Born: 1903, 22 October, Hamburg, Germany
Parents:
Half Siblings: ? (this is not about paternity issues - this is a celebration of a stellar lady)
Occupation: Charcuterie sales > HausFrau (she suffered badly from arthritis)
Married:
Children:
Died: 1977, 10 April, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg, Germany
NB: My Mummy so loved her Mummy and of course called her Mutti. As I grew up with English as my Mother tongue, though born in Iserlohn, Germany and spending my first 6/7 years in Germany - oops, I called / call my fab grandmother Mutti (much do the bafflement of many!)
Oops, I may have got dates wrong.
She was born at Schulweg 38, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg at 5 am - note towards the end of her life she lived and died in the same hood, at 27 Wiesenstraße, Hamburg. Mutti was delivered by the midwife Wilhelmine Ahrens nee Dohm, who lived in Oelkersallee 30, Altona, Hamburg. On her birth certificate, Gretal's mother (Augusta Ida Marianne Völchner) is noted as being unmarried, a seamstress and Lutheran (surprise to me!). Wilhelmine Ahrens born Dohm? Wilhelmine Ahrens could be a relation as her mother's, Augusta Ida Marianne Völchner, father (Johann Philipp Friedrich Völchner) 2nd marriage was to Augusta Maria Joanna Ahrens, when Gretal's grandmother (Caroline Sophie Dorothea Völchner nee Dreier) sadly died in 1887 :(
Apparently Mutti stayed for a while with her aunt (Clara or Martha Völchner), while her Mother (Auguste Völchner) went back to work until her Mother met Erwin Hasse who she married in 1912, in Hamburg.
1914 to 1918 - WII, Hamburg: because of the British sea blockade, which only came to an end in the middle of 1919, Hamburg's crucial port, was brought almost completely to a standstill.
1933 January - Hitler was appointed Chancellor and Head of the German government. At this time 6,100,000 were unemployed in Germany and this is seen as one of the reasons of his sucess at coming to power. Through the Anschluss on 12 March 1938 Nazi Germany incorporated Austria in to Germany. On 1 April 1938 the Constitution of Hamburg was suppressed through an Imperial Law (German: Reichsgesetz), the Hamburg Senate was dissolved and the position of First Mayor of Hamburg abolished. Hamburg was renamed Hansestadt Hamburg.
Gerhard T. Otto Christ: 1906, 10 Jan Berlin, Germany - Circa 1981, Hamburg. Parents: Albert Traugott Christ (1877 - 1951) and Margarete Luise Karoline Schulz (1877 - 1942)
Mummy told me candidly and several times, she was not nice to Gerhard Christ in the beginning as her Mother had remarried. However she grew to so much, truly love him and I, grew up calling them Mutti and Papa (I was brought up mostly in Edinburgh) as she later referred to Gerhard as Papa.
Hamburg Bombings - Not only had Berlin been a key bombing target, Hamburg had been badly bombed. Codenamed Operation Gomorrah, The Battle of Hamburg air raids by the Allies began on 24 July 1943 and lasted for 8 days and 7 nights. It was at the time the heaviest assault in the history of aerial warfare and was later called the Hiroshima of Germany by British officials. This is what Mutti and Mummy would have come back to.
My Daddy adored Gretal and Gerhard Christ as he lost his Father when he was less than one to WWI and I don't think his Mummy was that nice, so they became his family. He so charmed Mummy, Gretal and Gerhard Christ with his black market treasures. And for the rest of his life our only rare family holidays were to visit them in Hamburg.
Alas, to date I don't know much "Oma" and "Opa", but I do know Mummy (Uschi Ward nee Baingo) and Mutti (Margarete Völchner) dearly loved them. Guttingly, I never met her.
Apparently, Auguste Völchner (Mutti's Mother) worked at various farms / manors as a Seamstress (Weißnäherinin) in Tessin ?, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. While working and at the age of circa 23, she became pregnant with Mutti but was unmarried. At the time, it was a very taboo subject, so no idea if it was even consensual. With hugest respect, I salute the ladies prior to contraception - what they must have endured with the family and social status backlashes PLUS forging a life for a child born out of wedlock and the mother forging it, alone:( It was never discussed within the family, who the father was, as no one knows.
When Auguste Ida Mariane Marie Völchner was circa 6 years old, her Mother (Caroline Sophie Dorothea Völchner nee Dreier) sadly died on the 21st Jan 1887, in Tessin (sadly aged circa 38 years old). Auguste Völchner's Father, Johann Philipp Friedrich Völchner, then married, circa 9 months later, on the 16th Sept 1887, Augusta Maria Joanna Ahrens.
Auguste Völchner gave birth to her only child?, a daughter, Margarete Johanna Erna Völchner, on the 22nd October 1903, at Schulweg 38, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg, at 5 am and, she was delivered by Wilhelmine Ahrens (which may have been a relative as Auguste Völchner's mother (Caroline Sophie Dorothea Völchner nee Dreier) sadly died in 1887 and her father married in the same year, Augusta Maria Joanna Ahrens. On the birth certificate Augusta Ida Marianne Völchner is noted as being unmarried, a seamstress and Lutheran (surprise to me!). Apparently for a while, Mutti (Margarete Völchner) stayed with her aunt (Clara or Martha Völchner - both had Wilhelmine as middle names), while her Mother (Auguste Völchner) went back to work as seamstress, until she met Erwin Hasse.
WWII - Erwin Haase was a talented sculptor and model maker and he helped create a miniature replica model of the city of Hamburg. To date I still have not found out what happened to it but Mummy did have some model ships from it.
Erwin Haase's parents: Carl Friedrich Rudolf Haase: 1858, 22 Apr, Hamburg - 1936, 8 March, Hamburg | Auguste Schwarz: 1861, 23 Apr, Hamburg - ?
Auguste Ida Mariane Marie Haase nee Völchner and Erwin Haase
Alas, to date I don't know much about them. Recently my DNA Danish / Swedish count has risen from 3% to... 13%! So I recon this is from this line :)
GrandParents
Children (Johann Philipp Friedrich Völchner & Caroline Sophie Dorothea Dreier) born in Tessin, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany: Otto Heinrich August Volchner (1870 - ?), Hermann Carl Ernst Christian Völchner (1872 - ?), Clara Ida Wilhelmine Emma Völchner (1876 - 1903), Martha Wilhelmine Louise Völchner (1878 - ?), Auguste Ida Mariane Marie Völchner (1881 - 1954)
They had children: Fritz Anton Ludwig Völchner (1891 - ?), Friedrich Völchner (1890? - ?)
Great GrandParents
Great Great GrandParents
Margarete Johanna Erna Völchner
| Date of Birth: | 22 October 1903 |
| Place of Birth: | Hamburg, Germany |
| Occupation: | ? |
| Died: | 10 April 1977, Hamburg, Germany |
Margarete's Parents
Margarete's 1st Husband - Erwin Baingo
Margarete's 2nd Husband - Gerhard Christ
Margarete's Daughters
Margarete Baingo's Daughter: Uschi Ward
A GrandDaughter of Margarete: Me :)
