Omi
Omi is my great grandmother.
In German, Omi means grandma, but as a kid I really thought that was her name.
What I knew as a kid about Omi was that she was a badass:
She lived to be 101 years old (she died when I was 1 year old);
She lived through two wars;
She took cold showers and dry brushed her skin everyday, from what I’ve been told
(and when I think about living a long life, I think of these two things).
As I grew up, I wondered more about her.
Who was this mysterious long-lasting being who went through so much?
What was her secret to being able to go through so much and still be healthy until 101?
Omi and my grandma, Hannelore. The back of the picture says: “Mom. Dad died Omi wore black for a year.”
I figured it was easiest to start with Omi and perhaps grasp the earlier history of our family. My thought process was start with great grandparents and work my way up to present day then go back and work down.
She was buried in Bad Kissingen so I started with Bad Kissingen’s archives.
The process to get records is to contact the city’s “Standesamt” and request birth, death, or marriage certificates using the full legal name of who you are looking for as well as their birth date and death date.
If your relatives also resided in Bad Kissingen, you would use this email: standesamt@stadt.badkissingen.de.
I was very fortunate to be put into contact with Evelyn, who is just God sent. If there could awards given for helping at archives, Evelyn should get one.
NOTE: It is very important to write all your emails in German (if in doubt, use Google Translate) because otherwise, you face the possibility of not getting a response. It is not uncommon to find people in Germany who do not speak or read in English so be mindful about this. Nowadays, it’s not a big deal. They appreciate the effort in making it as easy as possible for them, even if you make mistakes.
Evelyn not only answered all of my questions, she went above and beyond to try to get me all the information she could find.
My first official document to add to my research, Omi’s birth certificate:
This document reads (via Transkribus + rechecking its German):
No. 15
Bad Kissingen on February 18, 1890
Today, before the undersigned registrar, the merchant Mr. Robert Hendel, resident of Bad Kissingen, Ludwigstrasse No. 13, appeared, who is known by his identity, and who stated that of his wife, Anna Hendel, maiden name Maier, Catholic religion, living with him in Bad Kissingen, Ludwigstrasse No. 13, on the fifteenth of February in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety and afternoon at twelve o'clock a child, female, was born, who was given the first name Anna.
Read out, approved and signed:
Robert Hendel
The registrar:
Juiliy
Here you can see a very interesting thing happen that is common when dealing with documents:
Omi’s birth certificate says she was born on the 15th, as you can see with the dots above the u in fünfzehn (15).
If it was the 14th, there would be no f, it would be vierzehn (14).
Here, we have her USA green card showing her birth date as the 14th.
So, in the greater scheme of things, it doesn’t seem like much. But any official document is crucial for being able to make concrete connections in the future. And no one in the family had her birth certificate as far as I knew, so also nice to have.
A piece of history.
The beginning of our connections to Germany.
Till next time,
Caitlin
Enjoyed what you read? Please consider donating!
Your donation would help me dedicate more time to helping others learn how to research their family as well as increase my knowledge of my own family’s roots.
