5a. Wilhelm Ernst Eduard Engellenner (1868–1911)

Wilhelm Ernst Eduard (* 7th June 1868) plays an important role for me and in my family. On the 14th January 1911 he is in court in Kiel and declared that he actually is the father of the child Jacob Karl Friedrich. The child was born on the 4th November 1910 in Stade — by the handcraft teacher Friederike Karoline Christine Engellenner. She is not his wife, but his cousin! Friederike is the daughter of the mason and worker Jacob Karl Friedrich Engellenner (* 11th December 1850, + 18th December 1935) and thus the granddaughter of te very same Ernst Christian Bartholin Engellenner, who also is the grandfather of Wilhelm Ernst Eduard! The child will soon change the surname and be called Jacob Karl Friedrich Reincke, because his mother marries the fisherman Claus Friedrich Matthias Adolf Reincke (* 1st May 1890, + 5th February 1953) who lives in Schleswig in the old fisherman’s quarter called “Holm”. Many years later Jacob Karl Friedrich will marry Edith Wilhelmine Marie Muhl and they get two children. The writer of these lines is a grandson of Jacob and Edith.

The judge at the royal court in Kiel pledges Wilhelm Ernst Eduard Engellenner to immediately and until the age of 16 to pay for his illigetimate child. He must pay 60 Mark in advance for each quarter of a year. After the age of 16, he must pay 45 Mark. Also, he has to pay for the trial. Wilhelm declares that he is ill and unemployed since five months und therefore not able to pay currently. At this time, in 1911, an unskilled labourer earns around 27 Mark per week, summing up to roughly 100 Mark per month. From this, he would have to retain 20 Mark (i.e. 20 % of his earnings) in order to support his child and the mother (1 Mark in 1911 corresponds to around 5 Euro purchasing power in our time). For 4 to 7 Mark, in 1911 one could buy boy’s blouses, for 9 to 18 Mark a whole boy’s suit. A good straw hat would cost up to 2.50 Mark. So, for Wilhelm the court decision must have been a financial disaster.

Wilhelm is in Kiel since 1902. He initially lives in the Metzstraße 45. The following years, he moves from place to place nearly once per year. He lives near the Kiel canal and then again in the vicinity of the city center. According to the address book of 1910, he lives in the Eckernförder Straße 22. Then, in 1911, he vanishes from the address book. At the very same address, a woman is now listed: Sarah Engellenner, widow! Obviously, Wilhelm is dead but he leaves a wife behind. Thus, he was actually married and just had a child with his cousin. How could that happen?

There are two obituaries in the local newspaper, the “Kieler Nachrichten”, on the 9th and 10th of June 1911. From those, we learn that Wilhelm has worked as a foreman and was ill for a longer time. The company “Carl Jaspersen” which he had worked for, sells building materials and (iron) hardware. They are located in the Muhliusstraße 40/44 and Wilhelm lived in number 74 of this street in 1907. From the obituary, it can be seen that Wilhelm had siblings. However, we do not know anything about them.


(Obituaries in the “Kieler Nachrichten” from 9th and 10th June 1911)

Nonetheless, we know that Jacob and Edith wanted to marry in 1937. For this, they needed a so-called “Ariernachweis”, a certificate to show they not were of Jewish origin (it was Nazi time in 1937 after all). So they sent a request to the authorities of Kiel and asked about the whereabouts of Wilhelm as the biological father of Jacob. They only knew, Wilhelm was living there and probably had dies there in 1911. The police administration wrote back and told that they did not know whenn he had died and they reported that the family had announced their departure for Scotland in 1913. But who is this family? Is it not only his wife Sarah? In fact, it turns out that Sarah already left in the last days of 1911 with the ship “Immingham” of the Hamburg-America line (HAPAG) from Hamburg to Grimsby in England. But she is not alone! With her are three children: Ernst (14 years), Thomas (13 years) and Sara (10 years). Wilhelm and Sarah actually had children! But here, in Grimsby, the trace is lost …

Next: A long journey