Karin’s Page
My maiden name is Höltgen, and I know very little about that family, as I had no contact with my father from the time my parents separated and divorced until I was at university. He sought me out when I was about twenty, and at some stage he told me that he had done extensive research into his family history, and that there was a strong Polish influence in our ancestry. Apparently there was also an aristocratic woman – something he was proud of! – but unfortunately I did not ask to see that family tree, and after he committed suicide I had no further contact with his wife or his childless brother. In other words, I know practically nothing about that family.
Things are not much better on my mother’s side. We lived in the mediaeval house where my grandmother had been born, and my impression was always that they had lived there for a long time, but, again, I know very little. After my mother died, I discovered that she had, apparently, destroyed all family papers.
So, I have no knowledge at all about my grandfather’s record in the First world War, or indeed which Regiment he belonged to, beyond the fact that he was awarded 2 Iron Crosses, which I have in my possession.
I never found any record of my parents’ marriage or divorce, or any other papers that might have shed light on the family history. All I have is anecdotal, mainly from my grandfather, a little from my grandmother, and less from my mother. She was a secretive woman.