Berlin – Genealogy Is An Adventure

An Ancestor I admire

For the year 2026 I am participating in Amy Johnson Johnson’s Crow 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks.

I didn’t have to look far for the ancestor I admire, it’s my paternal Grandmother, Maria Becker Krings nee Becker. Maria was born in Hamminkeln just about 5km outside of the city of Wesel. Her parents were the policeman Johann Heinrich Becker and his wife Gertruda Johanna Görtzen. Somehow, I always thought my Grandmother came from a big family, because she had eight children herself. So far I have only been a able to find a brother and a sister. More possible birth and baptisms records are not in the public domain yet.

My Grandmother was always calm, she always smiled and she participated in whatever her large family was up to. I never heard any unkind words from here. She attended church every Sunday.

Grandma lived through WW1 and WW2. She married my Grandfather, Wilhelm Krings in 1907 in Wesel in the Catholic Sankt Martini Church.

And the inside of the church

My Grandmother was also baptized in the church and her parents got married there. Unfortunately the church was destroyed during WW2 during British Air Raids.

My Grandparents raised their family in Düsseldorf were my Grandfather grew up. The first four children, Wilhelm, Trude, Johann and Josef were born from 1907-1914.

Wilhelm Krings & Maria Becker With Their First Born Son Wilhelm

My Grandfather apparently served in WW1 in France and Russia according to a document I found online. It didn’t say where exactly. Unfortunately most military records were destroyed in WW2. My Grandfather came back from WW1 but many men did not. Four more children, Mathilde, Karl (my Dad), Richard and Ursula were born between 1919 and 1929.

My Grandmother with two of her youngest children, Ursula walking and Richard in the pram circa 1929 in Düsseldorf.

Life was good in 1929, their family was complete. My Grandfather had his own upholstery and decoration shop and the family had a nice apartment.

Fast forward to Christmas 1938. A picture of my Grandmother with most of her children and the first grandchild sitting on her lap.

Life was still good in this picture before WW2 broke out in the spring of 1939. My Grandmother in the middle, her oldest daughter, Trude and her husband Heinz on the right side. The two youngest, Ursula, smiling and Richard being held by the oldest. My Grandfather on the left side was cut off. My father, Karl, directly behind my Grandmother and behind him his older sister, Mathilde. I don’t know who the young man is behind her. One of my uncles who died after the war is on the right smoking a cigarette and holding a guitar. Two sons are missing, one was Wilhelm who had to move to the mountains because of his asthma and the other one was Josef who had moved to Berlin and later was killed in Russia.

My Dad and his younger siblings wanted to join the Hitler Youth Groups. Children and teenagers did not have to go to Saturday school if they joined. Thankfully my Grandmother didn’t allow it, otherwise her own children would have spied on her and my Grandfather. It was a very dangerous time in 1938. Freedom of speech didn’t exist.

In 1943 my Grandmother’s Father, Heinrich Becker, was killed in an air raid in Wesel. His body probably was never recovered. His death certificate was not issued until 10 years later. The same year, one of my Grandmother’s son, Josef was killed during a battle in July in Korowina, Russia.

Josef with his son circa 1942, location unknown

Also in 1943 her son Karl, my Dad, was drafted into military service. He had no choice in the matter, all the young men had to serve. My Dad was sent to Russia twice, however he kept getting sick and he had an injury on his leg, they released him from military service. He was one of the lucky ones.

During the war in Düsseldorf my Grandmother and her family were bombed out three times. I don’t know how they managed to find shelter or food, after all they lived in the city and not in the country. There were 243 air raids on Düsseldorf. I can’t even imaging what that was like. My Grandmother lived through it with her family. Even after the war was over, the city was pretty much destroyed. Food was scarce, disease was rampant.

In 1948 she lost another son, Johann. He died in Düsseldorf. In 1952 she came home to find my Grandfather deceased at the kitchen table.

My Grandmother had her faith, I think this is what got her through the terrible times and she had her large family which kept growing after the war. She had 17 grandchildren. She attended all their baptisms, first communions and weddings. Her family had a big celebration for her 80th and 85th birthday.

Grandma with her oldest son Willi and my Dad on his 50th birthday in 1974.

Grandma and me circa 1973 at home in Düsseldorf

When I grew up, none of the adults would talk about the war. I never even heard my Grandma talk about her parents or siblings, at least not that I can remember.

Grandma died in 1975. All the surviving children and all her grandchildren attended her funeral. Her grave was a simple one, just like she would have liked it.

Despite all the hardship she had to endure, she kept going and she stayed positive. I still miss her and I wished I could talk to her about her family and the war.

Do you have an ancestor you admire? Please leave a comment below!

January 2, 2026

Josef Richard Heinrich Krings 1914-1943

My paternal uncle, Josef Krings, was born 18 May 1914 in Düsseldorf, Germany and was killed 5 July 1943 during WW2 at the battle of Korowina, Bjelgrod, Russia. His parents were Wilhelm Krings and Maria Becker. I recently was able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate, which is now in the public domain, from Düsseldorf City Archives.

His birth certificate has two Randvermerke or side notes. One is for his marriage and the other one for the death certificate. I have copies of both.

Josef grew up in a large family with seven brothers and sisters. At one point he moved to Berlin. I don’t know exactly when and why. There, he married Antonia Sotola, 24 July 1940. She was born in Stockerau near Vienna, Austria. They had a son in 1941, named Georg, my first cousin. I have never met him.

Uncle Josef, probably with his wife Antonia and may be his mother in law. Location unknown, probably taken in Berlin, circa 1940.

Uncle Josef and cousin Georg circa 1942, location may be in Berlin.

Josef and Georg 1941 in Berlin

Cousin Georg 14 months old probably in Berlin, 1942

Josef was killed in Korowino, Russia in July 1943. The death certificate was issued a year later, in July 1944, in Berlin.

Josef’s wife, Antonia, together with their son Georg, moved back to Austria.

I gathered the information about Josef from several source.

1. Birth and death dates I learnt from my Dad who passed away in 2006
2. The pictures were given to me by his younger sister, Ursula, who also passed away in 2006.
3. Berlin death certificates are online from 1874-1985 at Ancestry. I didn’t know that my uncle had lived in Berlin, until I saw the certificate. From the side notes I learnt where to order the marriage and birth certificate.
4. His marriage certificate from 1940, which I did not post here, I ordered from the City Archives in Berlin .
5. I tried to look for his grave, but there is none. His body was never recovered. You can search for graves here at the German War Graves Commission.

A few tips when you search at the German War Graves Commission site. The spelling of the names have to be exact. I would start with just a last name. Birth dates also have to be exact as well. German dates are written differently. For example today’s date is 5-19-25. In Germany the date would be 19-05-25.

Every time you search the site, they want you to enter your name, address, email and so on. If you do find your relative, you then have the option of getting updates by email and/or also make donations to the website. I have never received any junk mail, only an occasional email every few years if there is something new on the battle/grave site.

You can order military records at the Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive) in Germany. The web site is in German and English. I ordered my Dad’s service record over 10 years ago. It took two years to get them. It might even take longer nowadays. If you are looking for WW1 service records, you will have no luck. They were destroyed during WW2. The only exception are the Bavarian WW1 Personnel Records 1914-1918 which are at ancestry.

Here is a map of where Josef was born (Düsseldorf), lived (Berlin) and died (Russia)

In a future post I will write about Josef’s brother who was also a soldier and died shortly after the war ended. I am still gathering facts and documents.

If you like this post, please leave a comment and/or subscribe! Thank you!

May 19, 2025

Caroline Francisca Amelie Büttner 1816-?

Caroline Francisca Amelie was my maternal second Great Grandmother. She was born 5 January 1816 in Berlin, Germany and a few days later was baptized in the Lutheran church. Her parents were the the sugar boiler, Franz Xavier Büttner and his wife Charlotte Friedericke Deutsch. Below are her birth certificate and baptismal entry.

I don’t know if Amelia had any siblings. She got married 4 July 1841 in the Sankt Georgen church inBerlin, to the master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider, my two times Great Grandfather. The marriage record from the church book is below.

Amelia and Martin had ten children all born in Berlin. 1. Emilie Ernestine Amalie born 18 April 1841 2. Auguste Wilhelmine Emilie born 13 March 1843 and died 18 July 1844 in Berlin 3. Wilhelmine Luise Friedericke Amalie born 5 May 1845 and died 7 March 1893 in Berlin. She was a seamstress. 4. Louise Emilie Marie born 24 January 1847 and died 26 September 1893 in Berlin. She was married to Emil Albert Gustav Hermann. They had two children. Gertrud Elisabeth Minna Emilie born 1870 and died 1871 in Berlin. Walter Erich Conrad Hermann born 9 Dec 1873 in Berlin and died 1 May 1952 in District Federal, Mexico. 5. Friedrich August Alexander born 11 December 1848 6. Carl Gottfried August Alexander born 17 March 1850 and died 25 September 1850 in Berlin 7. Emilie Francisca Auguste Amalie born 13 June 1851 and died 27 December 1852 in Berlin. 8. Auguste Francisca Amalie born 20 Jan 1854 and died 10 March 1856 in Berlin. 9. My Great Grandfather, Emil August Ferdinand born 13 September 1855 and died 12 July 1935 in Wuppertal Germany. He was married to my Great Grandmother, Sophia Hermina Ontrup. They had nine children. 10. Emil August Eduard born 17 November 1857 and died 27 June 1914 in Berlin. He was married to Elise Auguste Wilhelmine Zaspel. They had two children.

Less than two years after Caroline’s last child was born, her husband Martin died 10 February 1859 of pneumonia.

From this record we learn that my two times Great Grandfather’s calling name was August and not Martin. I just wanted to have more proof that he had died. One great thing about Berlin genealogy research is that the address books are online from about 1799-1970. It is a free website which is always a plus in my book. You can research them here .

First I started looking for August, however he has been hard to find. I found the last name Schneider in the Berlin address book, but after the last name only comes the first letter of the first name and then the profession. What I did find helpful was that the women were mentioned including their maiden names. August had died in 1859 so I looked in the 1861 directory and found a Schneider widow with the maiden name Büttner.

– nee Büttner, widow of a blacksmith, Alte Schönhauserstr. 35 (street)

Front Page of the 1861 Berlin directory

Now I have proof that Ausust did die in 1859. I hope that eventually I will find her death date as well.

January 27, 2025

Emil August Ferdinand Schneider 1855-1935

Emil August Ferdinand Schneider was my maternal Great Grandfather. His calling name was Ferdinand. He was born 13 September 1855 in Berlin and died 12 July 1935 in Wuppertal, Germany. Ferdinand’s parents were the master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider and Caroline Francisca Amelie Büttner. He was baptized 7 October 1855 in the Sophien church in Berlin.

Above is Ferdinand’s baptismal entry from the church book.

Ferdinand got married 12 May 1883 in Gadderbaum, Bielefeld to my Great Grandmother, Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup. The couple had nine children together, including my Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider 1898-1990.

Ferdinand died 12 July 1935 in Wuppertal.

Sources

Theodor Alexander Schneider 1898-1990

My maternal Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider, war born on March 1st, 1898 in Elberfeld and died February 12th, 1990 in Düsseldorf, Germany. His parents were the locksmith, Emil August Ferdinand Schneider from Berlin and Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup from Bielefeld.

His birth certificate from the registry office states that my Great Grandfather appeared and gave the following information. The street he lived on, that he was not affiliated with any religion and that his wife had given birth to a son in their apartment. The child was given the names Theodor Alexander. He then signed his name and the registrar as well and the document was dated. On the bottom right you can see a side note which stated that my Grandfather died 1990 in Düsseldorf and the number of the certificate is number 1176. I have written about these side note in a previous blog. They can be of utmost importance in your research in German genealogy. I was surprised to see that my Great Grandfather had left the Lutheran church. I am still not sure if my Grandfather was ever baptized. Some of those records were destroyed during WWII.

My Grandfather fought in France in WW1.

I have no idea when and where this picture was taken. WW1 military records from Elberfeld which now belongs to Wuppertal, were also destroyed during WWII.

I called my Grandfather “Opa”. Most of the people he knew called him Alex the short form for Alexander. I didn’t know about his name Theodor until I had received a copy of his birth certificate. Opa loved to tell stories, I just wished I had written them all down. When he lived in Elberfeld, he told me that his Mother would bring him lunch at the factory. He probably finished school in 8th grade and had to go to work.

Opa love to eat eel, he would buy some from the local fish market. Fresh eel didn’t look very appetizing to me and I never had to eat them. Opa also loved to read and do crossword puzzles. At one time he had a canary he enjoyed. He called him Hansi and the little bird would sing many different songs. Every morning Opa would get up, make the bed, make breakfast for him and my Oma (Grandmother) and go for his morning walk. He would buy the local newspaper and play lotto once a week, I don’t remember him ever winning it big, I probably would have heard about that. He loved his pipe and I will always remember that smell.

Here is my Opa with his beloved pipe. The picture was taken in 1971 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt where he lived with my Oma.

Opa was born in a very famous town, Elberfeld which now belongs to Wuppertal. Wuppertal is world famous for the “Schwebebahn” suspension railway.

Opa loved his five grandchildren and we loved him. When we gathered around the table to eat a meal, Opa was the boss. He always sat at the head of table. We children had to behave, there was no complaining allowed. We could not get up from the table until every one was finished eating. We then got up and help clear the table and head to the kitchen and do the dishes. It was expected of us and we liked doing it. We loved and respected our Opa.

Opa had eight sibling, at least six of them lived to adulthood. He was the second youngest. He never talked about them, I only found them through my research. I have a picture of the five sisters together.