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5. Fritz Krüger

Fritz Krüger was one of the most important researchers of the traditional culture of north-western Iberia. In December 1921 he arrived in Porto during his journey through Sanabria, documenting the landscape, vernacular architecture, farming activities and daily life of its inhabitants. Travelling on foot with a backpack, a camera, notebooks and a walking stick, he recorded words, customs and ways of life that today provide an exceptional testimony of rural society in the early twentieth century.

Porto became one of the key locations in his research. He photographed dry-stone walls, wooden balconies, traditional houses, palleiros, agricultural work and many local residents. His photographs are among the oldest surviving images of Porto and offer a unique view of the village more than one hundred years ago.

For Krüger, language and culture were inseparable. He therefore combined linguistic studies with the documentation of objects, buildings, tools and everyday activities. Thanks to his photographs and field notebooks, Porto preserves an invaluable visual and ethnographic record of its past.