The tea
Part of the reason for starting this blog was to raise awareness on the importance of each individual life. Life is special and I believe we should value our time on earth because so many people had to come together over hundreds and thousands of years to create it.
Think of that for a second.
How incredible is your life!
How incredible is it to exist?!
Maybe when things are hard it feels ridiculous to think of this fact - that so many people over thousands of years worked hard to survive, bear children, and make the bloodline last till you came along - but that’s what happened.
You ARE special.
We are ALL special.
I was reminded of how special life is recently and it really got me thinking about how many times I sat upset thinking my life was meaningless and useless.
Let’s face it, suicide is a possibility in today’s world (even, sadly, way too common).
But I want you to consider the next time you have low moments, to think of how many people are behind you, supporting you, who gave their life for yours to thrive.
Do not let it go to waste. You are meaningful just by existing.
You are a miracle!
So with that in mind,
I want to keep the ball rolling with Johannes, my great grandfather, and share with you more about him - specifically his business.
My grandma, Hannelore, always said that he did something with tea. I didn’t know what that exactly meant as a kid, but I just nodded and didn’t ask more questions about it. I guess I assumed it was like selling coffee.
How cool are these stamps from Johannes’ business? [source]
I found these later by Googling the address of the tea business
but I felt we needed a good dose of images to separate this blog post.
So, before we begin - let me break down the timeline for you:
1890 - Anna Hendel is born in Bad Kissingen
1891 - Johannes Clauder is born in Berlin
1931 - Johannes & Anna get married in Berlin
1932 - Hannelore, the only child of Johannes & Anna, is born in Berlin
Now I needed to find out more about the tea business but all I had was Johannes’ name and the picture of the tea business inheritance documents my aunt, Linda, sent to my mom, Pamela.
When I first contacted the Berlin Archives via email, I was met with “there are no such files regarding your great grandfather’s tea business.” When I showed them the inheritance documents I had, they still said that they had nothing on file about the tea business.
Then I showed up physically to the Berlin Archives (location).
Now if you haven’t been to an archive, there are many different ways they operate. Some offer use of computers with databases that can only be seen at the physical archive, while others offer their database online and only offer to see physical documents (remember you need to order the documents in advance before you arrive).
Do NOT be afraid to look stupid at archives. Ask questions. Ask how to do things.
I asked a lady who worked there to help me put the newspaper microfilm roll onto the machine and she ended up doing it wrong and someone else who worked there had to fix it. So, long story short, DO NOT FEEL FOOLISH!
I sat with one lady who worked at the archives and begged her to help me find the file on the tea business because I had a really good feeling it would be here. Sure enough, the file was not under “Johannes Clauder,” nor “Max Clauder,” nor “Clauder,” but was under “M. Clauder.”
The archive system works in such a wild way that whoever archived the file on the tea business decided to put it as “M. Clauder” so when you search the archive database, you will only get results that precisely fit those keywords. So, ideally, it would have been better for the person who put this file in the database to list is as “Clauder” but unfortunately, this is all too common in the research field.
Which is why going to the archives is so important for research. Asking questions, probing for answers, digging through newspapers - all of it matters when doing research.
So, not only did I find the state’s file of the inheritance documents but I found EVERYTHING ELSE about the tea business. It was such a cool experience to be able to sit with the documents that bore my great great grandmother’s signature, my great grandfather’s and grandmother’s signatures.
Having these documents were the first step in discovering more about my great grandfather outside of his role as Omi’s husband and Hannelore’s dad.
Johannes Clauder - great grandfather
Frau Johanna Clauder (geb. Bathe) - great great grandmother
Carl Clauder - (unknown at the time, but now discovered - more later)
Johannes Clauder
We will dive into these documents in the next few posts because I was able to extract A LOT of information from them.
But let’s just say I requested this file to sit by me all 5 days I was at the archives. I loved putting my hand over the signatures and asking them to help me figure out more about them.
They did not disappoint.
Till next time & Merry Christmas!
Caitlin
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating. All funds go towards trips to archives to find files like this one (which cannot be accessed online)!
