In the year 1900, German writer, Johaness Trojan, came to Kawartha Lakes and wrote about his experience in the book, Auf der anderen Seite. The book is new item at the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives.

Trojan was the author of 31 children’s books and 26 other books. He wrote regularly for the weekly newspaper, Kladderadatsh, and served as editor-in-chief from 1886 to 1909. Since Trojan was also a travel writer, it’s assumed he came to Canada to write, but the reason for his decision to visit and document his journey through Kawartha Lakes is not known.

Trojan arrived in Toronto in June 1900 and headed north through the Muskokas and Haliburton area with J.A. Steele and his wife. The group met up with Thomas and Lillian Stewart at the Stewart cottage on Sturgeon Point, where they stayed a few days before departing to stay at the Stewart house in Lindsay. While in town, Trojan took in the visiting circus and a tour of Lindsay Collegiate Institute.

Auf der anderen Seite, which translates to “from the other side,” devotes a full chapter to Trojan’s experiences in Kawartha Lakes, including his travels aboard the steamers, Manita:

When we had eaten lunch, enjoyed ourselves outdoors, and enjoyed the wonderful scenery, we were called to our Manita, which was lying in the water below. We descended the granite hill on which the inn stands us on board, and were now entering the Stony Lake, which abounds in islands and islets – there are, I think, eight hundred or more of them, some of them showing pretty country houses, others modest boat-houses.

Trojan, 1902.

A more thorough account of Trojan’s trip with photos of Thomas and Lillian Stewart, their house and cottage, is available at the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives blog: https://www.klmuseumarchives.ca/from-the-collection/trojan

Books:

Trojan, Johannes. Auf der anderen Seite. Grote, Berlin. 1902.