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.
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:
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