Aug 16

Rädnitz – Radnica

A Visit to “The Old Country”

(This post  continues on from the earlier post: Germany and a Baltic Cruise)

Enroute to Radnica

We had a few days spare after our Baltic cruise, so I decided this would be an excellent opportunity to vist the town that my Great Grandfather hailed from. After picking up the hire car in Frankfurt Oder, it was back to the hotel to load up our luggage, then I fired up my GPS unit (just in case!) and we set off on the drive to Radnica. There were no border formalities between Germany and Poland and the road was in good condition, so it didn’t take us long at all to reach the town where my great grandfather had set off from when he emigrated to South Australia in 1878.

The first thing that struck me as we drove through Poland was how green and lush the countryside was – a far cry from the relatively desolate saltbush interspersed with mallee scrub that is typical of SA’s Mid-North east of the Goyder Line.

We passed through Krosno Odrza?skie (formerly Crossen an der Oder) on the way. This was and still is the provincial capital.

Radnica Cemetery
The only remaining German headstones are stacked around the tree directly behind the children

First impressions of Radnica were that it’s a small, sleepy town, far removed from the hustle and bustle of modern life. We drove around and soon found the cemetery – I was curious to see if any old German headstones were still standing. They weren’t unfortunately. It looked as though everything had been flattened at some stage. The only remnants were a few pieces of German headstones stacked around a tree.

Radnica Playground

The kids spotted a small playground across the road from the cemetery, so we stopped there for a bit to let them get some of their beans out. I’d spotted a sign for an Inn on the outskirts of town, so we drove a little further east to check it out. It turned out to be a lovely spot named Stary MÅ‚yn – comfortable rooms, lovely restaurant, gardens with a dam, stream and water-wheel. No-one there spoke English though (we were off the tourist trail), but one lady did speak German, so even though my German is terrible, we were still able to communicate!

Stary MÅ‚yn

After a nice hearty lunch at Stary MÅ‚yn, we drove around some more, visiting Brody (formerly Gross Blumberg) and Pomorsko (formerly Pommerzig). We stopped at the cemetery at Brody, but there too all the old gravestones had been removed and only recent Polish ones were standing.

We only had spare time to stay the one night, then the next morning we drove back to Frankfurt, returned the hire car, walked to the train station and caught the train back to Berlin. We were out of luck with the weather again as it was raining again. Since it was the last night of our trip and we were staying at an airport hotel, I didn’t want to go there too early as I thought there’d be very little there to keep the kids occupied, so we tried our luck and jumped on one of the double-decker tourist buses that ply routes around the city. The rain didn’t let up though, so we ended up staying on the bus for the whole circuit – nearly 3 hours!

Bath Time

When we got back to the Hauptbahnhoff the kids spotted a pretty awesome ice cream shop, so after indulging ourselves we jumped in a taxi and headed off to the Mercure Hotel at Tegel. It turned out to be really quite nice and the little guys even got to have a bubble bath.

Next morning, courtesy bus to the terminal then flew home via Zurich on Swiss Airways. All in all a very enjoyable trip.

Aug 07

Germany and a Baltic Cruise

ICE train to Hamburg

Amani, Malaika & I had a very enjoyable 2 week European holiday in June. We flew Lufthansa to Berlin via Riyadh and Frankfurt, arriving into Tegel airport early in the morning. We then caught the public bus into town – my plan was to put our luggage into storage at the Hauptbahnhoff and do some sightseeing, but, unfortunately it was raining so I gave that idea away and instead we continued our journey to Hamburg. We jumped on to our ICE high speed train and arrived at Hamburg less than 2 hours later.

Hamburg

I’d intentionally booked a hotel near the main train station in Hamburg so that we wouldn’t have to bother with a taxi and thankfully it wasn’t raining when we arrived so we soon found our hotel, the Terminus Hamburg. The hotel was fine although the neighbourhood looked a bit dodgy, something of a red light area by the looks! Anyway, we went for a stroll in the afternoon and found a double-decker tourist bus stop next to the train station – the kids pleaded to hop on board, so we did. A pleasant way of seeing the highlights of downtown Hamburg in the short time that we had. We disembarked at the harbour and as we stood looking at all the ships, it reminded me that this was the place my great grandfather had set sail from when he emigrated to Australia 134 years ago… My how the world has changed since then.

Cabin 8079 MSC Magnifica

Next morning it was back to the train station to continue our journey to Kiel, where we boarded the MSC Magnifica for our Baltic cruise. The boarding process was reasonably streamlined and we soon found our way to cabin 8079 – our home away from home for the next 7 days. After a brief rest, we headed up to deck 13 where the main restaurant was located. Amani and Malaika ate pasta, pizza and sausages until they were as full as two googs!

Lunch on board the MSC Magnifica

Meanwhile I got stuck in to my chicken salad while enjoying the view out over Kiel. I asked the kids if they wanted dessert, which naturally they did and sent them off to peruse the Sweets section. They came back a short time later and asked for some money. When I told them they didn’t need money and could take whatever they wanted, the looks on their faces was priceless! They literally ran to the desserts and both returned a short time later with two each.

Cruising

We very much enjoyed the cruise. The staff in the Kid’s Club on board were great and Amani & Malaika spent many hours there being entertained and playing with other children. Meals on board were OK, nothing special, but nothing to complain about either. The standard of food seemed to me to be better on the Costa cruise we did a couple of years ago.

Stockholm

The first port of call was Stockholm and we enjoyed walking around the city, munching on Swedish hot dogs and eating ice-cream, while enjoying the free live opera in a city park. We jumped on and off the “Hop on Hop off” cruise tour boats that ply the waterways around central Stockholm. A very pleasant day – cool temperatures, but no rain.

Tallinn

Next stop was Tallinn in Estonia. Again we didn’t bother with any packaged shore excursions and enjoyed just wandering around town at our own pace. We climbed to the top of St Olaf’s church for an amazing view of the city. It was sunny and warm that day – very pleasant.

Peterhof

St Petersburg was the next stop on the itinerary. I’d studied shore excursion options before the trip, and decided ahead of time that I didn’t think Amani & Malaika would enjoy the organized excursions here due to the amount of walking involved, so they stayed on board the ship under the care of the nice ladies in the Kid’s Club while I went ashore on a pre-booked excursion to The Peterhof Palace and The Hermitage Museum. I enjoyed the tour very much, and leaving the kids on board had definitely been a good decision. The crowds were awful and they would not have enjoyed the Hermitage at all.

On board the ship we had the pleasure of sharing our dinner table with a 95 year old gentleman – Egon. He was such a character – told me how he worked out that cruising full time was less expensive than living in a retirement home – and that’s why for the past year he’s been cruising non-stop! He’s also an accomplished musician and kindly played his rendition of Waltzing Matilda for us one afternoon on the ship.

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Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen

After another day at sea, the final stop was in Copenhagen, where we walked in to town and met up with old friend Jesper, who used to work in Muscat. Had a nice lunch together, then he guided us around Tivoli Gardens. Another very pleasant day.

Next morning we were back in Kiel, disembarked then caught the train to Hamburg, changed to the ICE train to Berlin, then on to another train to Frankfurt an der Oder. We didn’t have much time for each connection and I knew from past experience with German trains that you need to find the right platform and the right place on the platform (where your carriage will stop) quickly, otherwise it’s easy to miss your train – especially when you’re the only adult with two young children in tow! We did fine though, arrived at Frankfurt about 6pm and walked to our lodging – the Hotel Zur Alten Oder.

The beer was pretty heavy so M&M had to help lift it :)

Diner at the hotel turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever eaten! It was a house specialty – a pork schnitzel with tomato, mushrooms and cheese inside, served with sauteed potatoes cooked with onions and bacon bits  and accompanied by a lovely green salad with a creamy balsamic dressing. Washed down with a local Frankfurter beer, it was absolutely delicious!

We walked from Germany to Poland!

The next day we walked a few kilometres, crossing the bridge over the Oder river into Poland, where Malaika once again twisted my arm into buying them ice-creams. (I’ve never eaten so much ice cream in my life as I did on this trip thanks to the arm-twisting by the kids!) On the way back to the hotel I called into Sixt and booked a hire car for the next day, so that we could drive into Poland and visit the village of Radnica, where my great grandfather came from. More about that part of the journey in another post.

 

Jul 31

Help Decyphering Old German Records

Sample scan

 A very kindly chap by the name of Jerzy sent me a swathe of scans of old German documents, to help out with my family history research. Most are from the Pommerzig and Groß Blumberg Zivilstandsregister 1874-1937, plus there’s a few older documents as well. Jerzy sent scans of any pages he found that made reference to the names Kakoschke or Redlich.

I’ve spent many hours going through them and have gleaned some useful information – but I would certainly appreciate the help any anyone willing to collaborate. The scans can be viewed at the following link:

Genealogy Documents

To help collaborate, just download the text file named 0_Transcriptions_Please_Read.rtf (it’s in the same folder as the scans), make any additions or corrections, then email the file to me and I’ll take care of the rest. Please always download the latest version of the file before you begin making changes. Also, send me your changes as soon as you’ve finished for the day, so that I can update the file promptly. Thanks!

Jul 20

Johann Kakoschke – 1840

I recently happened upon a copy of Amts-Blatt der Regierung zu (Government Gazette) Potsdam 1840, where reference is made to a Johann Kakoschke who evidently lost his travel documents. From the dates and ages mentioned this chap is not a direct ancestor, but is almost certainly a relative. In any event, it’s quite rare to find relevant old records of this type, so it’s worth making a note of. My thanks to Andrew Price for providing the translation:

The passport which at my request was issued to log raftsman Johann Kakoschke by District Secretary Ehrlich in Crossen on the 17th of the month, sub. number 427, to enable him to travel to Stettin to float wood there, was lost by him in the night of the 22nd to the 23rd of the month on the way from Berlin to Müncheberg, along with a red leather wallet. The passport of Mr Kakoschke, whose description I am including here, is therefore declared invalid.

In the aforementioned wallet, besides an order for payment for 1 thaler and several letters to Mr Kakoschke, there was also a contract which he had concluded with the widow of wood dealer Staudinger in Berlin. For the return of the wallet, along with its contents, Mr Kakoschke is offering a reward of 1 thaler and 15 silver groschen.

Fritschendorf, 31st August 1840
Royal District Administrator, District of  Crossen
v. Rheinbaben

Description

Mr Kakoschke is resident in Rädnitz of this District, born in Pommerzig, religion protestant, 37 years old, 5 foot 2 inches high, has black-brown curly hair, free forehead, blond eyebrows, grey eyes, strong nose, large mouth, brown beard, broad chin, long face, healthy colour and is of stocky stature.  His left little finger is missing a phalanx.

Jun 08

June 2012 Itinerary

Below is an abbreviated itinerary for our upcoming travel plans next week. Any old friends who may happen to be in the same places at the same time, just drop me a line so we can catch up!

June

  • 16: AM Berlin   PM Hamburg
  • 17 Kiel (boarding the MSC Magnifica)
  • 18 At sea
  • 19 Stockholm
  • 20 Tallinn
  • 21 St Petersburg
  • 22 At sea
  • 23 Copenhagen
  • 24 AM Kiel   PM Frankurt Oder
  • 25 Frankfurt Oder
  • 26 Krosno Odrzanskie vicinity
  • 27 Berlin
  • 28 Back to Muscat

Jun 07

Neville Kakoschke 1942-2012

Rest in peace my dear brother