polAND MARKET 2024
The documentary sheds light on the life of entrepreneur Johannes Quistorp. Key moments of his life are depicted in re-enacted scenes, including his childhood in Greifswald and youth in Wolgast. Experts such as historians and journalists also have their say to discuss Quistorp's extensive work. The town of Ducherow also plays an important role in the film, as the Evangelische Diakoniewerk Bethanien goes back to the deaconess institution founded by Quistorp in Stettin in 1869.
The film was made on the initiative of citizens of Szczecin as part of the project "Johannes Quistorp - Entrepreneur and Philanthropist", which focuses on socially committed entrepreneurs in West Pomerania. The occasion was the 200th birthday of the Vorpommern native in 2022.
Quistorp first completed an apprenticeship in Rostock and then worked as a merchant's assistant in Rostock, Stralsund and Szczecin before founding his own business in 1850. On the island of Wollin, in Lebbin (now Lubin), he built a Portland cement factory, which was at times the largest cement manufacturer in Europe. Quistorp's other properties included cement factories in Wolgast and Stettin as well as a brickworks in Berndshof near Ueckermünde. Even then, he attached great importance to social commitment. In Lebbin, he had company apartments, a widow's house, a library, a clubhouse and a "workers' educational institute" built, among other things. He also built a village school and an orphanage. In Szczecin, he founded the Bethanien deaconess and hospital, a boarding school for girls, a teachers' seminary, a mental hospital and the Westend district. In the north of the city, he created a large orchard and a park - today's Kasprowicz Park - and made his land accessible to the public.
Helena Kwiatkowska is a graduate of the Jagiellonian University and has extensive experience as a journalist. She previously worked at TVP Szczecin, where she was temporary head of the journalism editorial department, and still writes for the "Kurier Szczeciński". She is also active as a screenwriter and producer of documentaries. In the last three years, her films "And There Was a Skyscraper", "A Woman's Affair" and "Johannes Quistorp" have been broadcast on TVP Historia and TVP 3. She is currently working on her latest film project "The Stoewer Empire: From Washing Machine to Limousine".
