Gerda & Family
Gerdamarie was born in this German village.
What is Salzderhelden?
A bricklayer by profession, this man of two wars hardly got the chance.
Who is Opa August Ahlborn? His trade was mason, but his short life mainly was spent in both World War I when he was just a teenager, and in World War II 20 years later.
This family business ended in April 1945, and changed the course of our history.
What is the Bahnhofshotel? The hotel, run by Marie and Ludwig Wedekind, employed Gerda Ahlborn and eight other men and women. It was destroyed in an American bombing raid on 7 April1945, just weeks before the war ended in Europe.
These three sisters were born in these three years.
Who is Marita in 1951, Gaby in 1953 and LaVera in 1959? Only one of these women could ever be the President of the USA.
The first bakery that Heinz and Gerda owned in Milwaukee was on this street corner.
What is 12th and Atkinson? The brick corner building had the bakery on the first floor and the living area on the second floor.
The decade welcomed these two new Ahlborns to the Ahlshausen home.
Who are Ernst-August Ahlborn and Irmtraut Ahlborn Pralle? Oma Gerda Ahlborn Wedekind's half-brother and half-sister.
Heinz Wedekind had two brothers and this one ran a farm in Wachenhausen near Northeim after the war.
Who is Helmut Wedekind? Helmut was a soldier in the war and returned from a Russian prisoner of war camp. He passed away at the age of 54, leaving a wife and six children. Heinz's other brother was Günther, who was a teen during the war years and spent his time in Northeim.
The Wedekind's first home in America was a farmhouse in this town.
What is Palmer, Kansas?
When Tass was courting Gerdamarie in Milwaukee, he owned this car.
What is a 1965 orange Mustang?
What you might say to someone who's rather lazy, and the nickname for a common man's name hanging on our family tree.
What is "get off your Heini". The name is short for Heinrich.
Heinz and Gerda often dated at this favorite spot on a hill of roses and fir trees along the road to Einbeck, a medival town not far from Northeim and Ahlshausen.
What is the Rosenplänter?
This event in 1946 put us on the map in Ahlshausen.
What is the marriage of Gerda Ahlborn and Heinz Wedekind? The wedding on 12 July was a feast, despite the post-war rationing and ravaged towns in Germany.
This man and organization sponsored the Wedekind family's emigration to America.
Who is Herman Bott and the Lutheran Refugee & Immigration Service? Between 1951 and 1960, nearly 600,000 German immigrants came to the USA, including the Wedekind family in 1954. Herman Bott was a well-to-do Kansas farmer for whom Heinz Wedekind worked until March 1955.
Marita first met her future husband Paul at what age?
What is 13? Or it could have been 14....the Stieber family lived a few houses away from the Wedekinds on 12th street.
The most famous Aunt of Gerda Ahlborn's family who would have been a Lawrence Welk fan.
Who is Tante Anna?...one anna two anna three. Wunnerful wunnerful boys and girls. Tante Anna was a sister of Emma Pralle, Gerda's mother, who died at the age of 34. Shortly after Emma died, Gerda went to live with Tante Anna.
This little town near Ahlshausen became Gerda Ahlborn's second home after her mother passed away in 1934.
What is Salzderhelden?
The Lawin family marches along with deep German roots, thanks to these two events of the decade.
What are Gerda's birth on 27 March 1947 in Salzderhelden and Tass's birth 19 March 1945 somewhere in the Schwarzwald?
The Stieber family can trace their origins to this part of northern Europe.
What is Preussen (Prussia)? This former German state or province is now a part of Poland and Lithuania, so divided after WWII.
The first grandchild of Heinz and Gerda was born in this month and year in Milwaukee.
What is November 1967. That grandchild is Tanya, and since then the extended family has grown to 16 grandchildren and 21 great-children.
Gerda Ahlborn's best boss was known by this nickname.
Who is 'Lüdchen" aka Opa Ludwig? His given name was Heinrich Georg Louis Wedekind and he hired Gerda as a cook at the Bahnhofshotel in Northeim.
Heinz Wedekind's life course was changed abruptly in 1938, when he was drafted shortly after he finished his apprenticeship in this chosen profession.
What is Chef?
When Lothar was born there in 1949, his parents ran a bakery in this little Dorf not far from Ahlshausen.
What is Dörrigsen? Also the town where Marita and Gaby were born.
The best friends of Heinz and Gerda.
Who are LaVera and Kenneth Olson?
The resting place for Heinz and Gerda is on this street in this cemetery in this town.
What is 9th Street at Greenwood Cemetery in Tomahawk, Wisconsin?