My great-granduncle, Kurt Lindner, emigrated from Germany to Sweden after World War I. I haven’t found his military records yet. My grandfather, Otto Lindner, had already served in the German Navy in 1911 and he came to the United States in 1912.
On April 13, I learned that his Uncle Oswald Kessler was already living there. Uncle Oswald was the brother of Anna Maria (Marie) Kessler, my great grandmother. Here are some photos that relate to the family in Sweden:
Portrait of Kurt and Wilma Lindner with their adopted daughters, Alice and Birgit – Stockholm, Sweden, 1936
Hello,
I am a german and I think I could help a bit in reading the old handwriting on the postcard. Until 1945 old handwriting scripts were popular. This script is called ‘Sütterlin’ or ‘Kurrent’ (check wikipedia).
I learned writing (modern german handwriting) in 1970, but by pure curiosity and exploration I self-teached also the old scripts.
As far as I can decypher, I would say it means:
‘Unser kleines Kurtelchen in Lebensgröße’
‘Our little Tiny-Kurty in life size’
His name ‘Kurt’ appears as a very funny Diminutive form, such as if you talk to a beloved baby or kitten.
Kurtelchen (if I really have deciphered all letters correctly) sounds a bit unusual to a german of today, it is double-small and means our tiny Kurt.
That ending -chen is a usual diminutive form.
The letters -el- add some kind of extra intimacy to the expression.
Hope I could help you!
Greets from Nuremberg, Germany
Thank you! Kurt was the youngest and “baby” of the family. I really struggle to read the old German handwriting. Part of the problem is not recognizing the German words.
Hallo,my name is Ingo Haase.i born in dresden and my grandmother is else hüffner geb.hache.i can kurt lindner ( make treveling 1970-1974 2 or 3 time to dresden to my perents).same otto ,the brother from cincanetti send me a lot postcards.i`m lutheride 14.generation from paul luther over the teubner – hache linie.sorry my english is not good.i learn only russian in the scool and now i live in thailand.i have not many over the hache line.ma mother (marianne haase ,geb.hüffner speek a little bit over this luther way.sorry,sorry i can speek and whrite better in german -smile . i´m happy,over the answer.best regards ingo haase
Ingo,
I cannot write German, but I read a little. You are part of my lost family. I am going to send you an email so we can write more.
Best greetings from your cousin,
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl
Some years ago, we had a conversation about the de La Marche dancing
Family.
I note, that you have done great progress in your work with
That branch. Very nice…
I now see, that you also have ancestors in Sweden.
I am from Denmark, and danish and swedish languages are close related,
I read and speak both.
If you need help with translation from swedish, I will be at your service.
Best regards from me
Søren Hartmann Nicolaisen, Denmark
Hi, Søren! Not long ago I was thinking that I hadn’t heard from you in quite some time. Thanks for looking at my de La Marche research. I hope to figure out our exact relationship some day.
Your offer of help is very kind. In Sweden, I am looking for my grandfather’s half-brother, Paul Oskar Kessler, that we didn’t know about. I learned that he was born out of wedlock to my great-grandmother on 5 Mai 1884 in Freiberg, Saxony. The husband of an elderly cousin from Sweden found this blog and told me what he knew of the story. Paul Oskar Kessler was raised by his maternal grandparents and not my his mother. Apparently, he moved to Sweden, but I don’t know if he stayed or ever married. I haven’t turned up any more information after he left Germany. My great-uncle, Kurt Lindner, also went to Sweden after WWI, but he had no children, so the line ends there.
My latest incarnation of Ancestry DNA says I have Swedish ethnicity, but I don’t really see where it fits in. It would need to be pretty far back.
I hope that you are staying safe during the pandemic and haven’t suffered any of the unfortunate consequences. Please stay in touch.
Kind regards,
Cheryl Hartley