Since I have fallen behind on my blog entries for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I am giving myself permission to address the optional themes in the order that suits my research. I have half-evolved essays for the other themes that I haven’t completed. Sometimes the research just doesn’t cooperate.

The theme for week 38 is “Favorite Place.” After a lot of thought, I realized that I have never been to my favorite place and, in a way, I never will be. It vanished before I was born. My fondness for my grandfather Lindner and his family as he described them to me, coupled with my imagination, make the Dresden of his childhood my favorite place. He would often tell me about it when I was a girl. It was an exquisitely beautiful city of lush gardens, fountains, fine art and impressive architecture, all enhanced by its location on the scenic Elbe River. There were some postcards and photos that contributed to my mental image of Dresden during this time.

As you may know, lovely Dresden was nearly obliterated from the face of the earth on February 13 and 14, 1945, when the Allied Forces fire-bombed the city. Reduced to rubble, the civilian population of Dresden endured one of the most horrific bombing raids of the war; it is also one of the most controversial. Reasonable estimates of the number who died range between 22,000 and 25,000. The debate about whether or not the bombing was necessary militarily will probably never be resolved. This is how my great-grandmother died; however, her sister-in law and her family survived.

Born 24 May 1863, Clara Pauline Minna Lindner was the second child and only daughter of Emil Heinrich Max Lindner and Christiane Charlotte Püschel Lindner. She had one older full sibling, Gustav, and a half-sibling, the eldest son, Max, who was my great-grandfather. Learning that my great-grandfather was not the son of Charlotte Püschel was a surprise to me and recounted in an earlier blog entry. Minna also had a younger brother, Heinrich, who died around the age of 12. Minna was married in Dresden on 16 October 1891 to Friedrich August Hache, and the marriage registration tells us that the bride was born in the Striesen district of Dresden. Indeed, upon checking a map, I immediately pinpointed Glashütterstrasse, the street where my great-grandfather operated a ratskeller. I have been lucky that Ancestry.com has provided images for births, marriages and deaths in Dresden and I found many of my family here. (As most people know, this resource requires a subscription to Ancestry.com.)

Minna and August Hache had three children, but only the two daughters survived to adulthood. Antonie Dora Elisabeth Hache was born 31 January 1895 in Dresden and married Franz Kurt Gröschel on 13 August 1921. The second daughter was Marie Else Hache and she was born on 28 January 1897.  She married Carl Huffner, who according to an unsourced tree on Family Search, was born in 1878.  If this is true, he would have been quite a bit older than Else. I know very little about the Huffners. Perhaps Else’s husband was the Karl Ost. Hüffner who was listed in 1943 Dresden directory as a “Küchenchef,” or Chef de Cuisine.

My grandfather’s last, and only visit to Dresden after he emigrated, was in May 1937 for his parent’s golden wedding anniversary.  Minna and Gus were both there to help Max and Marie Lindner celebrate. Among the postcards and family photos that came to me is a tourism magazine for Dresden and the surrounding area. Adolph Hitler had already become Chancellor and President by this time. This promotional piece on Dresden bears a swastika on the front cover and Hitler’s image in the inside cover. It is inscribed to “Richard,” which is probably my grandfather (his full name was Richard Max Otto Lindner), but the presentation was made by Rolf, and I have no idea who that would have been.  Perhaps, it was a friend from an earlier time.

One other helpful source for Dresden genealogy are the historical directories from SLUB (a collaboration between the Municipal Libraries Dresden and the Dresden City Archive).  According to the Dresden city directory for 1921, August and Minna Hache lived on Gabelsbergerstrasse (Historische Adressbücher, Dresden, 1921; retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/72499/316/). In November 1922, August Hache passed away. Minna Lindner Hache is listed as a widow in the in the city directory for 1924-1925. That same year, the Gröschels can be found at Torbogenstrasse 6 and in the 1940’s at Torbogenstrasse 5. This is the address given for Minna on her death certificate. She died 22 January 1947.

Minna Lindner Hache Death Record; Dresden, Germany, Deaths, 1876-1951; Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015 Publisher Location Provo, UT, USA

It isn’t certain if Minna was present in Dresden during the air raids. If so, how did she survive?  It is interesting that the three Lindner siblings died with 24 months of one another, two in Germany and one in the United States. Max died in Dresden in 1945 a month before the attacks, Gus died in Cincinnati in 1946, and Minna died in Dresden in 1947. Gus’ obituary cited worry over family in Germany as a contributing factor in his death.

Minna Lindner Hache lived in two distinct Dresdens and they were worlds apart.  One was refined and cultured and the other was marked by deprivation and loss. The Hache daughters would see even more changes during decades of Soviet occupation. Because of the Cold War, my grandfather was never able to return to Dresden since he was a naturalized U.S. citizen.  I don’t know if his brother Kurt did, but I wonder if there was much reason for the Lindner brothers to return. With the exception of Minna’s daughters Elisabeth and Else, I don’t think there was anyone close left in Dresden.  The following photographic postcard of Dresden was sent by Kurt to my grandfather from Sweden in 1970.

Somewhere along the way, our family in the U.S. lost touch with the Hache daughters.  I know that my grandfather mourned the loss of family and his beloved Dresden.  He spoke of it wistfully and blamed Hitler for the destruction.  He probably didn’t have access to much information about what was happening in East Germany.  Dresden was cloaked in secrecy behind the Berlin Wall.  On Sunday, February 13, 1966, the Cincinnati Pictorial Enquirer ran a piece about Dresden to commemorate the bombing.  My grandfather kept one yellowed page of this article.  The photo reproduced below shows ruins that were still visible 20 years after the bombing.

On a more positive note, Dresden has undergone extensive restoration of significant landmarks since the reunification of Germany.  It is my dream to visit and see what I can of what my family used to know.