Another photo lot arrived from ebay and I immediately noticed that several photos in the photo lot are of the same family. I could make out the children’s names Wolfgang and Margot written on the back of two of the photos, and a real life photo postcard was addressed to one Siegfried Alsleben, the father of the children. That was all I needed to start my generalogy detective work and see what I could find out about this family Alsleben from Frankfurt a.M. in Germany.

I can gather from the information written on the back of this photo that Wolfgang was 6 1/2 years old in April of 1926 when he started school.

So Wolfgang must have been born in October/November of 1919. Here as a baby in the arms of his mother Emmy.

Margot was about 3-4 years younger than Wolfgang, so born in the early 1920s. Here she is with her father Siegfried.

The data protection laws of Germany limit the access to information on the siblings in their adulthood as their births and possible marriages or probable deaths have been less than 100 years ago. Whereas I find absolutely no clues on Margot (I suppose she got married and changed her surname), I do find one Wolfgang Alsleben living in the same address in Böhmerstrasse 45 in Frankfurt up until 1979. He is listed as dr.med., specifically a gynaecologist.

 

Source: Frankfurt address books available on Ancestry

Wolfgang and Margot’s parents were Siegfried and Emmy Alsleben. They were married on Sept 29th, 1917 in Malente, northern Germany. Malente was a special place for Emmy, as his father was the director of the popular resort Hotel “Kurhaus Holsteinische Schweiz” and according to the marriage registration of the couple, the wedding ceremony actually took place in the hotel.

Source: Records available on Ancestry

This was the hotel resort “Kurhaus Holsteinische Schweiz“ as I’ve found on the internet.

Source: Wikipedia and Ansichtskarten Center

How the couple met is not known to me. Siegfried was from the Frankfurt area in the South and Emmy was born in Bützow at the Baltic Sea. The family spent many of their vacations at the Baltic Sea, as the family photos through the years show.

Now some genealogy details on father Siegfried. He was born on May 20th, 1884, in Frankfurt to parents Ernst August Hubert Alsleben and Margarethe Katharine Helene née Steinau. His father Ernst was an ingenieur.

Source: Records available on Ancestry

Between 1920 and 1940, Siegfried was listed in the address books of Frankfurt as a businessman. I couldn’t find out what business he was in.

Frankfurt address book 1920, available on Ancestry

Frankfurt address book 1940, available on Ancestry

In 1960, he was living with his son in Böhmerstrasse 45 in Frankfurt in 1960. He was listed as retiree in that phone book. He passed away on August 13th, 1963. Unfortunately, there is no reference to his wife Emmy living in that same address after his death, so I suspect she had passed away even earlier.

I have not found any siblings for Siegfried, looks like he was an only child. His parents were 29 and 25 years old at the time of his birth. His father Ernst was born in 1855 and passed away at the young age of 49 years in 1904 in Fechenheim, Germany. Mother Katharine passed away almost 30 years later in 1933 at the age of 74. She was living with his son’s family in Böhmerstrasse 45 in Frankfurt up until her death.

I suspect this to be Siegfried and his mother Katharine in this found photo. The mother seems to be wearing all black, as a widow would. She would be between 45-50 years of age in this photo, and Siegfried would be in his early 20s:

 

Now to the children’s mother and Siegfried’s wife Emmy. Emmy was born as Emmy Frieda Hedwig Wilhelmine Elise Schwepcke on August 12th, 1888, in Bützow, Germany, to parents Andreas Heinrich August Carl Schwepcke and Albertine Sophie Auguste née Schwarz.

Emmy’s father Andreas was born on July 9th, 1854, in Rostock, in the North of Germany.  I mentioned that he was a hotel director in Malente most of his life. He passed away in the last days of 1924. Emmy’s mother Albertine was born on April 24th, 1856, in Rostock. They were married in 1884.

Source: Records available on Ancestry

Emmy had altogether three brothers:

1) Theodor Ludwig Heinrich Wilhelm Schwepcke

2) Hans Max Bernhard August Schwepcke

3) Hermann Ernst Emanuel Schwepcke

Let’s see what I could find out about the three brothers of Emmy:

The oldest brother Theodor Ludwig Heinrich Wilhelm was born in 1885. He was just 27 years old when he passed away on August 19th, 1912.

Hans Max Bernhard August Schwepcke was born on Sept 7th, 1886. He and his wife Margarete Bertha Marie Hedwig had a son on July 19th, 1921, who they named Hans-Jürgen. Strangely this birth registration is available online, whereas those of Wolfgang and Margot from the same years but different birth place aren’t. I can’t figure out the data protection laws of Germany! Anyways, I can’t find much else on Emmy’s brother’s family, except that Hans seemed to have lived in Lübeck in 1925 and his son Hans-Jürgen seems to have served in WWII and survived.

I believe this is a photo of the siblings Emmy and one of her brothers with their father Andreas Schwepcke, taken around the turn of the century. The features of the little girl are very similar to the adult Emmy’s. So because Emmy’s brothers were born just a year apart, I can’t say with certainty whether this is Emmy with her brother Hans or Heinrich. The body language of the father, holding her little girl’s hand, is adorable.

Emmy’s youngest brother Hermann Ernst Emanuel Schwepcke was born on Dec 18th, 1894, in Wismar. Unfortunately he passed away on Oct 7th, 1897 as a little boy.

Here are some more fun photos of this family, spending Christmas together.

Here are Wolfgang and Margot dressed up for pre-lent Carnival which takes place in some parts of Germany usually in February each year.

The family having an ice cream break in the sun in the 1930s. Mother Emmy is looking into the camera, Margot is sitting next to her and Wolfgang between an unidentified couple.

Wolfgang probably attended school in Frankfurt. Here with a friend.

Although I can’t find any recent information on Wolfgang or Margot, the information available on the families Alsleben-Schwepcke generations back is impressive! Whoich is why I’ve started their family tree on Ancestry! Those treasures are just too good to be forgotten about. Hopefully some day a genealogy-loving member of the family will find his/her way back to all this information and photos!

Click HERE to see the Alsleben family tree I’ve built on Ancestry.