Gottfried and Viktoria Fischer with their four children departed Hamburg on the Caesar in November 1854. Johann departed from the same dock on the Steinwärder in November two years later. It is cold in November in Northern Germany, and the morning that the Fischers departed … Continue reading Leaving Hamburg
Month: October 2014
Hamburg to Sydney in the 1850s
Johann Holtorf, a 28 year old farmer from Bramstedt, Holstein, sailed in November 1856 from Hamburg to Sydney on the sailing ship, Steinwärder, as I have mentioned in a previous blog. Two years earlier another German family, the Fischers of Harheim in Hessen, near Frankfurt, had … Continue reading Hamburg to Sydney in the 1850s
Imagining stories for Claus and Jürgen
I wondered in my last entry if Claus (aged 32) and Jürgen Holtorf (age 8) may have sailed together from Hamburg to New York in April 1852. Further research shows that the ship they sailed on, the Rhein, arrived in New York on April 29, … Continue reading Imagining stories for Claus and Jürgen
What became of the Holtorfs of Bramstedt?
Claus Holtorf had 10 children, 6 with his first wife, Margarethe and 4 with his second, Elsabe. Two of Elsabe’s boys did not survive past childhood. What I know of the others comes from two death notices, the first when Claus died in 1874, and … Continue reading What became of the Holtorfs of Bramstedt?
Forgotten tales 