With a Camera Through Four Seasons: Filmmakers in the Footsteps of the Apostle of Nature

Filming for a documentary about Paul Robien, a pioneer of environmental protection and a distinguished ornithologist who spent his life in pre-war Szczecin, is now halfway through. Its production is time-consuming and demanding, as the story of this fascinating figure unfolds across four seasons in the West Pomeranian countryside.

The film crew, led by Marek Osajda, the film's creator, has already visited many locations connected with the life of the German naturalist and anti-militarist Robien. Filming began at Syreni Ponds, which were then covered in ice and remnants of snow.

The cinematography was handled by cinematographer Bartosz Jurgiewicz, with whom Osajda has collaborated for years. The filmmakers wanted Robien's story to be deeply rooted in nature, as that was his life, after all. This, in turn, meant that much of the filming was done by the water, including in the charming landscapes of the Oder River.

In search of the true story

At the end of March of this year, the filmmakers captured the barely awakening wildlife of Kępa Karsiborska, with its pools overgrown with dried reeds and waterfowl preparing for spring. In mid-April, the filmmaker and cameraman arrived in the equally charming Czarnocin on the Szczecin Lagoon to observe the winged fauna from a lookout. They were also fascinated by the sight of dozens of free-ranging Polish horses and long-horned, shaggy Highlanders (an ancient Scottish breed of cattle). In early May, it was finally time for a catamaran expedition to Sadlińskie Łąki Island, where a German ornithologist lived and worked. Like an expedition in the Amazon jungle, laden with equipment, they traversed a clearing overgrown with flowering wild garlic, a plant that had been spreading since Robien's time, to a place that was neither a commemorative plaque, nor a stele, nor a symbolic tombstone erected by the residents of Szczecin in the 1990s to commemorate the naturalist. It's worth noting that he and his wife, Ewa, were murdered by Soviet soldiers after the war. Only a staircase and part of the foundations remain of the house, which also served as a research station.

In mid-June, the filmmakers, accompanied by expert narrators, arrived at the settlement of Spokojne (Friedenshof) near Bobolice in West Pomerania, where Paul Robien was born and spent his childhood. Little remained of the former buildings, and from a film perspective, the aim was to show the green surroundings in which the future ornithologist grew up.

Another trip back to Sadlińskie Łąki. This time by yacht. And another a few days later – this time by catamaran on Lake Dąbie, teeming with birdlife thanks to cormorants, coots, herons, and magnificent, majestic white-tailed eagles.

The team also went to the German side of the Oder River to look across the riverbed towards Cedynia at everything hidden in the reeds along the way.

But there were also more intimate places – the reading room of the State Archives in Szczecin or the basement of a branch of the National Museum, where a collection of prepared birds, cared for by Paul Robien who worked there, is still kept.

The beginning of July saw a trip to Barlinek and a meeting with Robien's grandson, Hartwig Ruthke, who remembered his grandfather and brought back some souvenirs.

And finally, in mid-July, the Oder River villages of Widuchowa and Moczyły in the Kołbaskowo commune. Here, rowing a blue boat, Robien himself emerged from the reeds, played by actor Wiesław Łągiewka. He was accompanied by writer Artur Daniel Liskowacki, author of the short story "Obraczka," in which he referenced the naturalist.

Robien still fascinates

Why this enumeration of numerous journeys and locations? To give a rough idea of ​​the scale of the film's production, the working title of which, "Paul Robien, the Man Who Didn't Bow to Seaplanes," also speaks volumes about the moral stance of the German ornithologist. Even today, eight decades later, Robien continues to fascinate many. Among them, the initiators of the Lower Oder Valley National Park, including Michał Zygmunt—a musician, composer, and sound hunter who focuses primarily on the Oder and its surrounding nature.

Meanwhile, the film's producer, the Education, Science, and Culture Association, faced considerable work, as well as efforts to secure funding for projects that were difficult to predict in advance, not least due to unpredictable weather conditions (climate change is playing its part). It's worth the effort, however, because the fascinating figure of the naturalist resonates to this day. Indeed, it's no exaggeration to say that this resonance has been growing for some time now. Not only are there short stories about Robien, but also reportages, photography exhibitions, a radio play, a theater performance, and films, including an archival one from over two decades ago, featuring, among others, the rediscoverer and popularizer of this figure, Jerzy Giergielewicz, narrated by the late Szczecin actor Jacek Polaczek. It's therefore not surprising that a few years ago, an informal "Robienists" Circle was formed, whose members are fascinated by Robien – the Apostle of Nature.

Biography facts

Let us recall that the German ornithologist was an extraordinary figure. Born into a poor family, he came to Szczecin as a young boy, where he even begged. His life was shaped by his work on ships. As a sailor, he visited many European countries, as well as North and Central America and the West Indies (including the Caribbean). As a soldier, he experienced the genocide of an African people during a colonial war. This resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder and a disability pension. During World War I, he worked as a stoker on steamships. Colonial and wartime atrocities influenced his pacifist views, even landing him in prison.

During the interwar period, Robien worked in the bird collection department at the Szczecin Museum. With the support of then-mayor Friedrich Ackerman, he built an ornithological station on the island of Mönne (Sadlińskie Łąki on Lake Dąbie). There, he conducted bird research and wrote scientific papers on the subject. He also led the creation of the region's first nature reserve. He was irritated by the seaplanes that were disturbing the birds, so he wasn't afraid to write to Goering himself, urging him to close the seaplane airfield in Dąbie (during World War II).

During World War II, he befriended Władysław Sziler, a Pole who worked as a forced laborer on a fishing farm on the island. The filmmakers managed to contact his daughter. Before the war ended, Robien was already collaborating with Polish naturalists, and afterward, the Polish authorities wanted him to continue his work on the island. Unfortunately, fate proved cruel to him and his wife, as they were both murdered by Soviet soldiers a few months later.

The memory of the Apostle of Nature, however, endured, and over the years he became a deserved legend, a model of a steadfast environmentalist who permanently inscribes himself into the transborder nature of regions and countries on both sides of the Oder River. And the planned Lower Oder Valley National Park, in areas that captivated him with their natural richness and which he strove to protect, is certainly, in part, the fulfillment of his ecological ideals.

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