To describe the personality and life of Mrs. HEDWIG WEIL, based exclusively on a few photographs, an identity card, two civil registry entries in the family stem-book and fragmentary descriptions about her existence, given by her sister and her niece during the 1960ies, is a rather difficult task. Even more, when the author of this family history compilation, born about 25 years later than the date when Hedwig left this world, couldn´t get to know her personally and when further his appearance on the world was considered somewhat as a rebirth of certain elements of HEDWIG´S personality and nature inside her family.
To identify a formerly "lost soul" of a 2 1/2 decades before deceased family member, in a new born member of the second following generation is probably mostly a phantasy projection of those person circles, in whose memory the deceased family member remained present. The "Wandering of Souls" might be a religious believe that gather strength, when for one or the other reason a group of people cannot arrange and accept the dissappearance of a person inside it´s group logic and for that reason waits permanently the return of the lost person, even decades later. Such a community believe or "group psychosis phenomenon" might get so strong by mutual persuasion of visions, that the new family member, on whom is proyected by his ancestors group the "transfer of personality", really might develop behavioural patterns, that resemble with those of the lost family member.
If such a transfer of character traits, triggered by group suggestion, could be proven between two people from not directly successive generations, this would, conversely, also be proof, that behaviours defined as illness or diseases are the result of group suggestions and not consequences of really existing physical limitations. This anticipated conclusion becomes crucial in the retrospective analysis of HEDWIG WEIL´s family and health history.
Inside of the author´s imagination was generated a strong emotional image about his great aunt HEDWIG, a person that dissappeared 25 years ago before his own birth, an image that contained also an so called "open mystery", leaving open the concrete circumstances of her death in a way of description, that didn´t make clear,
- if she really "died suffering poliomyelitis" in her bed,
- if she was brought away to a "treatment" from which she didn´t return,
- if she suffered an "accident" due to her declared body-weakness or progressive disability to walk or
- if she became a victim of violence due to her body limitations during the growing exclusion of disabled people, generated by the political and military motivated smear propaganda of the Nazi Regime, when her death ocurred in November 1933 at the age of only 30 years - following the stem-book registries.
All this hypothesis remain possible, even more also the phantasy, HEDWIG might have been brought to a healing treatment in an alien, far away new surrounding, where she might have surmounted her family-conditioned body limitations - and never returned to her originary home.
After such a lot of presumptions now first it is necessary to return to a fact sheet, for not confusing neither the lectors nor the author.
In the case of HEDWIG WEIL, the existing fact sheet ist not very extense and consists in the single most trustworthy document : the family stem book of her parents ANNA MARIE LEBER and CARL WILHELM WEIL.. The LEBER-WEIL family stem-book, an edition of Carl Bürchl Publishers from Worms, bears the number 27098 of the marriage register of the german town City of Mannheim. It was opened on the occasion of the wedding of HEDWIG´s parents the day 12th November 1898. The wedding ceremony is registered for that day under number 1181. (or 1184-1187-1189) on the pages 6 and 7 of the WEIL family stem-book.
On the following sheets only the pages 8 & 9 and 19 & 20 are used for further handwritten and sealed entries. The pages 8 & 9 in chapter II carry the birth and death data of the three children of the married couple. The chapter IV - Family Events / Chronic - registeres on page 19 the burial of the married mother ANNA MARIA WEIL-LEBER in 1963 and the burial of her second child KARL WILHELM junior in 1971.
MISSING in the family stem book in Chapter IV "Family Events / Chronik" are the burial data of father Carl Wilhelm Weil (+ 9.11.1926), the burial data of his second and youngest daughter HEDWIG (+ 22.11.1933) and the burial data of her older sister MARIE (+ 27.7.1984).
As MISSING in the family stem-book also can be considered the data of the only marriage that ocurred between the 3 children of the WEIL Family, when MARIE WEIl married GÜTHER PAUL ALFRED KLINGE at 20th December 1934 in Rod an der Weil, as well as the birth data of their only child ROSEMARIE ELISABETH , born at 8th October of 1935.
ERRONEOUS furthermore are on Page 9 under number 2 of chapter II - Children of the Married Couple - the data entries for baptism and death for the second child of the couple, their son Karl Wilhelm junior. As no baptism data for any of the three children had been recorded, the table-field for "Site and Date of Baptism" of Karl Wilhelm junior carries whose death data at 16.12.1971 registered in Usingen under 113/1971. The reason for that registry error is, that in the following table-field "Death or other Events" before by a source that left no seal was recorded also erroneously the handwritten entry "C.W.Weil gest. am 9.ten November 1926" (Carl Wilhelm Weil died at 9th November 1926), an un-official handwritten entry that later was erased by crossing the letters out.
That means, the father Carl Wilhelm Weil´s death data initially had been registered probably in 1926 in the registry field for his son, Karl Wilhelm Weil junior. The error might have been ocurred, when the official registrar was confused by the similarity of father´s and son´s name Carl Wilhelm senior and Karl Wilhelm junior and erroneously wrote the father´s death data in the table-field prepared for the son´s death data. When seen that error, the handwritten data entry was crossed out and no seal was set by the registrar..
The "fact-sheet" so far makes clear, that HEDWIG WEIL was born as third child of the marriage couple ANNA MARIA WEIL-LEBER and CARL WILHELM WEIL senior, the day 27th December of 1903 in Emmershausen (Weil-Valley / Usingen District / Taunus Mountain Range / Governmental District of Wiesbaden).
Following the marriage ceremony of her parents the 12th November 1898 in Mannheim, the couple took first their residence in Basel (Switzerland), where at 18th May 1900 Hedwig´s sister Marie and one year later at 24. September 1902 her brother Karl Wilhelm junior were born.
HEDWIG WEIL´s birth is registered 15 month later than the birth of her brother KARL WILHELM junior in Basel. The CID Institute Family Museum doesn´t have on it´s disposal the exact calendar data, when the WEIL-LEBER Family relocated their residence from Basel to Emmershausen and also lacks explanation for the reason of the household removal from the urban metropolis Basel to the remote countryside forest house at Emmershausen. Also it is here unknown, if Anna Maria Weil-Leber was alreday pregnant with HEDWIG, when the family left Basel, or wether she only became pregnant after the family setteled in Emmershausen.
HEDWIG´s birth registry entry in the family stem book was sealed in the registrars office of the neighbour village ROD an der WEIL by the registrar Mr. BANGERT, even if her living house site at Emmershäuser Hütte belonged administratively to Emmershausen. It is unknown here, if in 1903 Emmershausen had an own church administration or an own village mayor´s office that could have issued the official document seal and data entry inside the family stem-book or if the WEIL family assigned themselves more to the Rod an der Weil village than to Emmershausen. Their living house at Emmershäuser Hütte is situated inside the forest between these both villages.
What calls the attention is, that the only further mentioning of HEDWIG in the WEIL Family stem book is the registry of her death at the age of only 30 years at 22nd November 1933. Her death calendar date is situated 7 years and 13 days later than her father´s death date, who died before at 9.11.1926 and also early at the age of 56 (The death date of CARL WILHELM WEIL senior´s mother was 11.09.1870, seven month after her misbegotten son was born).
But the fact, that the registry of HEDWIG WEIL´s death is sealed by a Mr. LAMBERT, registrar at the Prussian Registry office of the village of HEINZENBERG and not by the ROD a.d.WEIL registry office requires further explanation. The reason might have been administrative restructuring movements, that reorganized temporary the assignment of certain villages to other districts and dissolved the Usingen District between 1.10.1932 and 1.10.1932, i.e. the last 12 month of HEDWIG´s life. Emmershausen then is told to have formed part of the UPPER LAHN VALLEY DISTRICT at WEILBURG.
If the municipal and districtal administrative reshaping movements during Nazi-Epoch also touched the long term assignment of the Emmershausen Chapel to the Rod an der Weil church-office, is here unknown, also if the birth and death registry during these month was under control of the town mayors or the churches office. The family stem-book only provides the sealed calender data 22nd November as death day but no detailled informations about the reasons of a so early passing away of a young woman. It is here unknown, if during Nazi-Epoch medics, health administrations or criminal police would have registered detailled data about the cause of death of HEDWIG WEIL.
To clear up these open questions based on the further existing data in the CID Institute Museum Document Archives a consideration and comparation of all other information sources would be necessary.
For this task the CID Institute Museum provides actually the following sources :
1. Hedwig Weil´s Identity Card
The "identity Card" is a cardboard cutout size 9 x 14 cms with an glued photography sized 8 x 7 cms, stamped with 4 official seals. The cardboard shows scissor recuts on it´s left side that indicates, that the original document had less twice the cardboards size.
Considering that the cardboard seems to be an identity document, the fact, that the photography shows a young girl of adolescent age, sitting on a chair besides a stone table in a garden, holding on her knees a cat, is a bit surprising. Identity documents even from that early 1920 epoch normally already carried portrait photographies in passport photo size. Furthermore, the photographies picture center is overexposed, so that the facial features of the girl depicted cannot be recognized with absolute precision.
On the cardboard figure the handwritten signature "Hedwig Weil" with the explainig text, that the person who signed the card is identic with the person on the photography and that the signature was drawn by herself.
The signature and photography are sealed with the rubber stamps "Emmershausen", "The Village Mayor" and "Prussian Police Administration - Emmershausen - District of Usingen" and signed handwritten with the date 18th August 1922 and the signature of a Village Mayor named Mr. BUTZ.
Since the sealed and signed cardboard is obviously an identity document with blank and unprinted return side, the absence of more detailled data of it´s owner calls for attention. That indicates, that the left half of the document cardboard, that probaly carried the more detailled personal data as name, living adress, date of birth or age, gender, hair and eye colour, body characteristics, etc. was cut off for unexplainable reasons and in a not registered moment.
The ID-Card was discovered by the author first in 2021 between the unset family documents and had remained unknown to him before.
The same day also an ID Card for Hedwig´s mother Anna Maria Weil Leber has been edited by the same officer.
The ID-Card photography doubtlessly was taken on the garden-terrace of the WEIL Family house at Emmershäuser Hütte, a site where already earlier family photographies depicting Hedwig were taken. But the young woman on the ID-Card portrait obviously seems to have blonde hair meanwhile the confirmed photographies of Hedwig Weil show her with dark hair and dark black eyes.
ID-Card Portrait Photography attributed to Hedwig Weil
Comparation of Hedwig Weil portrait images confirmed by her sister Marie Weil (left and center) with the ID-Card photo
In fact it belongs to the anime character of human beings to be able to change it´s own facial features and facial expressions as well as photographic technology depending on light conditions, movement and mechanical settings of camera and lens, film surface and photographic paper reproduce the photographed expressions always varying. But in the present case the doubts, that the person on the ID Card is identic with the young woman known in the Weil Family as Hedwig, remain too strong.
What would be the meaning, if in 1922 the Emmershausen Village "Police" authority edited an ID Card on the name of Carl Wilhelm Weil´s daughter Hedwig, depicting a fake identity by using the image of another young woman that had been photographed in the proper living space of Hedwig´s family house-garden ? An official administrative confusion game that started 4 years before Hedwig´s father´s death and 11 years before she herself is registered as dead or dissappeared ?
2. The Remaining Photographies
The photographies existing in CID Institute Family Museum that shall depict Hedwig Weil comprise several groups of images :
- Pictures preserved personally by Hedwig Weil´s sister Marie Wei
The image probably is taken in 1920-1925
Hedwig Weil (2nd seen from left)
in company of her whole family.
From left: Mother Anna Maria Weil-Leber, Hedwig Weil, Carl Wilhelm Weil, familar woman from Black Forest, brother Carl Weil jun., sister Marie Weil with dog
at the Emmershäuser Hütte terrace stone circle table probably around 1920.
The photography is hold during 1960ies / 70ies by Maria Klinge Weil as family memory.
Both pictures can be considered as genuine, having served seriously to Marie Klinge-Weil as memory to her lost parents and sister already during the childhood time of her grandchild, the author of this compilation.
- Pictures preserved by other sources that returned to the Weil-Families image collection, when Marie Klinge-Weil´s daughter Rosemarie Zanger-Klinge started to sistematize the family history collection raised up and organized by her since the 1970ies
Since 1969, when moved her household from Emmershausen to Weilmünster, the niece of Hedwirg Weil, the only daughter of her sister Marie, Mrs. Rosemarie Zanger, at the age of 35 started to deal with her ancestry, investigating about details that in her opinion had still to be investigated. Besides the question of the real destiny of her father GÜNTHER KLINGE, declared as disappeared 4th July 1942 south of Charkiv (Ucrainia) and the real identity of her unlawful born grandfather´s father from St. Petersburg, the unenlightened circumstances of death 0f his joungest daughter Hedwig in November 1933 occupied mostly her mind. She, Rosemarie, born 1 year and 11 month later than Hedwig´s registered date of dissappearance, knew her aunt only by the narratives of her mother Marie, Hedwig´s sister.
The growing interest in Hedwig´s fate probably was promoted by the existence of the Weilmünster Sanatory, a basic healing establishment, that during Nazi epoch had been abused as extinction site in the fascist administration structure of the "T-4 Program Extermination Camps" between 1933 and 1945. But the public discussions about the legal right to kill by medical treatment persons with "discapacitations" that could not be "healed", played an important role in Weilmünster also during the recent epoch of 1970-1988, when in Weilmünster, parallel to the construction of the new residence of the Zanger-Klinge-Weil family, also the WALDHEIM Department of the Psychiatric Sanatory was constructed and put in operation. Architectonic similar to the Zanger Family House, the WALDHEIM Camp was constructed in a certain distance from the rest of the hospital complex uphill in the forest at the entrance of the hospital cemetery hidden there. The WALDHEIM was reserved for the "treatment" of "Severely Disabled" children. Child discapacitation diagnosis during the 1950-1970 epoch often and maybe mostly have been related to "unwanted" children born from so called "illegitimate" relationships - pregnance without marriage or after sex with "extramarital relationship" - when parents or families expelled the newborn by treating and educating them different than their "own" descendence.
Rosemarie Zanger then started to ask abroad living relatives, neighbours from Emmershäuser Hütte, former classmates or friends from Emmershausen, former Weil Family friends from Frankfurt, historians and church and registrars offices if they are in possession of photographies and documents on family history. The so by her collected Family Archive grew constantly during the following decades but not only remained exclusively under her control. In repeated circumstances persons with those she maintained investigative contacts, showed own interest in her document and photography family collections. Between those figure as persons that received Weil-Family archive material for insight temporary during the 1980ies and 1990ies
- Stephan Kolb, Teacher at CWS Usingen for the Edition of his Book "Die Juden von Usingen"
- Benedikt Burkhard, Curator at Postal and Telecommunication Museum at Frankfurt for the Exposition "Letters sent during wartimes by fathers to their children"
- Walter Hagenow, Investigator at Frankfurt for the Edition of his book about "German Refugees during Nazi-Dictatorship in Southern France"
- Kurt Riehl, Teacher at Elisabethen School in Frankfurt for Private Studies about the Destiny of Günther Klinge
- Citizens Initiative Weilmünster of the Green Party for History Studies about the Walter Adlhoch Heim Sanatory preparatory to the establishment of a genocide memorial and an permanent Sanatory History Exposition
- The History Association "Geschichtsverein Weilrod"
- The Editors of the 3 Books about the History of Weilmünster Dr. Ernst Löw et.al., Dr. Elisabeth Knobling et. al. and Dr. Christina Vanja et.al.
The original photographies and negative stripes of the family archive during the decades 1975-2005 had been given partially to photographer shops to make copies and enlargements on photographic paper. The following further photographies actually are archived under Hedwig Weil in the CID Institute´s Family Museum photostock:
- 1904/05 children Portrait Basel
Karl, Hedwig, Marie später Maria, Basel (letter of Rosemarie Zanger)
If the photography shows the three children of Carl Wilhelm Weil and Anne Marie Leber Weil it would have been taken around New Year 1904/05, when Hedwig was 12 month old, Karl junior 2 years and 4 month and Marie 3 years and 7 month. The three children, that lived since 1903 in Emmershausen would have travelled about one year later then Hedwig was born from Emmershausen to the former residence of their parents, Basel, where in 1900 and 1901 Marie and Karl junior had come to world, to take that portrait.
- about 1907/08 Four Photo-Album Recuts (1 missing, replaced by a Photo-Repro)
Three photographies 6.2 x 8.4 cms in "sepia" colouring on photographic paper, glued on white paper recuts 6.8 x 9.0 cms, the latters glued on red photo-album-cardboard. The pictures appear "old". Added on Kodak Xtralife Paper 10.2 x 15 cms a fourth "new" black & white group photography with the same image composition and nearly same face expressions of portraited persons as album picture 3.
A. Portrait Photography "Girl with Dog"
B. Photography "Children on Card Wagon"
The photography is taken in front of the Weil Family house at Emmershäuser Hütte, standing on the "Mühlheck Path" looking in direction Mühlheck-Wood and Emmershäuser Mühle. The same girl as in the upside described photography wearing same "Hessen Coat" and same hairstyle is standing together with three girls and a crouching boy on a ladder cart. her face expression is somewhat different than on the upside described image. She would be Hedwig then. Besides the cart stand 2 more girls and a young man with a hat. The boy crouching in front of the girl might be Hedwig´s brother Karl Wilhelm Weil junior that than should have the age of 7 years. The dark dressed gril on the ladder cart, standing in the center of the three girls left, might be Hedwig´s bigger sister Marie Weil at the age of 8, meanwhile the two young ladies at her sides most probably are daughters from Emmershausen or Rod an der Weil families. The children standing outside the cart are unknown.
C & D. Family Portrait Photography Garden-Terrace Emmershäuser Hütte 1 & 2
Both pictures show Carl Wilhelm Weil (standing) in company of his wife Anna Maria Weil (sitting in front of him) at the stone-table of the family residences garden-terrace. Both are accompanied by another adult woman with dark hair, sitting also at the terrace table, and 6 children, that appeared already on the photography with the ladder wagon described before. It can be suppposed, that the photography was taken the same day as the ladder wagon picture, because 5 children are dressed same. The girl with the braid hairstyle and the young man with the that, that appeared also on the wagon cart picture, don´t appear again on the family group photography.
On both pictures Hedwig´s sister Marie Weil most probably is represented by the girl besides the dog at the left of the image. Karl Wilhelm junior is standing at the opposite image margin in front of his daddy. Between him and his sitting mother should stand Hedwig.
The girl seeming to be Hedwig on this third and fourth photography now is dressed different. The before weared "He3ssen Coat" now is exchanged into a plaid dress with lace collar. In her hand she carries flowers, holding them drooping to the side. She wears the same lace up boots as on the first described portrait pictures of this 4 image series.
Hedwig´s face area is disturbed on the first of both group portrait images by an overexposure effect that seems to be made intentionally during photographic image processing. On the second image her face is clear and detailled visiblöe, but a certain difference between both face halves is recognizable, so as if on her right face halve an image overlay would have been superimposed. A photo retouching technique that is only known as possible since the implementation of digital image processing for broad public later than 1980.
- about 1912-15 Garden Portrait with sister and mother
The black&white silver-gelatine print on postcard cardboard 8.9 x 12.1 cms shows 4 woman in the Weil Families Emmershäuser Hütte house garden. Left stands Marie Weil, Hedwigs sister, at the age of probably 12-15 years, 2nd from left is Hedwig Weil, 3rd from left is their mother Anna Maria Weil-Leber.
The identity of the 4th person is here unknown, her facial features suggests, that she might be a member of an Emmershausen citizens family. Attention calls her body posture, that on the image appears unnatural bent backwards, so as if she would sit on a table or be leaned against the garden fence - but the latter is too far away for that.
On the part of the CID Institute Family Museum Document Archive it is apprehended, that the original family pitcure only showed the 3 Weil woman - the mother with her both daughters - but the 4th person was introduced later by digital image manipulation techniques.
- about 1926 - 1933 Group Photographies with Hedwig
- Hedwig sitting in front of the family house. Sister marie and mother standing 2nd and 3rd from the right.
- Hedwig sitting at Weil meadow in front of her mother Anna Maria Weil. Her sister standing in the image center. The visitors might be friends from Frankfurt.
- Hedwig standing left of her sister Marie, her mother siting in front of her on a chair.
- Hedwig sitting left of a young woman in nun´s habit, her brother Carl Wilhelm junior standing 2nd from right, her sister Marie sitting firest row 2nd from right.
- Hedwig sitting at the right besides Weil River, her mother standing at her left.
- Synopsis of the Photographic Analysis
On several photographies have been detected intromissions during photographic reproduction. For that reason remains doubtful the authenticity of certain photographic documents about Hedwig.
It cannot be excluded that since 1980 by digital image processing the identity of Hedwig Weil was attempted to "paint over". The reason for photo retouch manipulations with such great effort must have been rather important. That indicates the high importance that the personality of Hedwig Weil still occupied in the public discussion of her life history reflection even 50 years after her supposed death.
It cannot be excluded that the reason for the overpainting of Hedwig Weil´s person by changing documents or pictures about her was the intention to cover a crime ocurred in 1933.
The confusion, generated with the image changes, must have interfered severly in the conscience of Rosemarie Zanger-Klinge during the 1980ies until 2005. She, as orphan in early childhood, found her orientation inside her family by imaginating her father and unknown aunt and grandfather on pictures. Since she started seriously around 1980 to investigate about her father´s, aunt´s and grandfather´s death, the phantasy image world generated on the manipulated picture copies started to disturb her mind heavily. This effect maybe also was pretended. If the background of Hedwig´s dissappearence was a crime scene, the progeny of the force actors of November 1933 would have been disturbed by the investigation of Hedwig´s niece even in 1990. Also the death circumstances of Carl Wilhelm senior, his daughter Hedwig and her sister´s husband Günther Paul Alfred Klinge could be a key to explain the loss of Rosemarie Zanger´s husband´s mother and sister in 1951 and 1956 in Emmershausen.
3. The personal witnesses
The author of this resumption, born a quarter century after Hedwig Weil´s life´s end, knew about the existence of his great-aunt from conversations of his parents, when he lived as child in the Weil-Family house at Emmershäuser Hütte between 1957 and 1969.. His parents, both markered heavy by the World War II incidents, often treated "Nazi-Time-Events", the topic of related loss of their family members and "questions of responsability", searching to clear up the reasons of death of their relatives. Rosemarie had lost her daddy during Nazi War campaign in Russia and in before-war years also her aunt Hedwig and her grandfather in Emmershausen. Her husband Rolf lost his mother and one of his sisters short after they setteled in Emmershausen during post-war years.
The discussions mentioning Hedwig between Rosemarie and Rolf, the author´s parents, repeatedly touched the Nazi-Administration-Programs for erradication of discapacitated persons. Hedwig was considered as "discapacitated" due to her "body limitations after Poliomyelitis"-diagnosis. The principal ethical question, if medical killing could be allowed, was raised. This discussion also raised stronger, after the family had setteled in Weilmünster, a site where during Nazi-Regime existed an T-4-Program Hospital.
As mentioned in the beginning of this compilation, the author´s parents suggested a certain "rebirth" of character elements of their lost ancestors Hedwig Weil and Verena Zanger in their newborn first child. This even more, because Rosemarie, the author´s mother, became pregnant in the age of 21 during the first days of October 1956, what means, during the same days, when her husband´s Rolf´s sister Verena died at 8th October 1956, Rosemaries birthday. The animistic-religious family believed then for that reason, that Verena´s soul had entered into Rosemarie, so that Verena was reborn 9 month later with the couples first son Peter.
As similar "transfer of characters traits" on him was suggested by the parents of the author for elements of Hedwig´s personality. During his childhood years the author, living in the same rooms as Hedwig did, suffered unexplainable heavy pain in his legs when brought to bed at night, so that he couldn´t fall asleep - a possible psychosomatic reflection of Hedwig´s "leg-weakness" after her father Carl Wilhelm Weil had dissappeared. The authors "leg-pain" had to be treated with homemade house-remedies, a botanic nature medicine made of pine tree branches extracted in methylated spirit prepared by his grandmother, Hedwig´s sister and his grand.-grand-mother, Hedwig´s mother Anne Marie Leber Weil. We find here also a visual coincidence to Hedwig´s photographic presence, embodied by her portrait, standing in front of the pine branches.
Additionally, the author´s legs as newborn child during an "accident" were injured by being burned on the hot metal of a bed-bottle filled with boiling water, when he was "stationed" in his stroller on the "Hüttenweg" in front of the Weil Familie´s house. The burn injuries had to be treated in the Usingen Hospital, the same site where his father´s sister Verena was brought to one year before, when she intoxicated her throat with hydrochloric acid from a "water.-bottle" that she drank from in the house of Nicolai-Schott family in Emmershausen.
The author, as small child, was used to play, putting Vineyard Snails into a small ladder cart, similar to the one on Hedwig´s childhood picture, and to drive them around. When Hedwig´s mother, Anna Maria Weil discovered him playing so at exactly the same site, as the historic ladder wagon is pictured on Mühlheck Path at Emmershäuser Hütte, she became extremely angry, beating on his hands with her walking stick, commanding him "Lass die Schneck´ in Ruh´" (Leave the snails in peace).
As Hedwig had been excluded from social life in her village due to her body limitations, a similar destiny was attributed to her suggested "rebirth" Peter during his first childhood years at Emmershäuser Hütte. When the villages children united for whitsun (Pentecost) to celebrate the traditional "Pentecost-Manikin"-Festival, the author of this treatise, Peter, first was not allowed to participate in the processional hike. When in later years his participation then was accepted, he was still not allowed to carry the "Pentecost-Manikin" (Pfingst-Männchen) carnival figure. When then it was allowed to him to carry the "Pentecost-Manikin", it was not inisde the village or in front of the houses, where a singing was presented by the processing children, but only in the forest section of the Mühlheck wood-path between Emmershausen and Emmershäuser Hütte, it means in uninhabited terrain.
Contemporaneous also a medical officer, who examined the children in the village before they started school in 1964, decided that Hedwig Weil´s great-nephew Peter Zanger - the author of this compilation - was not allowed to start class visit in the local elementary school together with his years issues. This exclusion decision avoided that he would have been schooled in the same class together with 2 children from the former village mayors family, who in 1922 edited the ID card for Hedwig Weil.
Peter also during the first school years in the Emmershausen Elementary School was excluded by the school teacher, Mr. Rudolph Wagner, from the participation in the common singing lessons, when normally all pupils from all ages took part. The reason given to him was, that he was considered by the teacher as "hummer", i.e. someone who´s voice sounds too deep or buzzing. Later Peter also was excluded from certain elements of the physical education lessons given at the local sportsground, with the consecuence, that he had to wait meanwhile other pupils played football besides the near wood margin - casually the place where around christmas 1944 a downgoing military plane had dropped 4 bombs. The reason for the exclusion were 2 painful warts on the sole of his foot - an ailment that later was treated by a recognized regional "witch", Mrs. Riebeling from Altweilnau, who eliminated the warts with a magic spell.
During the last residence years of Hedwig Weil´s great-nephew in Emmershausen 1966-1969 then happened 3 accidents related to the families Weil River Meadow, where the histrionic group photographies with the sitting Hedwig have been taken :
- During a meadow-picknick visit of the Bad Soden Lappe-Krücke family, one of the children of Mrs. Edith Lappe nearly drowned in the Weil River Weir until the husband of Mrs. Rosemarie Zanger-Klinge, Mr. Rolf Zanger, pulled him out of the water maelstroem
- Nearly time parallel during Weil River high tide of winter month the younger son of the rescuer Mr. Rolf Zanger was torn away by the current. Only an audacious rescue effort of Rolf Zanger, who followed the child in the strong river current, that already had sweeped him away under the historic Weil River Bridge, could save the life of the young boy.
- At the same site, where Rolf Zanger rescued his younger son (about 1966) from the Weil River floods, in 1968 a car, droven by a woman from Wiesbaden, crashed into the river bed. The unconscious driveress nearly drowned inside her own car, when again Rolf Zanger - alarmed by his older son and the neighbour daughter Dagmar Maurer - rescued her life from her car wreck in the river.
In a later occasion, the author as child was told by a boy from Emmershausen "But you also belong to the KALMENHOF". The Kalmenhof in Idstein during Nazi-Time belonged to the administrative T-4 Program Structure, where "restless children" (Zappelphillip) had been "treated" by medical personal, "tranquillizing" them with sedatives as for example LUMINAL, allegedly until the death of these children.
Resume
The HEDWIG WEIL photographies are published here by her remaining family with reservation regarding their authenticity. In fact, some pictures are known personally from the 1960ies, when Hedwigs sister, Maria Weil, used two of the here presented images framed in her room in memory of her absent sister. So, what refers the image composition, the image authenticity can be confirmed by witness for two photographies. However there are restrictions regarding the representation of the facial features of Hedwig on the pictures.
Rosemarie Zanger, who took over the family portraits from her mother Maria Klinge-Weil in 1984, in doubt about the identity of some persons pictured on photographies, handed out the whole image stock for ancestry studies to alien persons in Weilmünster or Weilburg. From there she received the portraits in return about a decade or two later and handed out again the photo-stock to the CID Institute with the task of composition of a family encyclopedia.
The CID Institute director, Rosemaries older son Peter, who knew personally the portraits hold by Maria Klinge, remembered the original face expression of Hedwig Weil on her portrait and wondered about the obvious physiognomic changes on the returned photographies. A discussion resulted with Rosemarie Zanger about a probable "treament" of the portraits with "PhotoShop" and an exchange of the "strange" facial features of Hedwig Weil.
In spite of these doubts, the portraits are exposed here in this digital museum hall.
The photographies are digital reproductions taken by Foto CID from paper print photographies preserved in the Rosemarie Zanger photographic family archive between 2002 and 2010.
Hedwigs Life Data
Hedwig Weil is born 27th December 1903 in Rod an der Weil as third child of the couple Carl Wilhelm Weil and Anna Maria Leber. Having given her parents birth to her sister Marie 18.6.1900 and her brother Carl Wilhelm at 24.9.1901, both in Basel / Switzerland, the family moved to settle new at Emmershäuser Hütte, where soon later Hedwig is born.
Her birth is registered under No. 45 in the birth register of Rod an der Weil by the registrar Bangert. The registration seal of Usingen district in the family logbook is largely discolored.
As personality characterization to Hedwig Weil later by her family relatives is attributed a strong artistic ability. She created paintings. Her sister Marie communicated during the 1960ies, that Hedwig Weil suffered since birth Poliomyelitis that during her adolescence caused reduced growing and advancing paralysis. It was said, that Hedwig counteracted these discapacities by learning to use her mouth and toes to hold the brush while painting.
Probably she lived during a certain period away from her home in the neighbour village Cratzenbach with a female friend that teached her painting, as told by Rosemarie Zanger (unconfirmed).
One of her confirmed artworks, a painted wooden chest, is already exposed inside the CID Institute Museum Family Object Collection
As family members confirmed, Hedwig suffered social distancing from her countryside surrounding due to her "being different" and body limitations, but was strongly protected and received backing by her father Carl Wilhelm Weil sen., who deceased in November 1926 when Hedwig was near to celebrate her 23rd birthday.
Her then remaining 7 more years of life she spent in company of her sister Marie and her mother Anne Marie who remained after the death of Carl Wilhelm Weil living inside the family house at Emmershäuser Hütte. No detailled information exists about the household management during these years, but probably the loss of the families breadwinner urged the three woman to rent part of their house to "summer-guests" or vacation travellers from the Frankfurt-Königstein-Wiesbaden region. During these years it is told that several militaries lodged temporary at their house, between those General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the later correspondent for the United States of America of the later german television channel ARD, Peter von Zahn.
Historically the years 1926-1933 are described as the WEIMAR REPUBLIC, a political transition period of the "German Reich" between the First and the Second World War, that was markered by economic growth ("The Golden Era 1924-1929") followed by an economic crisis called "The Great Depression" initiated in the United States of America in 1929, what led to the rise of the NAZI Party and the later Hitler Regime in 1933.
Hedwig´s Death
Hedwigs Death is registered for the 22nd November 1933, about one month before her 30iest birthday. The family book registry records an entry of the "Prussian" registrars office of the neighbour village Heinzenberg (Oberlahnkreis) for 22nd November 1933. More details haven´t been recorded or are not available here in the Rosemary Zanger family data collection.
Her death occurs during the period, when her sister Marie at the age of 33 entered a Love Relationship with Günther Paul Alfred Klinge, born 8th June 1905 in Zulmin-Ottomin. About 12 month after the registered death of Hedwig her sister Marie get´s pregnant with her later daughter Rosemarie Elisabeth, born at 8th October 1935.
Günther Paul Alfred Klinge at that time occupies the the professional position as "Head of the Office of the german General Regional Health Insurance AOK" at Usingen Schlagweg / Adolf-Möller-Street. Günther Klinge at same time is locally engaged in the German National Socialist Workers Party NSDAP Usingen basic working structures and occupied the function of SA Group Leader.
A direct relationship of the work of this SA male party structure and the death of Hedwig is here not documented or confirmed. But surviving familiars later suggested a relationship between the death of Hedwig and the starting "social cleaning" activities of the recently in 1933 established Nazi-Regime, later named more organized "T 4 Programm". Hedwig due to the reported physical growth limitations of her body, generated by so called "Childrens Paralysis Disease" Poliomyelitis, might have been classified as "Disabled Person" what could have increased her personal risk level as woman in an era of growing male military madness.
Rosemarie Zanger during the 1990ies in Weilmünster repeatedly mentioned that she had observed in the age of 4 during the so called "Crystal Night" (9th until 11th November 1938) how a mob of fascist SA men pulled a young woman by her long black hair out of her house and down the stone entrance stairway at Usingen Wilhemjstrasse 15, what impressed her persistent due to the fact, that her daddy was an SA leader. She also later mentioned an attack of SA men at Emmershäuser Hütte on the neighbour IG BSE Union Rest Home at Emmershäuser Mühle where it was said "a person died" and her daddy was said to have participated in that raid.
In 1993 during room restoration works, the later CID Institute staff found carvings and writings inside the wood of a room door inside her mothers sleeping room in the first floor of Hedwigs family home at Emmershäuser Hütte, when retrieving a varnish layer. The writing letter type was assigned by Rosemarie & Rolf Zanger to Hedwig Weil. Other male family members then took over the duty to remove these witness traces.
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