Tangermünde und Me

 Tangermünde und Me

When you are doing your family history, it can be very hard when you cannot find details of where an ancestor is from.

I did not confirm who my paternal grandfather was until 2009, when the National Library of Australia started digitalising newspapers.  I then found an article in an Adelaide newspaper where it stated that during a divorce court proceeding Theodor Wilhelm Vetter declared that he was the father of the 2 children of Mary May Brice.

Mary May Brice was my father's mother.

I then looked at other records for Theodor Wilhelm Vetter, and on nearly all those in Australia Theodor always stated that he was born "near Magdeburg".  He had come out to Australia in 1886 when he was 20 years old.

But when looking at other items in the Adelaide newspapers I saw that Theodor listed his address in Adelaide in 1910 as "Tangermunde", Brown Street, Norwood.

This was the first time I had ever seen the name Tangermunde, and I immediately looked it up and saw that it was the town Tangermünde, situated on the Elbe river, about 60 kms from Magdeburg.

I then started looking at the Church records (Kirchenbuch) for Tangermünde.  I knew that Theodor was born in 1866 and that his father's name was Louis Vetter.  I found no Vetter baptisms for the years around 1866.  I searched a bit further and then found a Banns listing.  This where a person from a town or village is married in another town or village, and the details of that marriage is listed in their town's church book.

On the 11th of April 1858 the Tangermünde Kirchenbuch listed that Banns had been called for the marriage of Friederike Mathilde Peters, of Tangermünde, with August Ludwig Vetter at Väthen.  Väthen (now called Tangerhütte) is a village  about 20 kms south of Tangermünde. 

I started searching more of the Tangermünde church records and found Friederike Mathilde Peters birth.

She was born on the 26th June 1838 to Wilhelm Peters and his wife Christiana Breyde at 9 o'clock in the evening.  Their home was on the corner of Lange Straße und Scheunenstraße (which now is a local Bank).

This was my first connection with the town of Tangermünde and I immediately felt that connection.  I would visit there one day.

I then went on to find more children of Wilhelm and Christiana, and their marriage in 1830.  Over the few years I found many ancestors who lived in Tangermünde and also their extended family.  The surnames of Peters, Breyde, Erxleben, Knappe and Kersten all started to fill out my family tree.  They were Schiffsknecht (Ship servants), Handelmann (Traders) and Ackermann (Farmers). I was able to confirm my connection with Tangermünde back to 1744 when my 4 times great grandparents got married there.  

In April 2016 I visited Tangermünde.  I was in Germany to visited all the villages and places where my family had lived.  On the 27th of April I celebrated the life of my 2 times great grandfather Wilhelm Peters who had died on that date 170 years before.  I visited the St. Stephan Kirche where he was buried from and stood there feeling the connection I had with Tangermünde.

I also had the addresses of where my ancestors lived so was able to walk the streets of Tangermünde and pass their homes, some of which were the original homes

Tangermünde Family Occasions

Anna Catherine Kersten married Johann Georg Knappe on 13 Feb 1744 - my 4 times great grandparents

Dorothee Elisabeth Knappe was born on 21 Mar 1760 - my 3 times great grandmother

Anna Catherine Knappe (geboren Kertsen) died on 7 Mar 1774 - my 4 times great grandmother

Johann Georg Knappe died on 6 Dec 1778 - my 4 times great grandfather

Dorothee Elisabeth Knappe married Johann Wilhelm Breyde on 5 Feb 1782 - my 3 times great grandparents

Sophia Christiana Breyde was born on 8 Dec 1796 - my 2 times great grandmother

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Peters was born on 22 May 1805 - my 2 times great grandfather

Johann Christoph Peters died on 19 Jan 1817 - my 3 times great grandfather

Johann Wilhelm Breyde died on 27 Jun 1819 - my 3 times great grandfather

Sophia Rozine Peters (geboren Erxleben) died 27 Oct 1827 - my 3 times great grandmother

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Peters married Sophia Christiana Breyde 14 Nov 1830 - my 2 times great grandparents

Friederike Mathilde Peters was born on 26 Jun 1838 - my Great Grandmother

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Peters died 27 Apr 1846 - my 2 times great grandfather

Sophia Christianan Peters (geboren Breyde) died 23 Nov 1868 - my 2 times great grandmother

Mary May Brice's Friends Book

 Mary May Brice's

Friends Book

Below are photos of the pages of a small little book owned by my Grandmother, Mary May Brice.  Mary was born in 1887 in Port Adelaide.  

On the pages of the book are words and signatures of friends or people Mary may have just met that day.  They nearly all happen between 1911 and 1914 and Mary was living in Adelaide at this time, but did have a brief spell living in Melbourne in 1912.

Two of the pages refer to what appears to be musical groups she belonged to, "the Sympathy Club 1911" and the "Forget Me Not Club" and on those pages it lists the names and roles of people.

I am sharing these photos because perhaps one of the people mentioned may be an ancestor of yours and it will share perhaps a little of their life to you. 

(I've attempted to index/list their names at the bottom of this page.)

Page 1 and 2

Page 3 and 4

Page 5 and 6

Page 7 and 8

Page 9 and 10

Page 11 and 12

Page 13 and 14

Page 15 and 16

Page 17 and 18

Page 19 and 20

Page 21 and 22

Page 23 and 24

Page 25 and 26

Page 27 and 28

Page 29 and 30

Page 31 and 32

Page 33 and 34

Page 35 and 36

Page 37 and 38

Page 39 and 40

Page 41 and 42

Page 43 and 44

Page 45 and 46

Page 47 and 48

Page 49 and 50

Page 51 and 52

Page 53 and 54

Page 55 and 56

Mary May Brice (1887-1937)

|

Alan Louis Brady (1916-1995)

|

Kevin Reginald Brady (1961-

Below is a list of the names that appear on the pages above.

Name	Page
Req Akemed	40
Jessie Campbell	35
Frank Campbell	47
W.C. Deganhardt	9 & 10
Margaret Donnell	23 & 24
C. Drake	39
C. Drake	41
Lawrence Dunbar	34
William Eason	12
A.J. Hinton	8
H.C. Hinton	14
Joe Hinton	23 & 24
P. Hughes	37
Annette Lang	33
E. Lapthorne	9 & 10
H.J. Lee	9 & 10
Maggie	30
Dora Maslyn	42
E.M. W. Moore	25
L. Murphy	2
Gerty Murphy	53
Blanche Marie Noyes	23 & 24
Blanche Noyes	32
Joseph Payne	9 & 10
Herbert Rerey	18
E. Rickwood	16
Ethel Rickwood	36
E. Rickwood	50
Sharratt & Lang	54
N. Thomas	38
J. Tighe	6
Alice Troy	23 & 24
Cissy Troy	29
Cecilia Mary Troy	23 & 24
Vincent Troy	9 & 10
Vin Troy	22
W.J. Troy	9 & 10
H. Welch	4
J.H. Williams	20
Mrs M.J. Williams	28
P.J. Williams	9 & 10
P.J. Williams	52
T.J. Williams	9 & 10
T.J. Williams	31

Frau Dorothee Sophie Mierecke (nee Liebe)

Frau Dorothee Sophie Mierecke (nee Liebe)

(1789-1859)

 

Dorothee Sophie Liebe was born in Melkow of what is now Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany on the 25th May 1789.

 

I have not been able to find who her parents were and exactly where they were living on the 11th January 1807 when Dorothee at the age of 17 married Andreas Mierecke, a Leinweber (Linen weaver), in Groß Mangelsdorf.

 

Dorothee and Andreas remained in Groß Mangelsdorf for a number of years, their first 3 children were born there.  Andreas on the 20th November 1808, Gottfried on the 5 December 1811 & Johann Christian on the 26 May 1816.

 

Sometime over the next 2 years the family moved out to Klein Mangelsdorf, about 5 kms to the north east of Groß Mangelsdorf.  Andreas was still working as a Leinweber.  Dorothee gave birth to a daughter, also called Dorothee, on the 2nd April 1819.   

 

But just over 3 year later Dorothee gave birth to a stillborn daughter on the 4th May 1822, and then 6 months later her Johann Christian died on the 8th of November.  Both children were buried at Klein Mangelsdorf.

 

Nine months later Dorothee on the 6th September 1823 gave birth to a son who they named Johann Christian in honour of his deceased brother.

 

The family remained in Klein Mangelsdorf and Dorothee’s husband Andreas continued to work as a Leinweber.

 

In 1833 Dorothee’s 2 eldest children died – Andreas died in Klein Mangelsdorf on the 9th Mar 1833 from measles at the age of 24.  Gottfried died from nerve fever on the 3rd September.  He was part of the Prussian army and died in Ascherleben, about 100 kms south of Klein Mangelsdorf.

 

Ten years later Dorothee was to lose her last son.  Johann Christian died in Klein Mangelsdorf  on 21 Jan 1843 from fever.  He was 19 years old.

 

The year 1846 brought some joy for Dorothee.  Her daughter (her only child still living) got married.  On the 15th November Dorothee Sophie Friederike Mierecke, aged 27, married Gottfried Gröseling in the church at Klein Mangelsdorf.

 

But unfortunately Dorothee’s daughter was to die 3 years later on the 26th November 1849 from “Krämpfe und Schlag, Nach Urteil des Arzte” (Cramps and stroke, According to the doctor's judgment)[1].  She had no children.

 

Dorothee and her husband Andreas were now alone.  After 42 years of marriage they had seen all their children die.

 

Andreas was still working when at the age of 72 he passed away on the 12th June 1853 in Klein Mangelsdorf. He died from emaciation (the state of being abnormally thin or weak).

 

Dorothee lived another 6 years in Klein Mangelsdorf before passing away on the 2nd April 1859.  She was 69 and died from lung infection. She was buried there, alongside all her family, on the 5th April.

 

Her life was filled with happiness and loss, happiness in her children, but the sadness and loss in seeing them all predeceased her.

 

 

 

 

Christian Bauerhorst = Anna Dorothea Gentz

____________________|_____________________

|                                                                              |

Maria Bauerhorst (1746-1804)   Susanna Bauerhorst (1748-1821)

|                                                         |

Sophie Rozine Erxleben (1778-1827)                Andreas Mierecke = Dorothee Sophie Lieben

                      |                                               (1780-1853)               (1789-1859)

                Wilhelm Peters (1805-1846)

          |

Mathilde Peters (1838-

          |

Theodor Vetter (1866-1943)

                    |

    Alan Brady (1916-1995)

                |

  Kevin Brady (1961-

 

 

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[1] Klein Mangelsdorf Kirchenbuch 29th November 1849

Emma Vetter Halm - a full life

Emma Vetter

daughter, sister, mother, wife, grandmother, widow

 and great aunt

Emma Vetter is my great aunt – I never knew her or even knew of her growing up, but since discovering my Deutsch family she has intrigued me with the events in her life.

At 9 in the evening of Wednesday February 9^th 1859, Emma was born.  She was the first child of Louis Vetter and his wife Mathilde Peters.  They were living in Väthen (now called Tangerhütte) in the Altmark area of the then Prussian Saxony (now Sachsen-Anhalt). Louis was working as a Müllermeister at his father’s Windmill.

A fortnight later on Friday the 25^th at the church in Tangerhütte, Louis and Mathilde brought Emma to be baptised.  She was given the names of Mathilde Emma Bertha.

  

This is the Kirche in Tangerhütte (in 1859 called Väthen).  In the far corner you can see the font where Emma was baptised.

Emma soon had a brother and sister, Ernst arrived a year later, and Lina in October 1861.

The first of many changes was soon to happen for Emma.

In 1863 Louis Vetter bought the lease of a Windmill in Bittkau, approximately 12 kms to the east of Väthen on the Elbe river.  Here Louis would be his own boss and build a miller’s business like his father before him.

Life in Bittkau for Emma would be much the same as it was in Väthen.  Two more siblings arrived.  Anna in 1964, and Theodor in 1866.

But again a change was to happen to Emma surroundings.

Louis’s mill did not go smoothly and he had to give up the lease and find other work.  He took a job as a baker in neighbouring Cobbel, about 8 kms west.  But even here life did not settle for Emma.  Another sister arrived, Mathilde.

But shortly after Emma’s tenth birthday, she watched her baby sister go through convulsions before dying at the age of just 8 months.  This occurred in the village of Kerkuhn.  In those 8 months Emma’s father had changed jobs twice and moved his young family 65 kms away from any close family.

But even with the loss of a sister, Emma soon had another sister and another change in home.  In 1870 Emma was now living in Beesewege and a new sister, Agnes, had arrived.  But there were others also living in Emma’s home.  He father was now running an inn in the small village.

But even in Beesewege life was only to last a year.  In Bismark, about 8 kms away from Beesewege, Emma’s father got a new job as a flour dealer. 

Life in Bismark was to start for the family a settle life, well for a few years.  Two brothers arrived, Max and Emil, but Max only lived for 3 months before passing away from consumption.

But in Bismark Emma was confirmed in the Evangelical Kirche.  On the 6^th of April, 1873, along with 42 other 13 and 14 year olds, Emma partook in the ceremony that not only made them full members of their church, but also in its way ended their childhood.

But again life would change, and Emma’s family moved again, heading north to Heiligenfelde.  Here Louis Vetter now worked as millwright.  No longer owning a mill but as a worker.  Another brother, Alexander, arrived in May 1876.

In 1878 Emma was living in Beetzendorf, about 35 kms west of Heiligenfelde.  I do not know if she was living with any of her family but in March she left there and moved to Burg, a large town on the other side of the river Elbe, and a good 80kms south of where she had been living.

In Burg Emma had relations.  Her father had 2 brothers and a sister living there.  But Emma did not move in with them.  She was there to work as a maid.  Firstly, for a Rudolph Lehmann for 4 years, then for an Otto Steinhardt.

It was while working for Herr Steinhardt, that Emma would have learnt of the death of her father.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday August 13^th 1882, Emma’s father, Louis Vetter committed suicide by hanging himself in Heiligenfelde.  It appears from the church records that none of Louis’ family were living with him at that time.

A map showing the various villages where Emma lived during her youth.

This event started many changes for Emma and her brothers and sisters – they all appeared to leave the Altmark area soon after.  A short while later their mother also died, and within 4 years one brother would be living in Berlin, one in Australia and the others move on to their own lives.

On October 1^st of 1883 Emma left Burg and firstly headed to Tangermünde, where she met up with some of her sisters.  They immediately headed for Hamburg as Emma had got herself a job as a cook, and was living on the 2^nd floor of an apartment building in Krayenkamp Platz near Sankt Michaelis Kirche.

On the evening of the 26^th of October 1883 Emma gave birth to a daughter at the local maternity hospital in Pastorenstrasse Hamburg. The hospital was just a short 2-minute walk around the corner from where she lived.  The newborn baby was given the named Helene.

But unfortunately 6 weeks later, little Helene died at Emma’s home.

Six months later Emma’s life changed again. On May 16 1884 in Hamburg Emma married Louis Emil Halm, and this changed her life.  She became the wife of a Hospital Inspector, and lived comfortably in Hamburg.  They had 2 children, Willy born on the 28^th of January 1886 and Charlotte born on the 16^th of April 1889. The family continued to grow, with Willy marrying 1911 to Kätchen König, and by mid 1914 Kätchen was pregnant.

But in August 1914 World War 1 started and Willy became a member of the 1^st Battalion of the 5^th infantry regiment.  He was a reserve Lieutenant.  The regiment headed east and fought on the Russian front, and at Goldap (now part of Poland) on the 9^th of November Willy died during combat.

The devastation of losing her son, was soon changed with the birth of her 1^st grandchild.  On the 20^th February, 1915 Willy Eduard Henry Halm was born at the hospital where his grandfather worked in Hamburg.

Emma’s family continued to expand, with her daughter Charlotte marrying Ernst Emil Riester on the 27^th of August 1919.  Ernst was a war veteran and soon became successful working for the German railways.

In 1936 Emma and her husband left Hamburg and moved to Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland).  Their daughter and her husband were living there.

On the 4^th May, 1941 Emma’s grandson, Willy Halm, died in Hamburg from epilepsy.  He had married back in 1937.  Whether he had family, and making Emma an Ur Großmutter I do not know.

By 1940s both Emma and her husband were in their 80s, and on the 30^th of June 1942 Louis Emil Halm died from Altersverfall, Aderverhärtung, Herzmuskelschwäche (Decline in age, hardening of the veins, weak heart muscle).

Emma continued to live with her daughter and son-in-law in Breslau.

With World War 2 Breslau was not affected by any fighting until February 1945, when the Russian Army approached the city.  The City had been declared a Festung (fortress) to be held at all costs, and citizens were not allowed to leave until late January.  Over 18,000 people froze to death trying to leave Breslau, and by the end of the war over 40,000 citizens died in the city.[1]

I have never been able to find any record of Emma’s death.  Her daughter, Charlotte, and her husband, made it back to Hamburg, and Charlotte died there in 1964.

I can only assume that Emma died either in the bombing of Breslau or in the trek back to Hamburg at the end of the war.

Her life was full of so many highs and lows, that as I started finding details of her of life over the years I thought pride in her and what she had done for her sisters, and her children.

    Louis Vetter (1828-1882) = Mathilde Peters (1838-????)

______________________|___________________

|                                                                                         |

Emma Vetter (Halm) (1859-????)                            Theodor Vetter (1866-1943)
                                                                                           |

                                                                                    Alan Brady (1916-1995)

                                                                                          |

                                                                        Kevin Brady (1961-

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw