Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden family
My great-grandparents Carl Lehmkuhl (1874-1952) and Gretchen Leeuwarden (1877-1952)
Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Lehmkuhl (1874-1952) was a son of Johann Dietrich Lehmkuhl (1850-1907) & Margaretha Elizabeth Erdbrink (1842-1877). He was born in Bremen (D) on April 16, 1874. His mother died when he was almost three years old. By profession he became a coffee merchant.
Gretchen Leeuwarden was born in, Delmenhorst (D) on November 17, 1877 as a daughter of Levi Nathan Leeuwarden (1843-1904) and Rosette Polack (1846-1900). As a young girl, she worked in the shop of the Textiles Trader Goldschmidt in Delmenhorst. On October 30, 1894 she moved to Oldenburg.
My great-grandparents met in an amateur theatre group in Bremen. This was probably in the Thalia theatre, because there is photograph of their group in Thalia taken in 1897. They would have lived in England for some time. Of this I have not many information. There is however boarding information about this trip to England. These papers say they were married, which they were not.
They got married in 1906. From this relationship, the following children:
Before the First World War, Carl was coffee trader. Because of difficult times during the first World War he had to stay in Hamburg during the week, while his family lived in Cologne. Every weekend he went home. In Hamburg, he seems to have had an affair with a young war widow from whom he rented a room.
Eventually Gretchen wanted the family move to Hamburg. This was an organized triangle home-exchange. They departed from Cologne, and moved to Hamburg. People from Hamburg would go to another place. And people from this place would go to Cologne. Everyone should move on the same day. When they arrived in Hamburg, they found out that these people had not moved out and the Lehmkuhl family stood with their belongings on the street. Eventually they had to live in the home where Carl lived during the week. It's an understatement that this was an "uncomfortable situation": Carl and his mistress in the same home, together with his family.
Their marriage was not very good. Carl would eventually wanted to divorce, but Gretchen refused. Probably around 1921 they finally broke up. Her daughter Rose married in 1931 with my grandfather Gerard Hugenholtz (1889-1969), and left for the Netherlands.
Gretchen Leeuwarden was born in, Delmenhorst (D) on November 17, 1877 as a daughter of Levi Nathan Leeuwarden (1843-1904) and Rosette Polack (1846-1900). As a young girl, she worked in the shop of the Textiles Trader Goldschmidt in Delmenhorst. On October 30, 1894 she moved to Oldenburg.
My great-grandparents met in an amateur theatre group in Bremen. This was probably in the Thalia theatre, because there is photograph of their group in Thalia taken in 1897. They would have lived in England for some time. Of this I have not many information. There is however boarding information about this trip to England. These papers say they were married, which they were not.
They got married in 1906. From this relationship, the following children:
- Rose-Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1992) DUTCH GERMAN
- Walter Lehmkuhl (1906-1906)
- Hans (Johann) Lehmkuhl (1908-1992) DUTCH
Before the First World War, Carl was coffee trader. Because of difficult times during the first World War he had to stay in Hamburg during the week, while his family lived in Cologne. Every weekend he went home. In Hamburg, he seems to have had an affair with a young war widow from whom he rented a room.
Eventually Gretchen wanted the family move to Hamburg. This was an organized triangle home-exchange. They departed from Cologne, and moved to Hamburg. People from Hamburg would go to another place. And people from this place would go to Cologne. Everyone should move on the same day. When they arrived in Hamburg, they found out that these people had not moved out and the Lehmkuhl family stood with their belongings on the street. Eventually they had to live in the home where Carl lived during the week. It's an understatement that this was an "uncomfortable situation": Carl and his mistress in the same home, together with his family.
Their marriage was not very good. Carl would eventually wanted to divorce, but Gretchen refused. Probably around 1921 they finally broke up. Her daughter Rose married in 1931 with my grandfather Gerard Hugenholtz (1889-1969), and left for the Netherlands.
Great-grandmother and great grandmother Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden in 1897, Theater Thalia in Bremen, the theatre where they have probably met.
My great-grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952). Picture taken aroud 1899.
My great-grandfather Carl Lehmkuhl (1874-1952); picture taken around 1899.
(half)brothers and sisters Lehmkuhl; 3th from left Carl Lehmkuhl; 2nd left: halfbrother who was killed in 1914 in the Tannenberg battle.
Parents of my great-grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952). Levi Nathan Leeuwarden (1843-1904) and Rossette Leeuwarden-Polack (1846-1900).
"Landhaus Lehmkuhl", Werderstraße 22 in Bremen. My great great grandfather Johann Lehmkiuhl (1847-1916) in the door opeing with his second wife: Frau Lehmkuhl-Dohrmann.
oma Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1993).
Gretchen Lehmkuhl and daughter Rose on Wangerooge 1907.
Onkel Hans Lehmkuhl (1908-1992).
After a short walk 1908: Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden with daughter Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl.
Rose Lehmkuhl in a carnaval costume, made by her mother. In the catholic city of Cologne, carnaval was very popular.
Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden and her children in front of their home in Cologne: Teutoburgerstrasse 24. It was badly damaged during WW2 and teared down after the war.
family picture Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden with son Hans and daughter Rose.
With family/friends in Danmark, Gretchen with large hat and black belt (son Hans in front of her); Carl Lehmkuhl in the back (arrow)
My great grandfather Carl Lehmkuhl (1874-1952) in his fifties.
Great grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden.
The Leeuwarden sisters: Mathilde, Gretchen, Lenchen en Henny.
With a caryage, pulled by 4 horses in the “ Siebengebirge”. In Oberdollendorf we had “Klippfische” in a restaurant:
16 juni 1913.
Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden family in Wangerooge, summer 1913.
Kostume party 1925: behind on the left: oma Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl; 2e row, 2e from left: Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden
Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden family in Wangerooge, 1913.
Beach picture taken in Wangerooge around 1915. Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl with shovel (in front of her mother Gretchen).
Their children: Rose (1905) and Hans (1908) Lehmkuhl.
Frau Terbizki and child around 1917 1917: with my great grandparents, oma Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1993) and her brother Onkel Hans Lehmkuhl (1908-1992).
Frau Terbizki and child around 1917 1917: with my great grandparents, oma Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1993) and her brother Onkel Hans Lehmkuhl (1908-1992).
Cologne, summer 1917: Carl, Hans, Gretchen Lehmkuhl
In 1920 an English photographer took this picture of my grandmother Rose-Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1993), because he was allowed to take pictures from het parents home of the funural of the mother of Conrad Adenauer.
Their children: Rose (1905) and Hans (1908) Lehmkuhl.
5th en 6th left Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden with daughter Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl; Moritz en Röschen on the right
Her sisters Röschen Levy-Leeuwarden en Mathilde (Tilly) Heger Leeuwarden, Wangerooge, summer 1925.
Röschen fled to Israel in 1934 with her family; Mathilde stayed in Germany an was deported with her husband to Minsk (Belarus) and murdered.
Hans Lehmkuhl, Henry Heger, Tilly Heger, Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden, Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl, Nathan Heger; around 1925/26. Special details in this picture is that het cousin Henry Heger, who was 25% Jewish was the founder of the SS in nortwest Germany an proudly wearing his SS uniform.
Around 1935, she moved (together with her son Hans) to the Netherlands. From now on, she was a stateless citizen and lived with her daughter and her family.
Rose and Johann hardly had any contact with their father since then. In 1931 he wrote her a kind letter, to celebrate her with her marriage. This letter survived!
In 1933 their cousin Rose Leoni-Willig left from Hamburg to Brazil. My grandmother Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl had traveled to Hamburg to say goodbye. By chance she saw her father in the distance walking down the street. She recognized him because he pulled his leg, but decided not to go to him. She never saw her father again. He kept sending her letter, but she always burned them (which she regretted very much when she was old).
The marriage of Carl and Gretchen officially ended in 1939, which was pretty late, because Carl must have had the chance to divorce his 3/4 Jewish wife much earlier.
During the German occupation, the Netherlands were not safe for Gretchen too, because of her three Jewish grandparents. In 1941/1942 she was hiding in Zeist (home of minister Cuvée , living in the “Laan van Beek en Rooyen”. In 1942 she was forced to move to the Jewish ghetto in Amsterdam. She moved in the apartment of Dr. Limburg (a Jewish engineer) and his family. My father and my aunt both visited her for a few days there. During that time, the Limburg family was deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
With much effort and money my family forged birth certificates of the ancestors of Gretchen: she now officially had two instead of three Jewish grandparents. This, with the fact that she had become a member of the Dutch reformed church (no longer a member of the Jewish community) saved her life. She was allowed to leave the Amsterdam ghetto, where she was forced to live. Until her death she lived with my grandparents.
Carl Lehmkuhl remarried in 1939. He died at the age of 78, in Hamburg (D) on September 29, 1952. Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden deceased a few months earlier at the age of 74 years, in Nijkerkerveen on April 4, 1952.
Several years ago Dr. Werners Meiners published published two articles in which they occur.
Meiners – Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“– GERMAN
Delmenhorster Zeitung 2011 GERMAN
Rose and Johann hardly had any contact with their father since then. In 1931 he wrote her a kind letter, to celebrate her with her marriage. This letter survived!
In 1933 their cousin Rose Leoni-Willig left from Hamburg to Brazil. My grandmother Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl had traveled to Hamburg to say goodbye. By chance she saw her father in the distance walking down the street. She recognized him because he pulled his leg, but decided not to go to him. She never saw her father again. He kept sending her letter, but she always burned them (which she regretted very much when she was old).
The marriage of Carl and Gretchen officially ended in 1939, which was pretty late, because Carl must have had the chance to divorce his 3/4 Jewish wife much earlier.
During the German occupation, the Netherlands were not safe for Gretchen too, because of her three Jewish grandparents. In 1941/1942 she was hiding in Zeist (home of minister Cuvée , living in the “Laan van Beek en Rooyen”. In 1942 she was forced to move to the Jewish ghetto in Amsterdam. She moved in the apartment of Dr. Limburg (a Jewish engineer) and his family. My father and my aunt both visited her for a few days there. During that time, the Limburg family was deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
With much effort and money my family forged birth certificates of the ancestors of Gretchen: she now officially had two instead of three Jewish grandparents. This, with the fact that she had become a member of the Dutch reformed church (no longer a member of the Jewish community) saved her life. She was allowed to leave the Amsterdam ghetto, where she was forced to live. Until her death she lived with my grandparents.
Carl Lehmkuhl remarried in 1939. He died at the age of 78, in Hamburg (D) on September 29, 1952. Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden deceased a few months earlier at the age of 74 years, in Nijkerkerveen on April 4, 1952.
Several years ago Dr. Werners Meiners published published two articles in which they occur.
Meiners – Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“– GERMAN
Delmenhorster Zeitung 2011 GERMAN
Delmenhorst, 1932. Vlnr: my vader Hans Hugenholtz (1932), my grandfather Gerhard Hugenholtz (1889-1969), my grandmother Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl, my great grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952)
The young family of my grandparents (my father Hans Hugenholtz b.1932 is the baby on the right, sitting on the lap of his grandmother Gretchen). The woman left on the second row is Lenie Vollers, friend of my grandmother Rose. First row left to right: daughter of frau Kanziora, baby Kanziora, Frau Kanziora, who also lived in Kornstrasse 70, Bremen, my great grandmother Gretchen with my father Hans Hugenholtz (1932-2018) on her lap. Picture taken in Bremen, 1933
Star worn by my grandmother Gretchen-Lehmkuhl gedragen is.
My great-grandfather Carl Lehmkuhl (1874-1952)
My great-grandfather Carl Lehmkuhl (1874-1952) in his sixties
My great-grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952) in her seventies
My great-grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952) in her seventies
Gravestone of Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952) in Nijkerk (NL).
Aunt Margreth Steenbeek-Hugenholtz (1934) and her cousin Yvonne Lyklema-Lehmkuhl (1947) stand at the gravestone of Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden in 2016. The grave stone was placed ther by my aunt, because no stone was every placed there (for unknown reasons). I found out in 2013 -by accident- that her grave still existed.
great-granddaughter Rosita Steenbeek wrote a novel about our grandmother Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (1905-1993). Of course her parents have a role in this book. The book is published 2015.