My Family, the Berlin Wall and Context
November 9th marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It has been on my mind a lot lately. Over the last month I’ve read a few
Germany
Being German in America Series: Part 1
I have been fascinated with my immigrant ancestors for much of my life. Like many people I wonder about their motivations for leaving their homeland and taking that chance for a more prosperous and fulfilling life in a new land. Their journeys sometimes were challenging and even life-threatening, but most made it here in the second half of the nineteenth century. This is the first in a series of articles I am writing about my German kin.
Celebrating John Peter’s 200th
All hail and sing happy birthday! Today is the 200th birthday of Johan (Johannes or John) Peter Siegel, my two times great grandfather. Johan was born on June 1, 1821, in Rüscheid, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany (Prussia), the son of Anna Margaretha (Bur) and Johann Peter Seigel. He was baptized on June 11th of the same year, according to the Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche records in Rüscheid.
The night the wall came down
Often when events occur that change our world we remember where we were and what we were doing. I distinctly remember the events of November 9, 1989 – the night the Berlin Wall fell. I was an undergrad at the University of Missouri in Columbia. I was taking political science classes and we were discussing events unfolding in East Germany and the Soviet Bloc countries as the signs became clear that the authoritarian regimes were in trouble.
Prussia, Prussia, Prussia
I am one of those people who love to see what happened on this day in history. I often wonder did something happen of global importance or something seemingly minor in the life of one of my ancestors that changed his or her – or even my destiny? Today there one event is of particular interest; a death, not of a person but of an empire. On February 25, 1947, the state of Prussia was formally dissolved. Much of my family heritage is tied to the Prussian empire.