Frederike Paechter Wohlgemuth died in Danzig in 1910

Frederike Paechter Wohlgemuth died in Danzig in 1910

• Aug 24, 2020
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December 27, 1910 death certificate for Frederike Paechter Wohlgemuth. 

The mother of Isaac Wohlgemuth lived until age 72 and died in 1910 at the address in Danzig of the third Wohlgemuth brother, Heinrich. 

She was Frederike Wohlgemuth, nee Paechter, whose husband Leopold died in 1876 in Preußisch Stargard at age 42. She and four children (the eldest a sister Rosa and three sons in order Isaac, Heinrich and Julius) resettled in her original home town of Tiegenhof, near to Elbing. (Today it is Nowy Dor Gdanski.)

We knew that the brothers prospered as mill owners in Elbing and that later Isaac and Julius went into business in Danzig as shipping agents for the Prussian railway. We have been learning more about Heinrich, mainly from Hilda's affidavit, as an antique-collecting, unmarried  banker living and working in Danzig.

What this record shows is that their mother also relocated to Danzig and lived there in Heinrich's well furnished bachelor digs. (I can't quite read the address yet. But it is the same address given for Frederike and Heinrich.) I believe that the sister Rosa may have lived there, as well. We don't know of her marrying and she is the best candidate for the Rosa Wohlgemuth grave that we know about in Weissensee. 

The next few years after Frederike's death were eventful for the family. Hilda says they moved in 1911-12 to Stettin, where the company also did business. Julius died there suddenly in 1911, leaving a widow and son, Leopold, who went to Brazil after the war. The widow Rosa is the other candidate for the Berlin grave.

Isaac Wohlgemuth and family (Betty, Elly and Hilda) moved to Berlin in 1912, settling at Woelkspromenade 6 in Weißensee. The sale of the company may have happened before or after the move. According to Hilda, company operations in Danzig and Stettin were sold but for a time Isaac retained ownership of a Berlin franchise. 

He sold that as well before 1914. During the war, he served as a non-commissioned officer. After the war, he did well as a tobacco wholesaler and sales representative for a cognac brand. 

I'm guessing that Rosa stayed in Danzig until Heinrich's death in 1917, and then moved to Berlin Weissensee to be near to her one surviving brother. Rosa is mentioned in Hilda's affidavit but Frederika is not. Also, Hilda seems to have forgotten about Julius and his family.

Summary: Frederike's life seems pretty distant to us, but think about our grandmother Elly as a child. She was born in Elbing in 1900 and then grew up in Danzig until age 11. Besides her immediate family, the Wohlgemuth clan in Danzig during Ogi's childhood included her grandmother, Frederike, aunt Rosa and uncles Heinrich and Julius. 

Having never remarried, we think of Ogi in her New York single apartment. See started out in life with a strong family network, led by a matriarchal grandmother Frederike Paechter.