Kreis Schlawe

The documentation was developed as part of the project initiated by Pomeranian linguist, Dr Robert Holsten (1862-1954), with the aim to collect and compile contemporary folk and archive names of natural and anthropogenic physiographic objects, as well as inhabited and uninhabited places of the pre-war province of Pomerania (from Rügen to Lębork), with the help of teachers and local scientists. The collected set of archive materials – indices and maps with locations of objects – Flurnamen Sammlung – covers the intangible onomastic cultural heritage of the region. Documentation of names of physiographic objects from the area of former Kreis Schlawe (Polish: Sławno; after territorial changes: Sławno District, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland) was made by local scientists between 1921 and 1936. The data was originally collected by Karl Rosenow (1873-1958, Rügenwalde / Darłowo, teacher, head of the museum in Rügenwalde, where he worked until the years following World War II). The documentation was completed and compiled by Dr. Willi Beyersdorff (Schlawe i.P. / Sławno). The original documentation was drafted in German (including the Lower German dialect), with Slavic, Polish and Kashubian vocabulary. The collection comprises two parts: A–N, P–Z. The documentation comprises 349 sheets, most of them double, covered on one side; both volumes contain a total of 325 sheets of typed lists, handwritten lists (11 sheets) and hand-drawn maps (13 sheets). The vast majority of the topographic maps with locations of physiographic objects and their names also survived in the documentation.

Andrzej Chludziński