10

With scoop net and poetry

A parka, nowadays a fashionable garment again, was firste mentioned by Adalbert von Chamisso in his book “Description of a Voyage Round the World”. It was worn by the Chukchi people whom he encountered during his circumnavigation 1815-1818.
Numerous plants and animals, among them a butterfly, and even an archipelago bear Chamisso’s name. Like many of his contemporaries he pursued many interests. A friend of E.T.A. Hoffmann, Chamisso became known as the author of “Peter Schlemihl’s Miraculous Story” – Schlemihl sells his shadow for a pouch of gold but is made to regret it after a while. A memorial bust of Chamisso at Monbijou Place honours the great Romantic writer.