This is what Kolberg wrote about this town: “It is located on a northern shore of the Newotyńskie Lake. It has about 4000 inhabitants, most of them are germanised Masurians. It looks quite appealing. The houses are mainly multi-storeyed and in decent condition; even the suburbs look more and more attractive. There is a small castle from the period of Teutonic Knights where they would reside. Next to the town, there is a fortress Boyen surrounded by some lakes. The fortress contributed to the development of the town. Lec is mostly a trading city thanks to the railway and numerous grand lakes”.

In the second half of 1875, Kolberg came to Giżycko where he met Marcin Giersz, a teacher and editor of ‘Gazeta Lecka’ [The Lec Newspaper]. He was a Masurian interested in Masurian folklore. Kolberg wrote to him: “I am glad that during my short stay in Lec I had the possibility to meet the man whose work was of great use for me”.

The second person Kolberg met in Giżycko was Herman Braun. The following excerpt comes from a letter to Braun: “Information which I received from you related to speech and local customs encourages me to ask you again for your help. Your wife already sang me a few pleasant songs, yet I would like to find a peasant woman who would sing me some of her traditional repertoire”.

However, the Kolberg’s archive does not contain the answer to this letter. 

In Giżycko, Kolberg collected a description of Easter customs:

“On the first or second day of Easter there is ‘śmigus’ [pouring water on each other]. Sometimes it takes place already on Good Friday. They use blessed water which they collect before sunrise during morning prayers. On the second day, they take willow twigs and whip people they encounter on a road”.

Kolberg gave also an account of a wedding ceremony:

“Almost every marriage and wedding ceremony takes place on Friday. On the preceding Sunday the invitation for the wedding takes place. One person, usually a relative, goes around the village and invites local friends and family; the task of two other people is to invite guests from places further away, they ride there on horses. Each of them is dressed up with colourful ribbons, and a red and yellow scarf attached to their shoulders. Moreover, they have paper flowers on hats, and they hold long whips with which they make loud noise”.