Last week my Mother randomly emailed me a copy of an old Black and White photograph and said, "This is your Great Great Grandpa". But there was no other information with the photograph... so I asked for some more facts. My mother is Swiss. My sister who now lives in Switzerland has apparently been finding out some family history, and she's passed it on from my Grandma, (who is in her 90's and still going strong!)
This is a picture of my Great Great Grandpa, my Great Great Grandma, and their son (my Great Grandpa).
My Great Great Grandpa's name
was Carl Frei,died in 1890 probably in his 30's.
He was a "PROCURIST" ...translated means either
being general manager or 'having general commercial power or having an office
with authority' this with a publishers called Huber ( also Printers). He was
their legal person who signed any documents. Sadly he died quite young. He fell off a ladder at work and broke his neck.
So my Great Grandpa (The small boy in the picture) grew up without a Dad .His
Mum(Marie ) on the photo was very close to her sister and the two of them had a
haberdashers shop together and brought up my Great Grandpa.
Marie Frei was a sewing teacher in a Swiss school...and also ran the haberdashers shop with her sister. The
generation before her looked like this:
There
were five brothers who lived on the Dutch/German Border. They came from Friesland( the very far North of Germany ...they were Huguenots (persecuted from France for being protestants)They
became Ship's Captains, Dentists etc and one was a Goldsmith. This one moved to
Switzerland, married there and Marie was his daughter.
This next picture is My Great Grandpa (My Swiss Grandma's father, and the small boy from the first picture) as a young man at Munich University.
And this last one is my Great Grandpa as an Art Historian, Archeologist and Museum Curator. This is how my mum remembers her Grandpa.
Thanks to my family for passing this on!
