Wilhelm Schwandt (1871−1928)

Wilhelm Schwandt was born in Puck in 1871. He attended the local primary school, continued his education in Gdańsk at the Royal Junior High School. He studied theology and classical philology at the University of Königsberg. From 1895, he collaborated with the Museum of West Prussian Province in Gdańsk (German: Westpreussiches Provinzial-Museum). In 1898 he became a vicar in Nowe Miasto (Neustadt), after three years – in 1901 he moved to Sępólno Krajeński (Gross Losburg Westpr.), where he served as a parish priest. In 1912 he was appointed pastor in the church of St. John in Gdańsk; in the years 1916–1917 he was the pastor of the garrison in Malbork.

Apart from being a pastor, Schwandt was also the administrator of the collections of the Castle Reconstruction and Beautification Society, which were initially collected in Gdańsk for the restoration of the Teutonic Order in Malbork. He looked after the numismatic collection before it was completely moved to Malbork. For nearly 20 years, he had been creating a numismatic book collection, which enabled the scientific research of coin and medal collections. He collaborated with Emil Bahrfeld on the development of a collection of coins and medals, the result of which was a seven-volume catalog of this collection. He was the author of a guide to Malbork, Marienburg, Schloss und Stadt in Preussen which was reissued many times and was first published in 1901. A year before his death in 1927, the Faculty of Theology of the University of Königsberg awarded him the title of doctor of theology.

(compiled by J. Czarnowska)