Wednesday, February 28, 2007

What Lies Behind: Schroeder Redux... But Where's Lucy?

After a couple weeks of thought, I'm considering that there may be another way to get a charted family-tree onto one of these blog-pages without its being merely a static image/snapshot. The charts I've drawn up of my family's (paternal) line have been via Excel.

But WordPress will not import Excel – which is understandable, since (as I understand it) an Excel spreadsheet can hide macros and other interesting no-no features that could really wreak havoc on one's computer, and/or perhaps also WordPress's servers.

WordPress will import PowerPoint (PPT only, not PPS). And PowerPoint + Org Chart can do the trick of showing the connected boxes I use… but I still have to limit the chart's width and length to fit within a PowerPoint slide. Whereas with Excel, you have to go quite a few columns out and rows down before you run out of space. 

However – heh-heh – it's possible to embed Excel in a PowerPoint slide, and then import that into one's WordPress blog… I think. Let's try it with the second illustration from February 13, von Schroeder's direct paternal line from his earliest recorded ancestor. First, as a simple link:


No, that doesn't do what I have in mind. Typically, a PPT slide with an embedded Excel spreadsheet will allow you to double-click on the spreadsheet and open it up within (sub-)Excel. Here, though, via the link, it's become a single-slide slideshow; clicking on the slide/chart automatically advances to the next slide (none!), as though this were a PPS.  Let's see if I can embed that slide…

[a couple minutes later:] Upload, sure. Embed? Doesn't look like it. I tried a couple times, but the result was consistently a hyperlink to the slide, not an embedded image a les JPG images I did on 2/13.However… once at that image, via the above link, right-click and select "edit slide"… 


  …and then double-click on the slide. Voilà; here's Excel, and… ahh, here are the rollover notes on the ancestors, too.  (Hey, how does that work for you monobutton-mouse Mac-ers?)

But I don't like that two-removes kind of functionality; I want the image to be able to give at least some kind of interactivity, either by rollover (as in Excel, and other MS apps that allow insertion of comments), or by animation, preferably via PPS... which WordPress will allow. If I could figure out how to build a GIF out of a series of images, that would work nicely, too, since WordPress is GIF-friendly, e.g.:


One further way would be to take a screenshot with the spreadsheet set to show all comments… but that would be rather crowded, and might make lines of descent and interrelationships a lot less evident.

Haven't given up yet; stay tuned...

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

En Passant: The Best Is Behind Us


Seen on the way in to work today… 

Bumper-sticker: I Miss Bill. 

License plate: ILVMYWF (Awww!) 

And in a third vein, another bumper sticker seen on the way back home: 

Jimmy Buffett for President – Let's put a REAL Pirate in Office!

 

Pundemonium: A Little Thin-Shelled?


This afternoon I was trying to coordinate a time to get with one of my bosses, Ben – my only coworker who can keep up with (and occasionally outdo) me punwise. But it was easy to see how thin he was stretched, trying also to get some other tasks done at that same time: 

Ben (apologetically): I'm just a little scrambled. 

Me (immediately): That's okay, Ben; you're a good egg. 

Ben (lamely, after a brief pause): I am not a poultry product. 

Sorry, Ben – point goes to AgingChild in this round. 

However, perhaps to redeem himself, I heard him later at the desk of another coworker, "Priscilla". Priscilla has a dog's chew toy on her desk; it's a fierce-looking dog's head crunching down on the words (I don't normally say this, by the way) BITE ME. I heard a sudden, loud "PHWEE-hee!" as Ben squeezed the toy on the way past. "You are a twisted puppy," he told her in genuine delight.

 

Monday, February 26, 2007

What Lies Behind: Love Story, and Sorrow

I mentioned last month (see “That’s It! Your History!“) that in the book of our family history, Die Familie Schröder - von Schroeder aus Königsberg i. Pr., Band 2: Die Geschwister Felix, Heinrich, Irene v. Schröder – Ahnenlisten, Stammlisten, Nachfahrenlisten (© 1989 by Felix v. Schroeder, printed by J. Ebner, Deggendorf, Germany), “[s]ome of the material could indeed make a great novel, maybe even a movie; [I] might just take a stab at fleshing it out myself. I do plan to post extracts and (rough) translations here… unless the publisher […] feels I’m overstepping my own personal rights to the information, at which point I’ll drop them… though I may squawk a bit“.
So here are some ancestors; I’ll include von Schroeder’s German, besides my translation. And note: this is not Steal My Stuff, okay? This is great material, despite my (at times uncertain) translation, and is my family’s ancestry. Besides; von Schroeder’s estate holds the copyright.

0. Johann August Schildt (1779 - 1863) 

A nephew of Johann Christoph, he was born in Naumburg on October 25, 1779, and died on April 23, 1863, at 81 years and six months of age. Around 1797 he moved to Leipzig, and by [?] 1803 was a citizen and grocer there. Up to 1827 he was part-owner of the Johann Karl Peuckert and Co. cigar shop in Leipzig, and then a [professional] businessman.

Geb. Naumburg (Wenz.) 25.10. get. 27.10.1779, [gestorben] 23.4.1863 (81 J. 6 Mo.), zog um 1797 nach Leipzig, hier 28.7.1803 Bürger und Kr[ä]mer, bis 1827 Teilhaber des Zigarrengeschäfts Johann Karl Peuckert u. Co. in Leipzig, dann Kaufmann...

As a member of the “Company of Close Friends” [a reference to his marrying the boss’s daughter?] from 1832 on, he lived at 1 Tod Rudolfstraße. His death in 1863 evidently gave his son, Julius, and son-in-law, Holm Georg von Reutter, the means to purchase the rulership of [?] Sallach in 1864, and likewise (separately [?] ) of Gut Hofrain in the same year. 

...seit 1832 Mitglied der “Vertrauten Gesellschaft”, lebte beim Tod Rudolfstr. 1. Sein Tod 1863 hat offenbar seinem Sohn Julius und dem Schwiegersohn [Holm Georg] v. Reutter die Mittel gegeben, 1864 die Herrschaft Sallach bzw. das 1864 davon getrennte Gut Hofrain zu kaufen.

The Peuckerts’ cigar shop continued operating well into the nineteenth [sic; shouldn’t this be “into the twentieth century”?] century under [the ownership of?] the Schmidt family, descendants of Christoph Gottlob Heisinger, the first husband of Johanna Elisabeth Koch [who later married Peuckert, and thus was Johann August’s mother-in-law].

(Das Peuckertsche Zigarrengeschäft wurde bis weit ins 19. Jahrhundert von der Familie Schmidt weitergeführt, di von Johanna Elisabeth Koch aus deren erster Ehe mit Christoph Gottlob Heisinger abstammt.) 

1. Heinrich Albert Schildt (1832 - 1918)

The oldest son of Johann August by his second wife, Minna Küstner, he was born in Leipzig on December 21, 1832, and died in Langebrück, near [?] Dresden, on February 10, 1918.  

Geb. Leipzig (Thom.) 21.12.1832 get. 4.1.1833 [gestorben] Langebrück / b. Dresden 10.2.1918...

In 1849 he entered the 13th Royal Saxon Infantry Battalion as a cadet. [While?] First Lieutenant in the 100th Grenadier Regiment in Dresden, he left the army at his father-in-law’s demand [?], which – being an enthusiastic [?] soldier – he regretted his entire life. Starting in 1857 he was a professional businessman, as well as (beginning in 1865) owner of a knight’s estate in Krehlau, Wohlau county. From about 1865 he was a private businessman. Dissident. [?!]

...tritt 1849 als Kadett in das 13. Inf.-Btn ein, kgl. sächs. Premierleutnant im Grenadierregiment 100 in Dresden, scheidet auf Wunsch des Schwiegervaters aus der Armee aus, was er als begeisterter Soldat zeitlebens bedauert hat. Seit 1857 Kaufmann in Leipzig, auch bis 1865 Besitzer des Ritterguts Krehlau / Kreis Wohlau, seit etwa 1865 Privatmann in Dresden, lebt 1872 Lüttichaustr. 20, 1874 Bernhardstr. 3, 1875 Liebigstr. 2, zuletzt in Langebrück b. Dresden. Dissident. 

2a. Anna Emilie (Trinius) Schildt (1836 - 1920) first wife of Heinrich Albert Schildt

With her sister Louise Emilie (1839 - 1918), she inherited the manor called “The Wild Man” near Dresden [at the passing of their father, Moritz Trinius, 1810 - 1877]. And in fact the manor was soon sold, since administering it was causing great problems. 

Sie erbte mit ihrer Schwester Louise Emilie (1839 - 1918) das Gut “Wilder Mann” b[ei?] Dresden, doch wurde das Gut bald verkauft, da die gemeinsame Verwaltung Schwierigkeiten machte.

2b. Florentine (Löwenstein) Schildt (1835 - 1885) second wife of Heinrich Albert Schildt 

The parents of Florentine Löwenstein, Warsaw businessman Jakob Löwenstein and Dorothea Kronberg, were residing in Berlin in 1874. (Since they were not mentioned in the registry of Berlin’s Jewish community, which reaches up to 1860, their move [from Warsaw to Berlin] may have taken place between 1860 and 1874.)

Die Eltern der Florentine Löwenstein, der Kaufmann in Warschau Jakob Löwenstein und Dorothea Kronberg, lebten 1874 in Berlin. Da sie in dem Verzeichnis der Berliner Judengemeinde, da bis 1860 reicht, noch nicht erwähnt werden, dürfte die Übersiedlung zwischen 1860 und 1874 erfolgt sein. [And there are several more paragraphs on Florentine’s brothers, but that has no real bearing here.] 

3. Alexander Albert August Schildt (1861 - 1948) son of Heinrich Albert Schildt

He was born in Krehlau, Wohlau County, on August 15, 1862 [penciled note by Dad: 1861?], and died in Hamburg on February 3, 1948. At age eleven, when his parents [Heinrich Albert Schildt and Anna Emilie Trinius] divorced [in 1873], he was awarded to his father. This was an unhappy resolution [of custody], since his father spent the greater part of the year traveling with his new wife [Florentine], and so Alexander had to live in boarding-houses. He attended St. Anne’s High School in Dresden. By the explicit desire of his father, after he graduated he took on a career as a [military] officer.

Geb. Krehlau / Kr. Wohlau 15.8.1862 [1861?] [gestorben] Hamburg 3.2.1948. Bei der Scheidung seiner Eltern war er elfjährig dem Vater zugeschprochen worden. Es war dies eine unglückliche Lösung, da der Vater mit seiner zweiten Frau den größeren Teil des Jahres auf Reisen war, so daß Alexander in Pensionen leben mußte. Er besuchte das Annengymnasium in Dresden. Nach dem Abitur mußte er auf ausdrücklichen Wunsch des Vaters den Offiziersberuf ergreifen. 

He joined the Marines in 1881, and as an ensign in 1884 took part in the seizure of Togo and Cameroon. During the Chinese-Japanese war of 1894-5, he was on the SMS “Prince Frederick William” in east Asia [with the] Naval Command [?], who kept him in east Asia for the Boxer Rebellion of 1901-2 as well. From 1902 he was with the navy’s Home Command [?] in Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven, and Kiel. He commanded the SMS “Stone” from 1906 to 1907, then returned to the Home Command.

Er ging 1881 zur Marine, nahm 1884 als Fähnrich teil bei der Besitznahme von Togo und Kamerun. Während des chinesisch-japanischen Krieges (1894/1895) war er auf SMS “Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm” in Ostasien, ein gleiches Kommando hielt ihn in Ostasien beim Boxeraufstand (1901/1902). 1902-1906 Heimatkommandos in Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven und Kiel, 1906-1907 Kommandant des SMS “Stein”, dann wieder Heimatkommandos.

After World War I, he lived for a year in Valencia, Spain, where both his sons [Friedrich Albert, born in 1894, and Hans-Hellmuth, born in 1899] were occupied with their apprenticeships at Fa[brik?] Sloman. [My guess is that this is the name of a firm that built and/or serviced ships.]

Nach dem 1. Weltkrieg lebte er für ein Jahr in Valencia in Spanien, wo seine beiden Söhne zur Ausbildung bei der Fa. Sloman jr. tätig waren. 

In Hamburg afterward, he dedicated himself to historical questions on seafaring; he was a collaborator on a large conversation-dictionary; he penned an article in the “Hamburg Foreign Journal”. In particular he worked [?] on preparing his book, An Outline of the History of Naval Warfare, which was published by K. F. Köhler in 1925; it saw a second edition [issued], and up to the present is regarded as definitive in its field. Thus a writer’s talent passes on, from [Heinrich] August Trinius [1851 - 1919], to Julius Schildt [1838 - 1923], down now to Alexander. 

Danach widmete er sich in Hamburg geschichtlichen Fragen über die Seefahrt, wurde Mitarbeiter an einem großen Konversationslexikon, verfaßte Artikel im “Hamburger Fremdenblatt” und bereitete insbesondere Buch, “Seekriegsgeschichte in Umrissen” vor, das 1925 in Leipzig bei Köhler erschien, ein zweite Auflage erlebte und bis heute als ein Standardwerk gilt. So zieht sich eine schriftstellerische Begabung von August Trinius, Julius Schildt, bis hin zu Alexander.”

4a. Luise Anita Schildt (1867 - 1945) sister of Alexander, and grandmother of Felix von Schroeder 

Luise Anita (she went by “Anita“) was born in Dresden on February 12, 1867, and christened in the Evangelical Hofkirche (Church of Sophie). Her parents gave her the name “Anita” because of their enthusiasm for the Italian freedom-fighter Garibaldi and his Brazilian life-partner, Anita, who had accompanied him through thick and thin on his hazardous paths.

Luise Anita, mit Rufnamen Anita, wurde in Dresden am 12. Februar 1867 geboren und am 9. März in der evangelischen Hofkirche (Sophienkirche) getauft. Ihren Vornamen Anita erhielt sie aus der Begeisterung ihrer Eltern für den italienischen Freiheitskämpfer Garibaldi und seiner brasilianischen Lebensgefährtin Anita, die ihn auf seinen abenteuerlichen Wegen durch dick und dünn begleitet hatte. 

After just a few years, the marriage of her parents (Heinrich Albert Schildt and Anna Luise Trinius), which had started out on September 16, 1857, fell into a crisis [?], and was legally [?] dissolved in 1873 after fifteen years.

Die Ehe der Eltern, nämlich des Heinrich Albert Schildt und der Anna Luise Trinius, geriet wenige Jahre nach der Heirat, die am 16.9.1857 stattgefunden hatte, in eine Krise und wurde nach fünfjährigen Rechtsstreit im Jahre 1873 geschieden. 

One reason for this unfortunate turn in her parents’ marriage was certainly that her father, a Royal Saxon First Lieutenant, had had to give up his military career before the wedding, since his future father-in-law, Moritz Trinius, would not consent to his daughter marrying an officer. This shows how low a regard the self-satisfied upper-middle class (in this case, the merchants of Leipzig) held the Saxon officer corps – differently from how [they were esteemed] in Prussia.

Ein Grund für diese bedauerliche Entwicklung der Ehe ihrer Eltern is wohl gewesen, daß der Vater als kgl. sächs[ische] Premierleutnant seinen Offiziersberuf vor der Heirat aufgeben mußte, da der zukünftige Schwiegervater Moritz Trinius seine Zustimmung zur Verheiratung der Tochter mit einem Offizier nicht gab. Dies zeigt, welch geringes Ansehen das sächsische Offizierkorps (anders als in Preußen) beim selbstbewußten Großbürgertum, hier der Kaufmannschaft Leipzigs, besaß.

For Anita’s first [few] years, the tensions in her parents’ house were no doubt oppressive, when even her upbringing lay mainly in the hands of her governesses. In her parents’ home, French was mostly spoken, a sign of the significant cultural influence of France on the Saxon upper class, [an influence] which continued into the second half of the nineteenth century. Young Anita’s knowledge of German was so deficient that in her first years at school she had difficulty [just] pronouncing the language correctly.

Zweifellos waren die Spannungen im Elternhaus für die ersten Lebensjahre von Anita bedrückend, wenn auch die Erziehung vorwiegend in den Händen von Gouvernanten lag. Im Elternhaus wurde meistens französisch gesprochen, ein Zeichen für den bedeutenden kulturellen Einfluß Frankreichs bem gehobenen Bürgertum Sachsens, der bis in die 2. Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts andauerte. Die Deutschkenntnisse der kleinen Anita waren so mangelhaft, daß sie in den ersten Schuljahren Schwierigkeiten hatte, sich einwandfrei deutsch auszudrücken.

When her parents divorced, her brother Alexander (older by five years: he was born on August 15, 1862) became a father to her; she herself was awarded to her mother [Anna Emilie Trinius]. After about a year, Anna married Willibald Höhne, professor at the military academy in Dresden. In him Anita found an affectionate stepfather who paid close attention to her. Long walks and far hikes provided her with many impressions; indeed, it might be said that her adolescence moved [now] into the well-ordered ways of a good middle-class family life. The trips that the family took expanded her horizon[s], and her knowledge of the land and peoples of the German-speaking world.

Bei der Scheidung der Eltern wurde ihr um fünf Jahre älterer Bruder Alexander (geb. 15.8.1862) dem Vater, sie selbst als Tochter der Mutter zugesprochen. Diese heiratete nach etwa einem Jahr den Professor an der Kadettenschule in Dresden Willibald Höhne, in dem Anita einen liebevollen Stiefvater fand, der sich sehr um sie kümmerte. Lange Spaziergänge und weite Wanderungen verschafften ihr viele Eindrücke, und man darf wohl sagen, daß ihre Jugend in den geordneten Bahnen eines gut bürgerlichen Familienlebens verlief. Die Reisen, die die Familie machte, erweiterten ihren Gesichtskreis und ihr Kenntnisse von Land und Leuten in der deutschsprachigen Welt.

Whether the physical efforts that her athletically-disposed stepfather demanded of her (such as through hiking) became the cause of the nervous [?] weaknesses that appeared [in her] later, remains unknown. In any case, it’s certain that she loved being with him.

Ob die körperlichen Anstrengungen, die der sportlich veranlagte Stiefvater ihr abverlangte, z. B. beim Wandern, der Grund für ihre später zutage tretenden nervlichen Schwächen legten, bleibt unbekannt. Sicher ist jedenfalls, daß sie gern dabei war. 

And thus it’s fitting as well that she met her later husband, Karl Kretzschmar [see also below], while ice-skating; she married him on June 4, 1888 (when she was twenty-one). She gave life [?] to two children: Charlotte Johanna, born on June 4, 1888, and Friedrich Alexander, born on July 9, 1891. 

Und so paßt es auch in dieses Bild, daß sie ihren späteren Mann Karl Kretzschmar beim Eislaufen kennenlernte und ihn dann am 4.6.1888, also im Alter von 21 Jahren, heiratete. Zwei Kindern schenkte sie das Leben, der am 9.7.1889 geborenen Charlotte Johanna und dem am 19.10.1891 geborenen Friedrich Alexander.

However, it soon was evident that owing to [?] the behavior of her husband, who was exceedingly ambitious and dominating [?], she could in no way manage to develop her eclectically intellectual and artistic gifts. And so even her high-spirited vitality, which had [first] shown up during adolescence, quickly ran dry. To what degree her weak nerves were [also?] the cause of this cannot be determined [?].

Es zeigte sich aber bald, daß sie an der Seite ihres überaus ehrgeizigen und bestimmenden Mannes keineswegs zur Entfaltung ihrer vielseitigen geistigen und künstlerischen Gaben gelangen konnte, so daß ihre in der Jugend zutage getretene, vielleicht sogar übermütige Lebenskraft bald versiegte. Wie weit ihre schwachen Nerven hierfür Ursache waren, ist nicht zu entscheiden. 

Added to this [was] that her husband deeply loved their daughter Charlotte; she, on the other hand, attached herself to their son Friedrich, who had turned out well [?]. [But] Friedrich’s life was to come to an end early in the First World War, on September 2, 1915, when he was a soldier in Russia [Vilnius, in what is now Lithuania]. Although she did not [so] speak of it, one may certainly assume this was a severe blow for Anita, [one] which drove her into deep depression [?].

Hinzu kam, daß ihr Mann die Tochter Charlotte überaus liebte, sie hingegen an dem wohl mehr nach ihr geratenen Sohn Friedrich hing, der sein Leben früh im Ersten Weltkrieg am 2. September 1915 als Soldat in Rußland beschließen mußte. Obwohl sie nicht davon sprach, darf man wohl davon ausgehen, daß dies ein schwerer Schicksalsschlag für sie war, der sie endgültig in die Resignation führte.

There is no doubt that [it was] through the overworking of her husband’s recurring [?] severe nervous disorder, [that] their over-twenty-year marriage led early on into his incapacity for work [?], and with it, into a [much-poorer] life for them in an early-retirement home [?], for which every outside suggestion [?] failed.

Das nach 20jähriger Ehe zweifellos durch Überarbeitung hervorgerufene schwere Nervenleiden ihres Mannes führte frühzeitig zu dessen Berufsunfähigkeit und damit für sie zum Leben im Haushalt eines Frühpensionärs, dem jegliche Anregung von Außen fehlte.  

After her husband’s death (February 8, 1929), she was advised by a householder to appeal to her daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s husband, [for help,] inasmuch as help was necessary and feasible. 

Nach dem Tod des Mannes (8.2.1929) wurde sie von einer Haushälterin betreut, die Tochter Charlotte und deren Mann bemühten sich um sie, soweit Hilfe nötig und möglich war.

She survived the aerial bombardment of February 13-14, 1945 – which destroyed Dresden – in the basement of the house where she had an attic apartment, and which [?] had remained [standing?] as though by a miracle. On August 14, 1945, she passed away at age seventy-eight, without any illness beforehand.

Den Luftangriff vom 13./14. Februar 1945, der Dresden zerstörte, überlebte sie im Keller des Hauses, in dem sie eine Mansardenwohnung hatte und das wie durch ein Wunder erhalten blieb. Am 14. August 1945 entschlief sie im Alter von 78 Jahren ohne vorherige Krankheit.

In her youth she had been a beautiful young lady; and [even] in her old age, she [still] showed that she must [once] have had [?] a stately and elegant-seeming appearance. I always admired her many-sided literary knowledge and her artist’s understanding, whenever I engaged her in conversation during my visits with her. [Von Schröder was in his late twenties when Anita died.] And now and then, [even] through her old age and illness, I perceived something of her [now-]extinguished liveliness and former vitality. 

Sie war in ihrer Jugend ein schönes Mädchen gewesen und zeigte noch im Alter, daß sie eine stattliche und vornehm wirkende Erscheinung gewesen sein muß. Ich habe ihre vielseitigen literarischen Kenntnisse und ihr künstlerisches Verständnis, wenn ich bei meinen Besuchen mit ihr ins Gespräch kam, immer bewundert und auch ab und zu etwas von der durch Alter und Krankheit so gut wie erloschenen Lebendigkeit und einstigen Lebenskraft gespürt.

4b. Karl Julius Kretzschmar (1858 - 1929) husband of Luise Anita Schildt

Karl Julius Kretzschmar was born on May 25, 1858, in Dresden, and christened on July 2 in the Church of the Holy Cross. He was the third child of Alexander Ferdinand Julius Kretzschmar (an attorney and member of the Dresden city council) and Auguste Rosalie Däumel.

Karl Julius Kretzschmar wurde am 25. Mai 1858 in Dresden geboren un am 2. Juli in der Kreuzkirche getauft. Er war das dritte Kind des Rechtsanwalts und Stadtrats in Dresden Alexander Ferdinand Julius Kretzschmar und der Auguste Rosalie Däumel. 

Details of [life in his] his parents’ home are unknown to me; we do know that his dominating father led a strict routine [at home], and expected the highest achievements of his sons. This also suited [?] the character of the highly gifted Karl, who as a student at the Holy Cross High School in Dresden was allowed twice to skip a grade, and in 1876 at age 18 passed his [required] graduation test.

Einzelheiten über sein Elternhaus sind mir nicht bekannt, doch wissen wir, daß der beherrschende Vater ein Strenges Regiment führte und von seinen Söhnen höchste Leistungen erwartete. Dies entsprach auch dem Wesen des hochbegabten Karl, der als Schüler des Kreuzgymnasiums in Dresden zweimal eine Klasse überspringen durfte und 1876 mit 18 Jahren das Abitur bestand. 

Subsequently he performed his military service with the artillery, and in 1877 he began studying law in Leipzig and Heidelberg. He passed both state legal examinations in 1881 and 1885, and in 1883 earned his doctorate.

Anschließend leistete er seinen Militärdienst bei der Artillerie und studierte seit 1877 in Leipzig und Heidelberg die Rechtswissenschaften. Die beiden juristischen Staatsprüfungen bestand er 1881 und 1885 und promovierte 1883 zum Dr. jur.

After serving two years as probationary attorney and auxiliary judge at the Dresden municipal court, he was promoted [?] to ~State’s Attorney at the Provincial Court in Freiberg. On September 1, 1891, he transferred over to the Bureau of Mines in Freiberg as bureau advisor, and for this span [?] received the professorship [?] over all mining regulations [?] and clients [?]. Beginning in 1898 he was Director of the Bureau of Mines in Freiberg, and there he was able to fully develop his skills, and to do key work toward the development [?] of mining in
Saxony.

Nachdem er zwei Jahre als Assessor und Hilfsrichter am Amtsgericht Dresden Dienst getan hatte, wurde er am 1. April 1889 als Landgerichtsrat an das Landgericht in Freiberg versetzt. Am 1. September 1891 wechselte er als Bergamtsrat an das Bergamt Freiberg über und erhielt für diese Zeit die Professur für allgemeine Bergkunde und Bergrecht. Seit 1898 war er Bergamtsdirektor in Freiberg und konnte hier seine Fähigkeiten voll entfalten und Entscheidendes für die Entwicklung des sächsischen Bergwesens tun. 

These achievements were also the reason that in 1907 he was finally appointed to the Finance Ministry in Dresden as lecturer[?]-advisor on mining affairs, where he had the title of Private [?] Advisor on the Advancement of Saxon Mining Services in All Essential Affairs [?].

Diese Leistungen waren auch der Grund dafür, daß er 1907 schließlich an das Finanzministerium in Dresden als Vortragender Rat für Bergsachen berufen wurde, wo er mit dem Titel eines Geheimrats an der Weiterentwicklung des sächsischen Bergdienstes wesentlichen Anteil hatte.

Very quickly the consequences of his career’s new and previous demands showed up. Since he attributed [?] his outstanding successes to his most painstaking preciseness and diligence [?], the demands of his position [?] occupied him more than many of his colleagues. Severe nerve-problems appeared, which forced him to withdraw to sanatoriums in Aue and Coswig (near Dresden) for two years, from 1908 to 1910. These brought [him] only a brief improvement, so that he finally – much too early – had to retire.

Doch bald zeigten sich die Folgen der bisherigen und neuen beruflichen Inanspruchnahme. Da er seine hervorragenden Fähigkeiten mit peinlichster Genauigkeit und Gewissenhaftigkeit verband, nahmen ihn berufliche Anforderungen mehr als manchen anderen Kollegen in Anspruch. Es stellten sich schwere nervlichen Störungen ein, die ihn zwangen, sich von 1908 bis 1910 zwei Jahre in die Sanatorien Aue und Coswig/b. Dresden zurückzuziehen. Dies brachte nur vorübergehend eine Besserung, so daß er schließlich – viel zu früh – in Pension gehen mußte.

Again and again, friends and acquaintances have emphasized [?] his professional skill in expressing himself brilliantly, with wit and a great depth [?], in every [social] level [?], as well as in giving dazzling speeches without preparation.

Freunde und Bekannte haben immer wieder seine Fähigkeit hervorgehoben, sich geistvoll, witzig und gehaltvoll in jedem Kreise zu äußern und auch unvorbereitet blendende Ansprachen zu halten. 

I only got to know him when he was an old man, when his intellectual [?] brilliance could no longer be sensed [?]. In the way that he revealed himself through [how he took] care of both his children, one truly must assume from it that he had been an acutely sensitive man who, by working so hard even against himself, destroyed himself inside, little by little.

Ich habe ihn nur als alten Mann kennengelernt und seine geistige Brillanz nicht mehr verspüren dürfen. Wie sich aus seiner Fürsorge für seine beiden Kinder erkennen läßt, muß man wohl davon ausgehen, daß er ein äußerst empfindsamer Mensch gewesen ist, der sich bei seiner Gewissenhaftigkeit auch gegen sich selbst allmählich innerlich aufrieb.

On June 4, 1888, Karl Kretzschmar married Luise Anita Schildt from Dresden. Their marriage yielded two children, Johanna Charlotte (born on July 7, 1889) and Friedrich Alexander (born on October 19, 1891), a student of law, who fell in battle at Vilnius [in Lithuania] on September 2, 1915.

Karl Kretzschmar heiratete am 4.6.1888 Luise Anita Schildt aus Dresden. Der Ehe entsprossen zwei Kinder, die am 9.7.1889 geborene Johanna Charlotte und der am 19.10.1891 geborene Friedrich Alexander, Student der Rechte, der am 2. September 1915 bei Wilna gefallen ist.

Karl Kretzschmar was not averse to exercise. He first met his wife while ice skating, and later loved to go on outings and long hikes with his children, even [?] when on vacation. He must have been a concerned and thoughtful father, who maintained in his family life the custom[s] of his Erz-Mountain forefathers just as [he did with?] mining-practices [?] during his work in
Freiberg.

Karl Kretzschmar war der körperlichen Bewegung nicht abgeneigt. Er hatte seine Frau beim Schlittschuhfahren kennengelernt und machte später mit seinen Kindern gern Ausflüge und (”größere Wanderungen und dies auch bei den Urlaubsfahrten. Er muß ein besorgter und fürsorglicher Vater gewesen sein, der das Brauchtum seiner erzgebirgischen Vorfahren im Familienleben ebenso pflegte wie die bergmännischen Gepflogenheiten während seiner Freiberger Tätigkiet.

A certain craftsman-like talent became evident [?] in him, certainly a predisposition [?] from his forefathers: he could skillfully do pencil-drawings or [naturally?] know [how] to fix defects in the tires when going biking. When he was old, he devoted himself with zeal to the newly-invented [?] radio. That is how I like thinking back about him: when he would try to receive something on his crystal [set] that sat on the big console [?]; it made him [so] happy whenever he finally succeeded in pulling in a station.

Eine gewisse handwerkliche Fähigkeit trat bei ihm zutage, sicherlich ein Erbgut seiner Vorfahren. Mit Geschick fertigte er Bleistiftzeichnungen an oder wußte bei Radfahrten die Defekte an den Reifen zu beheben. Im Alter wandte er sich mit Eifer dem neu aufkommenden Radio zu. So denke ich gern an ihn zurück, wenn er in dem Kristall, der auf der großen Spule saß, nach Empfang suchte und sich freute, wenn es ihm endlich gelang, den Sender hereinzubekommen.

It was especially a burden on his conscientiousness and thoughtfulness, that in the inflation [i.e., the period of hyper-inflation in early-1920s Germany], the remainder of his wife’s fortune, which he had been managing [?], was lost without any chance [?] of revaluation [?? i.e., of their being able to keep even a small, much-reduced percentage?], for which one can hardly put the blame on him. He made an effort, [during] the few years left to him before his death, to regularly put aside small amounts for his wife – which was a remarkable achievement, given their [limited] means [?].

Für seine Gewissenhaftigkeit und Fürsorglichkeit war es eine besondere Belastung, daß in der Inflation das Restvermögen seiner Frau, das er zu verwalten hatte, ohne die Möglichkeit einer Aufwertung verlorengegangen war, wofür man ihm kaum eine Schuld anlasten kann. Er war bemüht, die wenigen Jahre bis zu seinem Tode, die ihm noch geblieben waren, regelmäßig kleine Beträge für seine Frau zurückzulegen, was bei den gegebenen Verhältnissen eine beachtenswerte Leistung war.

He died on February 8, 1929, from an incurable [?] pneumonia that led to heart failure; he was cremated at the Dresden-Tolkewitz Crematorium.

Er starb am 8. Februar 1929 bei einer abheilenden Lungenentzündung an Herzversagen und wurde im Krematorium in Dresden-Tolkewitz eingeäschert.

One of his published works that has come down to me (these are likely mostly essays) – about which I don’t know the [background] details – [is] “The Old-Fashioned Bridge in Freiberg” in The Yearbook of [?] Mining- and Cottage-Industries [?] in the Kingdom of Saxony in the Year 1894, in a special printing of 27 pages with eight diagrams [?]. A single-page biography of Karl Kretzschmar has appeared [in] Gerhard Boldt’s “Lives and Activities [?] of Noteworthy Teachers and Practitioners [?] of Mining Law” in The Journal of Mining Law, Volume 115 (1974), page 81. Also, a treatise of Karl Kretzschmar’s shows up here: [his] “Innovations in Service-Contract Regulations of Saxon Mining, as of [?] January 1, 1900” in Saxon Yearbook of Mining- and Cottage-Industries (about 1900). (We took data on the course of Karl Kretzschmar’s career from the above [?] biographies.)

Von seinen gedruckten Arbeiten, wohl vorwiegend Aufsätzen, über die ich Enzelheiten nicht kenne, ist auf mich gekommen: “Die Altväterbrücke bei Freiberg” im “Jahrbuch für Berg- und Hüttenwesen im Königreich Sachsen auf das Jahr 1894” als Sonderdruck von 27 Seiten mit 8 Abbildungen. Eine Biographie von Karl Kretzschmar im Umfang von einer Seite ist erschienen: Gerhard Boldt: “Leben und Wirken namhafter Lehrer und Praktiker des Bergrechts” in Zeitschrift für Bergrecht, Band 115 (1974), S. 81. Hier wird auch eine Abhandlung Karl Kretzschmars “Die mit dem 1. Januar 1900 für den sächsischen Bergbau eingetretenen Neuerungen in den Vorschriften für den Dienstvertrag” in: “Sächsisches Jahrbuch für das Berg- und Hüttenwesen (um 1900) erwähnt. Der genannten Biographie wurden von uns Daten über den Berufsgang von Karl Kretzashmar entnommen.

Of his three sisters, one died young; the second, Helene, became a teacher of sketch-art; and [the third, ] Therese (or “Resi”) was active in social work, and wrote down her remembrances of her maternal grandparents, the Däumels. [And Karl’s] brother Hermann (likewise a lawyer), talented and witty, became the second mayor of Dresden. 

Von seinen drei Schwestern starb eine jung, die zweite, Helene, wurde Zeichenlehrerin und Therese (Resi) war in der Sozialarbeit tätig und schrieb Erinnerungen über das Leben ihrer mütterlichen Großeltern Däumel nieder. Der Bruder Hermann, ebenfalls Jurist, begabt und geistvoll, wurde zweiter Bürgermeister von Dresden.
See what I mean? This really is great stuff! I would love to dig a lot deeper into this, and make it into one of those really thick, several-generation novels – except not as a novel, of course, but rather as a historical account that reads like a novel. Wow!
Later I’ll link some of these names and other data to webpages that help corroborate this tale, including photographs, etchings, etc

Sunday, February 25, 2007

The Quill Examined: Success!


Hah; it worked… check out the previous entry. Yee-hah! The only thing I can't do so far is to tinker with the fonts at the same time; that's where my effort fell apart yesterday. I'm going to change themes/skins here in just a moment; I suspect that will scramble things up again. I spent too big a chunk of yesterday going through my first couple weeks of blogs and correcting messed up breaks, paragraphs, fonts, and so on.
I've changed themes here three or four times already since I set up shop here just about a year ago… and I'm brave enough to try this experiment. Meanwhile, if you're anywhere on or near the northeast to midatlantic of the US, I hope you've been out there enjoying the snow (and watching out for the ice). As usual, it's a couple months late… but it's been beautiful; wish I'd gotten a shot of the tall pines behind our house, sagging under the heavy white/wet burden.
There's not been a lot of rain/drizzle since the snow itself stopped this afternoon, but the temperature's been dropping, and the sidewalks have already frozen. Not to worry; we have a monster-size salt-shaker. So let's see how icy things are in the morning; I've got the usual long commute ahead of me… but I'm not about to do it fishtailing, or sideways. Unless there's no oncoming (or accompanying) traffic. In that case… whee!!

From the Quill: There Is a Place


I want to try a bit of an experiment on HTML vs. esthetics. I'm hoping that what will come out of this will be a means to post verse: keeping the stanza's lines together, and breaking between them. I tried last night, but didn't like the results, so I pulled that post while I gave this some thought.

Last night, I'd just finished editing the previous post — i.e., invested a further hour or so in straightening out the paragraphs, fixing the breaks, etc. — and was listening to some of my 1980s music (EWTN was carrying a repeat, so the TV was off).

(I'm deeply sentimental about both my daughters (this makes them squirm nervously, and groan and run away when they see that look in my eye)... at least, when they were younger.) As with everyone else, I suppose, certain songs can take me back to earlier parts of my life, and bring nearer to me (if only in my heart) someone I knew then, or someone AS I knew them then.

So while listening to Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town", I could hear again in my head my little (then-) ~three-year-older singing in the car, "Hey, oh, ma-ma-ma…, hey, oh, ma-ma-ma!" in her sweet and squeaky voice. And just about ten years later she absolutely shrieked when she caught the Beatles reference in one of the stanzas.

Anyway, in that same folder is Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram's "Somewhere Out There" from the animated "An American Tail" film. And I remember that when that song hit the radio, I was a bit annoyed — I'd written a verse with a very similar story to its own words; now I couldn't publish it without someone somewhere out there thinking I'd rewritten the song into a piece of my own.

Wrong. I wrote "There Is a Place—" early in 1985 (and still have the drafts); the song from that movie charted most of a year later, I recall. In any case, I offer that verse for your reading pleasure. Please note that this does NOT fall under "Steal My Stuff", so please don't; I want to be sure this piece is in one of several books of verse I hope to publish before much longer. I don't mind giving you folks a peek, though.

(Actually, with several volumes ready to go, I can see that they're of various degrees of quality, from crapful to tearful… a difference I can't always make out, though, I admit.)

There Is a Place—

You've started the fire and its glow is a sunset
     in the stone-finished room
And there you lie on your elbow two glasses and a bottle
     on the rug beside you
All is quiet as a flame shadow caresses your cheek
     or maybe some salted water
Through the window the opal stars are watching
     and but for them you are alone—
Let me be with you tonight.

I've finished the paper and it lies in a sprawl
     across the deep-scarred table
And here I sit in my chair two bottles and a glass
     empty there before me
The music is loud as a fleeting hope passes in my heart
     or maybe a wish for your smile
Through the window the street lights are watching
     and but for them I am alone—
Let me be with you tonight.

You've crawled into bed and its cold embrace
     in the fresh-darkened room
And there you lie in the dark a pillow and a space
     in the bed beside you
A sob you give as the day's sorrow closes your eyes
     or maybe another night alone
Through the window the opal stars are watching
     and but for them you are alone—
Let me be with you tonight.

I've opened the couch and it stretches askew
     over the tiny room
And here I lie in the dim a wish and a space
     in the bed beside me
A sigh I breathe as the day's tension shuts now my eyes
     or maybe another night alone
Through the window the streetlights are watching
     and but for them I am alone—
I can't be with you tonight.

Somewhere in the opal stars there is a place
     where wishes and dreams are real
Where people we can't be and places we fear to go
     do not trouble our hearts and minds
Where the solitude of the day and the loneliness of the night
     have never been nor ever shall be
And where we who've never learned to open arms and souls
     can embrace those who shyly have watched us
There I am with you tonight.

 

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Stamps Wankfully Received


A couple weeks ago, under "A Backward Step", I mentioned that I'd pulled a string to get a set of the new Beatles stamps sent over from the UK. My "agent" was to be the brother of a UK-born coworker.

I received the stamps the day after I posted that; this week I finally took the time to email the gentleman – we'll call him "Chester" – my sincere thanks for the stamps. Here's the series of emails that flew back and forth between the US and Merrie Olde (I cc'd his sister – bcc'd my daughter, too; you'll see why):

Subject: Good Morning From the USA!

Good morning, Chester! Your awesome sister passed me your email address, so I'd like to bend your e-ear long enough to give you my warmest thanks and deepest appreciation for sending over those Beatles stamps as soon as Royal Post put them out on the market.

Several times now I've reached into my wallet so I could ensure Sis would send you proper ( = $$$ ) appreciation from your grateful, new Yank-friend, but each time she's refused, and actually given me a threatening look, so I backed off, and wrung my hands helplessly.

Speaking of "Help!": did I say "Thank you" yet?

About twelve years ago, when the boys from Liddypool leapt back onto the world charts with their Anthology and new singles, my older daughter (12 at the time) went wild like the previous generation had. We bought up Beatles albums, original 60s collectibles (and modern 90s equivalents like T-shirts, CDs, etc.), magazines, and so on, for her collection. And she confiscated every last Beatle thing I owned (such as the real, but impossible-to-find, bootleg "Black Album"), as a true fan should do. And we iced the cake by seeing Ringo and his All-Starrs in concert in 1997, and catching a showing in another big city of John's original artworks. Awesome!

In her twenties now, my daughter's tastes have moderated somewhat (i.e., she still loves John and Ringo, yet now drools over Justin Timberlake… where did I go wrong??), but a couple evenings ago I gave her a copy of the Beatles' new "Love" soundtrack, and she grinned and answered with a very American "Sweeet!"

I haven't turned her new Beatles stamps over to her yet (it's tough to pry/prise them out of my fingers), but I will soon… and I think they'll earn an even bigger "Sweeet!" and go to a place of hono(u)r in her apartment/flat: maybe framed or/and mounted.

So again, on my behalf and especially on my daughter's, thank you most kindly from our hearts. Since your sister's threatened me with breaking all my fingers should I mail you money, is there anything hard-to-find in the UK that I could pick up over here and send your way, or hold for your arrival here next month? Warning: any answer including the word "no" or "not" won't be accepted.

Cheers, and warmest regards from America!

Aging Child

His sister responded first:

Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:27 AM

Hey,

That was an awesome thank you note.

Chet will get such a good chuckle when he reads it.

You're very drole and thanks for taking time out to send it.

Cheers!

And I answered:

Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:51 AM


Plllppp; your brother's a gentleman, madam. He took the time and the £££ to get this nice collector's item to me, a stranger – and Yank, no less – just on his sister's request. The least I could do was tell him Thanks. I wish I'd done it sooner.

I think at the very least I owe him a couple large warm beers. Although… he oughtn't to cross the Atlantic for something he could find at the corner "pob". Wish I had a spare cowboy hat or something… 

Regards,

Aging Child

***

Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 4:10 PM

Hi Aging.

Nice to hear from you, and you are most welcome for the stamps! Clearly you are a major fan, and I trust that you and your Daughter will enjoy them.

There is really no need to offer payment, as, I am just pleased that you like them. So please enjoy them with my best wishes.

Thanks for your kind offer in return Aging Child, and I feel almost compelled to ask for something in return, but the only trouble is, I can't think of anything. However, should anything come to mind, I will let you or Sis know. Thanks for getting in touch.

Best wishes from Chet.

***

Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 4:21 PM

Cheers, Chester!  No doubt we'll enjoy! But I'd say most "fans" are superficial; my daughter and I appreciate the Beatles. Why, just a few years ago, she got in a terrible fight (I believe you'd say "row") with a boyfriend – and nearly dumped him – because the tosser insisted Paul did not play bass. Oh, please!

Have a good evening, sir, and here's to your trip over to the Colonies to say hello to Sis next month. I might just put a couple weak American beers in the microwave for you, and have your sister keep them in the oven for your arrival. Eh? 

Regards,

Aging Child

***

Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 8:45 AM

Cheers Aging Child!

The beer offer sounds good Sir!

I'm not sure if you would be able to get hold of it, but when my sister and I went up to Connecticut one weekend I was offered a bottle of beer that went by the name of 'WANKER', the name of which, immediately tickled my funny bone.

If you know of an outlet that sells this beer locally, I really would appreciate a couple of bottles.

They would take pride of place in my drinks cabinet.

I'm taking it for granted that you are familiar with the term wanker, but if not ,I'm sure my sister will explain.

Please do'nt bust a gut though Michael, as this is purely based on an off chance.

Many thanks 

Chet

***

Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 9:12 AM

Heh-heh…

Sir, I am a student of languages, so I can speak both American and a bit of English. Attached is something I set your sister to giggling about, when she was new to our department; you'll note that Americans are advised therein on the proper usage of the word "wank", and a few others.

Meanwhile, I just now did a Google image-search for "Wanker Beer"… yow! (And I quickly shut that window; and my computer's still steaming!) I'll check with some of my connections, and see if I can track some down for you… although I might save the labels for myself (just kidding!)

I can see the fellow who offered you that Wanker beer saying cheerfully, "Bottoms up!" and making you choke on the beer. (D'you suppose it's more than coincidence that "Yank" and "Wank" are nearly the same word? Hmm…)

Have a good wankend – I mean, weekend!

Regards,

Aging Child

***

Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 9:51 AM

Good Heavens!

I think that the advice for travelling in England should be made available to all American would be tourists! It would make life so much easier for both parties, and also bridge the language barrier that exists between both Nations.

I should have known by your use of the word TOSSER in the previous email that you were a linguist.

Thanks for your efforts on the beer front Sir!

Have a great weekend yourself.

Chet

***

Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 10:09 AM

Actually, your sister gets credit for the "tosser"; I wanted to use "blighter" instead, but I double-checked with her.

And I’m just a student of languages; my dad (RIP) was the linguist, and managed to make a few trips out to Merrie Olde in his later years (among many other countries). Though German, his accent was "British", almost "Oxford"; and he delighted in Shaw's declaration that "England and America are two countries separated by a common language".

So when he returned from the UK once, I asked him if he'd ordered any blood pudding; he answered that not only hadn't he, he'd also been too embarrassed to even order a spotted dick.

Same here. Cheerios!

Regards,

Aging Child