Genealogy Is An Adventure

Tag: Wuppertal

  • 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.

  • Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup 1860-1934

    Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup was born 17 June 1860 in Bielefeld and died 11 June 1934 in Galkhausen, Germany. Her calling name was Louisa. She was my maternal Great Grandmother. Louisa’s parents were the damask weaver, Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Ontrup, and Henriette Sophie Friedericke Hagemann. The couple had at least eleven children including Louisa.

    Louisa got married to my Great Grandfather, the locksmith, Emil August Ferdinand Schneider, 12 May 1883, in Gadderbaum which is now part of Bielefeld. His calling name was Ferdinand.

    Below is their marriage certificate

    The certificate first states the name of the groom, Ferdinand, and his parents, the diseased master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider, and the widowed Caroline Francisca Amalie Büttner who lived in Berlin at the time of the marriage. It also the states the name of the bride, Louisa, and her parents which I mentioned already at the beginning of the blog. On the second page the witnesses and the bride and groom signed the certificate. Louisa and Ferdinand had at least nine children together, one of them was my Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider. The oldest child was born in Bielefeld, the rest of them were born in Wuppertal.

    Above is Louisa with two of her daughters, my Great Aunts, Anna on the left and Frieda on the right.

    Louisa died 11 June 1934 in a hospital in Galkausen, near Düsseldorf.

    Above his death certificate which dates her name, the death date, her birth date and the city she was born in. Please note, that German death certificates do not have a doctor’s signature. The registry office will issue the certificate.

    Above is a map of where Louisa lived. She was born in Bielefeld, got married in Gadderbaum, lived most of her life in Wuppertal and died in Galkhausen.

  • 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.

    The picture is a colorized version from the original. It might have been taken near Wuppertal where the family grew up. These are all my Great Aunts.

    Opa died in March of 1990 at the age of 92. I still miss him. I wished I could talk to him one more time about his life and his family.