This photo came to me fully identified with a location, names and even birth dates. It reads: Lina Nerong (born in 1879) née Eehlers, with Ocke Nerong, born August 12, 1913 The location stamp reads Bergedorf. Bergedorf used to be an independent community and since 1938, a quarter of the great borough of Hamburg, my home city. Ocke Nerong is an unusual name, I hoped it would narrow down my search. And indeed, there were not many matches. One Ocke Nerong had made a name for himself as “the Chronist of Island Föhr”. According to Wikipedia, he was a teacher and a local researcher who published many articles and documents about the area of Flensburg, especially about the island of Föhr in the North Sea. But he passed away in 1909, so he obviously wasn’t the little Ocke in our photo. What are the odds, I thought to myself. Was he perhaps little Ocke’s grandpa? I can confirm that he was! Grandpa Ocke Nerong and his wife Friederike née Lorenzen had 5 children and the middle one, Friedrich Christian Nerong, was baby Ocke’s daddy. He married Ocke’s mama Karoline “Lina” Emma Margareta Ehlers on February 5, 1910 in Altona near Hamburg. Their marriage record also confirms that Lina was born in 1879 (on April 13), just like written on the back of the photo; and Friedrich on March 5, 1884. Friedrich was a teacher in Bergedorf. Looks like Ocke might have become a concert pianist and piano teacher. At least I think it’s our Ocke in the city directories of Hamburg between 1950 and 1970 listed as one. Ocke’s father died of a stroke in May 1939. I find mother Lina living at 6 Am Brink in Bergedorf as a widow in 1940, the same address Ocke was later registered at: Source: GoogleMaps Mother Lina passed away in May 1953. She might have had another son, Hans-Heinrich, who was born in November 1920 in Bergedorf and who was killed in action in Horodok in today’s Ukraine on his 22nd birthday in 1942. How tragic! I don’t know much else about Ocke's life or family. I couldn't locate his birth record, but if he was born in 1913, he could have lived way past the 1970s. I will add Ocke and Lina to the FindaGrave page of Ocke's father Friedrich. Perhaps someone out there is related to the Nerongs and would love to safekeep the original?

Elsy here almost what felt like screamed to be taken home with me when I found several photos of her at my favourite antique store in Estonia. I mean “scream” because she actually had her name printed on the photos by the photographer! How could I leave her behind, right! I snatched a few which were all obviously of her. I wish I could have taken them all, but the lot would have been pretty pricey. I also picked one group photo which I hoped showed her in later years: The group photo was taken in the Lydia Koidula park in Pärnu, dedicated to the famous Estonian poetess. and the year was probably 1936-39. As most of the photos had a stamp of a photo studio from Pärnu (Estonia) on them, I had a pretty solid clue about the location. And although the spelling of the name on the photo varied a little, I had no problem finding Elsy in the records and on Geni. Else Marie Allesaar was born on December 29, 1906 in Pärnu to parents Jaan and Maria Allesaar. She had two older sisters, Olga and Elisabeth. She and her fiancé Martin Kosenkranius announced their plans to be wed in June 1930. And I came across a photo of what looks like their engagement or wedding day on Geni: When comparing my group photo and this one, I recognise some familiar faces – Else and Martin, and the older lady is the same in both photos. My group photo might also show Else and Martin’s daughter Aino standing in front of Else. Aino was born in February 1931. The 1937 Census has her working as a typesetter for the magazine “Kultuur”. From what I could gather from different mentions of Else in the old Estonian newspapers, she continued in the job for a while, and in the Soviet era after WWII, she published short articles about books to read by schoolchildren, and her title read teacher. Else died in June 1990 in Pärnu and I find her buried at a different cemetery from Martin who had passed away in 1989. According to Martin's Geni page he apparently married twice and therefore shares a gravesite with his second wife. So looks like the Kosenkranius' marriage didn't last. But their daughter Aino might still be with us! In February last year (2022) she celebrated her 91st birthday. I will try to make contact with the administrators of her Geni page. How wonderful it would be to return these photos to her!

I love the mother’s elaboborate 1870s dress and the daughter’s bloomers peaking out from underneath her skirt and her tiny purse. They look pretty well-off. Lucky for us the photo is identified – these were Emma Foltz and her daughter Emma. The photo does not give us a direct clue for location, but I’m happy to tell you that I found them in the records! Mum Emma Christiana Sophia née Huber married Emma’s father, Friedrich Nicolaus Foltz, on October 17, 1872 in Annweiler in Germany. She was 26 and he was 34. I wish the record would show us his profession, but unfortunately not. I don’t have the exact date, but little Emma Friederike Philippine Foltz was born in 1874. I couldn’t find any other siblings for her. Her whole family lived in Annweiler, her grandparents Christian and Philippina (Barz) Folz, and Heinrich August and Eleanora Huber, were members of the protestant church of Asselheim. And then I discovered a tragic turn of events: Emma’s father Friedrich Nicolaus Flotz died on April 22, 1874! It is probable that he died before little Emma was even born and he never even got to hold his baby girl in his arms! I don’t know why he passed away at such a young age. But I look at the photo through a different lense after I discovered that fact. It was just the two of them, not just in the photo, but in life. Mum Emma ever re-married. Daughter Emma stayed in Annweiler with her until she she turned 22 and married Ludwig Ernst Kiefer on August 30, 1897 in Annweiler. Ludwig was 15 years older than Emma. In 1913/14, I find mum Emma, as a widowed retired "woman of independent means" (Privatier), living at 3 Glacisstrasse in Landau in the Pfalz (14 km from Annweiler). Interestingly, one Elise Huber (music teacher) and one Anna Huber (also a woman of independent means) were living together with Emma in the same house. And yes, they shared Emma’s maiden name Huber, I assume they were related. A few houses further, at 12 Glacisstrasse we find one Ludwig Kiefer, a bank official and proxy holder of the Bank of Pfalz (Pfälzische Bank). He had been living in Landau at least since 1892. Could he have been the Ludwig Kiefer our Emma married in 1897? Perhaps after her matrimony, Emma moved to Landau to her husband and by 1913, her mother Emma joined her in Landau practically next door? I wish there was more I could tell you about these two. Perhaps there are photos in someone’s family photo album of young Emma with her own babies? Take a closer look at these faces – perhaps you are related?

This photo came fully identified but without a location stamp. No problem – Ida Ernestine Johanne Wonneberger née Witthuhn was easy to find in the records! Ida, who had been born on June 25, 1858, married Arthur Richard Paul Wonneberger on October 2, 1886 in Berlin-Spandau. The couple became parents to a baby girl Irene Anna Margarethe Wonneberger on April 24, 1899. Ida was working as a cook before she married Paul. Paul was a house-painter by profession. We also know that Ida's father Hermann Karl Wilhelm Witthuhn was a locksmith, and Ida’s brother Erich Georg Hermann Witthuhn (*February 20, 1876) was a mechanic. Ida’s one sister Agnes Hermine (*May 24, 1865), a maid, married a butcher Joseph Burgey. Ida’s second sister Margarethe Anna Rosalie (*June 25, 1871) married a merchant, Johann Friedrich Paul Jacob. Ida and Paul lived a long life together. They passed away in their 80s within a month of each other at the end of 1942. I find Ida’s daughter Irene working as a secretary in 1929 when she married an artist Ulrich Anton Huber. According to a family tree built for the Wonnebergers-Hubers on Ancestry, the couple had one child. Perhaps Ida’s grandchild is still out there and I can return this photo to them! Keep your fingers crossed.

This handsome young man was August Schöning who according to the print on the back of the photo owned a photography equipment business in Hamburg, Germany. I wonder if he took the photo himself. And someone has touched up his moustache by hand. I wonder if those were August's photo editing efforts? Oh, he would love Photoshop today! August listed himself as a photographer in the Hamburg city directories of the 1900s through the 1930s. He was born on March 18, 1879, in a village close to Oldenburg at the Baltic Sea. He apparently wasn’t into farming like his father Johann Wilhelm Friedrich Schöning, or fishing and seafairing like many of his peers. Instead, he was fascinated by photography and by the latest photography equipment, and in order to fulfil his dream, he moved to the next big city - Hamburg. He set up his business some time in the early 1900s. By 1907, he owned two businesses, one in Osterbekstr. 11 and the other in Gertigstr. 1. By 1911, August had moved his business to Sierichstr. 36. Looks like August focused all his attention and energy on his thriving business. Perhaps it was a goal he had set for himself before he could think about marriage and children. When August was 35, he married Emma Marie Scholte. She was 22 at the time. They exchanged their vows on April 3, 1914, in Hamburg. Theír daughter Anneliese Johanna Schöning was born in December the same year. By 1920 August had set up his business in Oesterbekstr. 44 which would become his permament address for the following decades. He continued to sell photography equipment. And when the first radios came on the market, he started selling those in the 1930s as well. August passed away of a stroke at the age of 66 in the summer after the end of WWII. His widow Emma continued his business in 44 Osterbekstrasse in the following years. I don’t know what became of August’s daughter Anneliese Johanna. She got married on October 10, 1942, but unfortunately I don’t know to whom. August was obviously a man fascinated by technology and eager to learn about new equipment and processes. I wonder if he lived in today’s times, what he would think about all the technological progress of the last decades. I imagine he would be very excited and couldn’t probably believe his eyes that his photo endured more than a century and has now been digitally preserved forever. Let me know if you're related to August Schöning!

A face from the 1860s so faded it is almost impossible to make out. I tried to save the image digitally as best as I could. I can’t make out all the text written in faded pencil on the back of the photo, but with the help of a friendly Facebook Group we identified her as: Marie Könnemann née Sobbe sister of my grand... …. Sobbe married to Mayor Könnemann in Gernrode The Wikipedia page dedicated to Gernrode lists all their mayors, past and present. And indeed, one Friedrich Könnemann governed the town between 1876-1905! Source So this faded face was the First Lady of Gernrode in Quedlinburg, Germany! She looks the part, don’t you think? But there is not much else I find on her or her husband. According to the Wikipedia page, her husband was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Gernrode in 1907. He was a member of the parliament of Anhalt between 1886-1906. In 1905, the couple lived at 309 Gerostr. in Gernrode. I also see that there are some documents that might be interesting for our research at the regional archives in Sachsen-Anhalt, but they are not available online and ordering a copy would cost a lot, so I will skip that unfortunately. I see on the Wikipedia list of mayors that between 1824-1862 one Leopold Sobbe served as mayor in Gernrode. I wonder if Leopold Sobbe might have been Marie’s father? It would be only fitting that a former mayor approves his daughter’s decision to marry the mayor of the next generation. Another file I cannot access without paying additional fees is a document from 1877 titled “The estate of Friederike née Sachse from Gernrode, the widow of mayor Leopold Sobbe”. I wonder if Friederike Sobbe née Sachse was Marie’s mother? So I don't have much to go on for now. But I'll keep digging, maybe we get the answers. I will keep you posted!

This photo blew me away the moment I saw it. The eyes of the little girl are piercing clear in the photo, I was mesmerised by her immediately! And then I discovered that the photo was identified! Please meet Inga Bürkner! And this is her story: Inga was born on May 30, 1905, in Berlin. As this photo was taken in September 1914, she was 9 years old at the time. Her father was major general (Oberstleutnant) Robert Alexander Bürkner. He was a much-decorated general of the German army who began his military career in his early 20s, he was in active military service during WWI and was promoted to major general in 1925. I’ve found some articles dedicated to his military career on the internet as well as this photo on Wikipedia. Source: Wikipedia Inga’s parents married in 1904. Because of Inga’s father’s position, the family moved a lot, they lived in Frankfurt, Greifswald, Offenburg, Straßburg, Saarburg, Königsberg (today’s Kaliningrad). Inga's sister Hilde was born in October 1909 in Greifswald, and her twin sisters Sigrid and Alrun were born in August 1916 in Frankfurt. When the WWI broke out, Major Bürkner reported to duty. He was seriously wounded in September 1914 and had to take a 3-month-long convalescent leave to recover. He returned to service in December. Because this photo was signed in September 1914, I’m thinking that little Inga wanted her father to have a photo of her to help him get better. The timing couldn’t have been a coincidence. I’m sure the war made Inga grow up very fast. Major Bürkner continued his military career after the war. He was promoted to the rank of major general in March 1925, but soon after that he tragically died in a military training accident. Inga was attending Queen Luise Schule in Königsberg at the time. After gradutation, she enrolled at the Albertus University in Königsberg to study philology, but changed her major to medicine the following semester. She spent study semesters at the universities of Munich, Hamburg and Berlin. She passed her state exam in June 1930 and her approbation at the Königsberg University Hospital a year later with the qualification of a medical doctor for gyneacology and obstetrics. She then moved to Berlin where she worked many years, in hospitals as well as in her own private practice. I was fortunate to find a summary about her career on the internet. Inga’s sisters all lived in Berlin too. Alrun was a soprano singer and her soft compassionate voice was praised by many. Sigrid might have worked for Siemens in the 1950s, but I’m not sure. Hilde married Friedrich Litta, a teacher, in Berlin in 1936. Inga, a young doctor at the time, and her mother were witnesses to their matrimony. Hilde died at just 39 years of age, leaving behind her husband and two children, Asko and Thore. Inga married Helmuth Rogge (1891-1976) sometime after WWII. Helmuth was a German historian and archivist, a published author, a member of a government council and at one point the head of the German Reichsarchiv. Inga continued to practice medicine, lastly in Bad Godesberg. She passed away in 1982. Perhaps this is how little Inga would have told you her life story herself:

This little babe was Erich Sprengel, 6 months old in the photo, which was taken in Harburg (near Hamburg) at Easter 1896. I first checked when Easter was celebrated in 1896. Good Friday was on April 5th that year. So if baby Erich was 6 months old at Easter, his birthday must have been around September 1895. I next came across a FindaGrave page for one Dr. Ing. Dr. Iur. Erich Sprengel, a director of a government institution, who passed away on May 21, 1960, and was buried at the Old Cemetery in Harburg. His birthday according to his gravesite was September 18, 1895. Was our baby Erich (or actually Ernst August Erich Sprengel with full name) the future engineer? I found another photo from the same cemetery on another webpage which shows the whole Sprengel family gravesite. The old cemetery of Harburg doesn’t exist anymore, it has been turned into a park. But some of the old gravesites have been preserved; the Sprengel gravesite is one of them. Zooming in on the second gravestone, I can read the following details: Here lies medical doctor Dr.med. Georg Sprengel medical officer of the Marines born in Schwarmstedt 14 July 1865 died in Harburg 12 December 1906 at the age of 41 and our dear mother Elvira Sprengel née Behrens born in Lehrle 26 September 1865 died on 11 March 1933 These were Erich's parents. I also found the relevant death record of Dr.med. Georg Sprengel which confirms the details on the gravestone: Erich's mother Klara Elvira Johanna Sprengel née Behrens was widowed in December 1906. This means Erich was just 11 years old when his father died. I also discovered that Erich was the oldest of 3 siblings. He had a sister, Auguste Luise Elvira, born a year later who unfortunately passed away in 1897. And Erich had a younger brother Georg Heinrich Herbert Sprengel (1898-1966), but I don’t know anything else about him, except that according to a comment on his birth record he got married in 1932. The photo itself actually holds another clue that supports my findings – the photo was taken in the photo studio of one Carl Timm at 18 Lindenstrasse in Harburg. The Sprengels lived at 20 Lindenstrasse in 1896, so literally next door! The street was renamed Julius-Ludowieg-Strasse in 1950, and unfortnately little Erich’s childhood home no longer stands. From the looks of it, Erich spent his whole life in Harburg. He worked for the city council of Harburg-Wilhelmsburg as one of the managing directors of the building house association. He was a lawyer and an engineer, I don’t know if Erich was married or had any children. I will add the photo to FindaGrave. There is also a Geneanet page dedicated to the Sprengels. Hopefully I can make contact with someone who might appreciate this photo of baby Erich.

This beautiful woman was Elizabeth "Bettie" McKiel née Klyce from Brownsville, Tennessee. She was born in August 1845. Her father Andrew Jackson Klyce ran a carriage manufacturing business A. J. Klyce & Sons in Brownsville. When the Civil War began, Andrew joined the Confederate Army. I was not surprised to find out that the family owned 5 human beings in 1860 - a man, 42, a woman 30, a girl, 12, and two boys, 10 and 6, who lived in two slave houses on the Klyce property. I assume but I don't know if they were a family since I don't know their names. Bettie married James J. McKiel in July 1875 in Brownsville. James was a farmer and 10 years older than Bettie. Source: newspapers.com 1878 was a tough year for Brownsville citizens as the yellow fever epidemic struck in its most violent form. When I researched this bit, I couldn't help but feel a bit of a deja-vu to our own recent pandemic. People did not stop to take cautious measures when the first cases appeared in Tennessee, but when the first case of yellow fever was reported in Brownsville, panic took over. Apparently many left the Haywood county, leaving the streets empty, except for coffins that noone was bringing to the cemetery to be buried. The sick had to quarantine alone, cut off from the rest of the family and community. Businesses closed, except drugstores. Businessmen were upset cause their cargo was stuck in ports and restrictions lost them lots of money. Source: newspapers.com In the end, 200 people died in Brownsville. Bettie's father Andrew was the first man to die of yellow fever in Brownsville. Apparently he was quarantining on his own, I don't know for how long, he might have died of malnourishment. Source: newspapers.com In 1880, Bettie was widowed after just 5 years of blissful marriage. The couple did not have any children, James' last will left all his property to Bettie. Bettie never re-married. It was probably her friendships, her mother Mary's support and her community that picked her up and carried her through the grief. Her mother moved in with her in her house in East Main Street. Bettie was active in her community, a devoted member of the Methodist church, secretary of the cemetery association and member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She died in January 1917. Source: newspapers.com Here's Bettie telling her life story under 3 minutes for you:

I recently acquired a bunch of identified photos of persons with German-sounding names that had been printed in the US, but they were found in Germany. I suppose at least some of them might have been sent to relatives in Germany. This handsome young man was Henry William Hops from Peoria, Illinois, 27 years old in this photo. I shared this fun video on my Instagram page of how Henry might have told his life story in 90 seconds: I will add his photo to FindaGrave. If you're related to Henry, please drop me a line!

I found this photo at my local antique market in Hamburg. Her face looks so familiar to me. I feel like I've seen this face many times in the streets of my homecity, maybe I've met her descandants? Someone wrote down all these details about the young woman whose name was Caroline: Caroline v. Padua Wiesmaier née Heitefuß in Altona, Elbe Grandmother born 09.11.1853 died 18.02.1929 heart failure, stomach-intestinal catarrh Ottensener Cemetery So let’s see what we can find out about Caroline! According to her marriage record, Johanna Maria Caroline Heitefuß married Anton von Padua Wiesmaier on June 24, 1881, in Altona (Hamburg, Germany). The marriage record confirms that she was indeed born on November 9, 1853, to Anna Christine née Rister and Martin Julius Heitefuß, a ship's carpenter in Altona (Hamburg). Caroline also had an older sister Henriette Catharina Wilhelmine Heitefuss, later Hollersen (1951-1940). I love to see her hand-writing on the marriage record. It is not just a recorded fact that she got married on that day, but her signature brings that fact to life - she was there in person, she looked at this document and signed it with her own hand, hopefully with a huge smile on her face and happiness in her heart. According to the marriage record, Anton was a tie dealer/manufacturer (Slipshändler, Slipsfabrikant) at the time. And Caroline’s occupation “Slipsarbeiterin” (someone who works with ties) initially made me wonder if she was helping to sew them or to sell them. The couple lived at 4 Kibbelstr. in Hamburg. Unfortunately the area was bombed to the ground in 1943, so I cannot show you a picture of their first home. I next discovered a little scandal: the couple's intimate relationship began and they were living together long before they officially married. Their first son Gregor Ferdinand Max Wiesmaier was born out of wedlock on November 18, 1879. His birth record tells us that his father Anton von Padua Wiesmaier was a baker at the time, and his mother Caroline Heitefuss, single at the time, was a seamstress by trade. Which probably means that she was sewing ties for Anton's business. Quite a curious career change for Anton - from baker to tie manufacturer within a couple years ! :). The couple's second son Anton was born into wedlock, on May 23, 1882. He married Metta Margaretha Therese Braasch in April 1911. Both brothers, Gregor and Anton, lived long lives and passed away in 1969 and 1963 respectively. Caroline's third son Carl was born a year later, on September 20, 1883. He married Franziska Förster sometime before 1913. I don’t know what happened, but Carl passed away at just 30 years of age in December 1913. Caroline's fourth son Emil, who was born on December 26, 1885, sadly died 8 months later. On November 23, 1887, Caroline gave birth to the couple’s only daughter Caroline. Sadly, the little girl died at just 4 years of age in 1892. The couple’s fifth son Heinrich was born on March 14, 1889. Caroline and Anton faced yet another loss 12 years later when they buried their boy in April 1901. Caroline gave birth to her sixth son Eduard Arthur Robert on March 5, 1891 when she was 38 years old. I have found nothing on Eduard's life. So out of the 7 children, at least 3 died as children. Caroline was widowed in 1916. She herself passed away on February 18, 1929 at the age of 75. Caroline had at least one grandchild who scribbled "grandmother" on the back of the photo. Maybe one day another relative will want to keep this photo with the family. Let's hope! I shared this video on my Instagram page of how Caroline might have told her story in 87 seconds. Hope you like it:

I found this photo of Fannie Kirk, daughter of Mahlon Kirk, from Philadelphia, Pa. I decided to try something new this time and let Fannie tell her story for you: Hope you like it! I will add her photo to her FindaGrave and FamilySearch pages.