a coffin was found immured in it. His clothes had been quite well preserved. A description of the discovery was included in Brotze’s manuscript Sammlung vershiedner livländischen Monumente. The text is supplemented by a plan of St. James Church marking the place of discovery as well as fragments of the cloth worn by the man. The man immured in an upright position in St. James Church is first mentioned in Geschichte von Livland by Gustav Bergmann (1749–1814) published in 1776. Based on the information provided by Brotze, the immured man was also described by local history researcher August Wilhelm Hupel (1737–1819), publisher of “Nordische Miscellaneen”, and Johann Andreas Oesen (1762–1804).The most important and intriguing materials on the immured man are to be found in the Estonian Museum of Literature in the dispatches sent by Brotze to local history researcher Eduard Philip Koerber (1770–1850). Most important are four unique copies of Brotze’s watercolours drawn ad vivum by Koerber, depicting the walled-in man and his garments. Two watercolours have sequentially captured the process of discovery during reconstruction works. Two other images show the man’s clothing. The true value of Brotze’s documentary exact drawings is revealed when the images are found to be at odds with his commentaries. Brotze had made a mistake (as did Hupel after him) in dating the immured man’s garments from the 1580s. The pictures show a man’s garment typical of the upper class, whose cut and finish point towards the 2nd third or middle of the 17th century – the so-called Swedish times.This seemingly minor mistake in the dating of the clothing led to a chain of much more important errors. Although it is impossible to identify the unknown man, there are some hypotheses explored in the article.

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Contemporary Art in the Context of Museums

Laikmetīgā māksla muzeju kontekstā

Author(s): Stella Pelše / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 12/2009

Keywords: contemporary art; museums; curating; expositions; audiences; conferences

The article reports the international conference on the future of Latvian Contemporary Art Museum focused on the interaction of contemporary art practices and museums as institutions held in Riga on 16 May 2009.

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