In the form of twelve letters to an unspecified friend, Johann Jacob Grپmbke tours the island of Rپgen, and, in the disguised version of many local trips, describes it in detail. Beginning in the coastal town of Stralsund, Grپmbke identifies key aspects of his 'tour', then continues to describe it in revealing form. While understating the true nature of his experiences., he analyzes characteristics of the typical islanders, their history, and, under serfdom/vassalage, their circumstances: he reveals to the reader its past history and his analytical interpretations, including past centuries of the human aspects, especially those local to the region, and as a naturalist, finds items of interest along the water-borne aspects of the coastline, through various towns, including Bergen, the county seat. In Bergen, he researches the religious centers of the island, then moves on to discover the Mṉchguter community as well as the peculiarities of the Fisher-folk of the island of Hiddensee. Revealing the true nature of Grپmbke's journeys, Albert Burkhardt describes Johann Jacob Grپmbke's life, as he pulls back the covers to reveal the true nature of Grپmbke's life. He was born to a Physician, but with parents deceased at an early age, was adopted by a local pillar of the community. His interest was satiated by the nature of the island. Though few knew the far reaches of his mind, his life in the community was revered and while he was also a noted author, geologist, architect and historian, he was especially well-known as the most famous naturalist of the region of his time. As to the island, I knew nothing of it, other than it was my father's birthplace. It wasn't until I reached my fifties that I began learning German, translating articles and, eventually, discovering Grپmbke, who attracted my interest on several levels. I am grateful to him, my family's ancestral neighbor, who began this work, and to Albert Burkhardt from Berlin, who upgraded Grپmbke's (German) text, and incorporated artistic works from Grپmbke and others. It has been my pleasure to complete a work of this magnitude and to bring it to the attention of those who had not the opportunity to discover it heretofore

Mode of access: World Wide Web