by Enver Robelli. Translation Petrit Latifi
Hermann Peyer came from a noble family in Schaffhausen, a Swiss town on the border with Germany. In his life he was almost everything: a doctor in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, a world traveler, a doctor for train passengers in Namibia, a diamond prospector in Africa, a Red Cross doctor in Montenegro, and even, at the beginning of the First World War, head of the military medical service in Montenegro. The Montenegrins called him “the Swiss doctor,” and the King of Montenegro decorated him.
During his stay in Montenegro, Peyer came into contact with Albanians, especially the Gruda tribe. He experienced wars in Africa and the siege of Shkodër by Montenegro. Hermann Peyer also visited Kosovo.
Description of Peja in 1914 by the Swiss Doctor Hermann Peyer (1874–1923)
«[The town] is the most extraordinary I have seen so far. At the foot of high mountains, it lies on the plain where the Bistrica, a rushing mountain river, emerges from a narrow valley. The location bears a great resemblance to that of Ragaz [Switzerland], except that here the fertile plain stretches for hours to the southeast of the town.
In the many houses live about 18–20,000 people, partly Montenegrins, partly Muslim and Catholic Albanians. This district produces mainly grain — already so much that it could supply all of Montenegro, despite the ancient methods, such as the wooden plow, the lack of fertilization, and general laziness.
The vegetation is like that in the best parts of Upper Italy: in the mountains there are vineyards, peaches, cherries, and higher up, chestnuts. On the plain, a series of medium-sized rivers flow, bringing with them from the granite mountains a very fertile soil. In the town’s many workshops, skilled craftsmen practice a number of professions that, on a small scale with us, have completely disappeared, such as bronze casting and the production of qeleshe (traditional felt caps).
In many houses, women weave fabrics with beautiful patterns and produce various types of carpets with excellent old Serbian designs. The streets have already been cleared of Turkish dirt. The gendarmes force people to clean every day. Some streets have already been rebuilt and the terrible cobblestone pavement with round stones has been removed.
Toward Gjakova, southeast of the town, a good road is now being built; since the Albanians here do not do earthwork, many people have been brought from Old Montenegro. They are paid with corn — one kilogram per hour. Whatever they need, they then exchange in the shops.”
Source
Südafrika, Namibia, Mürren, Montenegro. Der Schaffhauser Arzt Hermann Peyer (1874–1923), published by Chronos.)
Illustration: Hermann Peyer, painted by Richard Emil Amsler (1915).
