Yesterday, the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum hosted a party which focused on celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation. The date that usually is associated with the beginning of that Reformation is October 31, 1517. It was the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. … More First Reformation…Then Obscuration
We are having a very busy weekend here at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum, so I put out a call for help. Clayton Erdmann has answered that call, stepped up to the plate, and submitted a blog post for us to use today. Clayton has written several articles for us in the past. He … More From Tragedy to Ministry
Today would have been the 121st birthday of Paula Grebing who was born on August 19, 1896. She was the daughter of Martin and Emma (Richter) Grebing. Martin delivered mail in the Wittenberg area for a while. This is a photo of the Martin Grebing family when Paula was a child. Paula is the girl … More Joining the Herm Thurm Firm
We will start with the birthday of Maria Holschen on The Ridge just north of Altenburg today, but that is not anywhere close to where this story ends. Maria was the daughter of Friedrich and Franziske (Stadelmann) Holschen. She was born on August 18, 1875, and she was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. … More Trek to the Territory
Ella Fritsche was born on August 17, 1883 in Auerswalde, Germany. In 1891, she arrived in America with her family. Here is the passenger list for the Oldenburg which arrived in New York City that year. It’s a little confusing that Ella is shown as being 6 years old in 1891. Ella was the daughter … More A Brueckner Boy’s Bride
When I was a student at Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, the students ate their meals at Brommer Hall. This is a photo of that building back in those days. Now you may be like me and think there could never be a connection between that … More Back to the Dining Hall
As I worked my way through our German Family Tree looking for an event that took place on August 15th, I ran across the birthday of Joachim Martin Steffens. He was born on August 15, 1882. One of the first things I noticed was that not only did he marry a woman by the name … More Korte Girls – Steffens Boys
One of our museum’s most faithful out-of-town visitors is affectionately called “Junior” by his friends and family. His given name is Walter Doering, and since his father also carried the same name, that makes him “Junior”. Note: Around here this name is pronounced “Daring”. Today’s story is about Junior’s grandpa, whose name was Wilhelm Gustave … More Junior’s Grandpa
Oliver Otto Schirmer was born on August 13, 1900 in Altenburg, Missouri, and later in November of that year, he was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church. He was the son of Carl and Julie (Burns) Schirmer. These Schirmers disappear from any church or census records from Perry County after 1900, so I suspect they moved … More Oliver Follows Oregon Trail to Find Russians
Today, I’m going to talk about fashion. That’s right…..fashion. Those folks who know me well, will tell you that I generally do not give a hoot about fashion. Fashion is certainly not my bailiwick. However, I have discovered that whenever I write for this blog, I am in the business of learning something new. Each … More Buttoned at the Top (Updated)
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