Family History
Häfner Family Tree
1- Gottlieb Wilhelm Georg Johann Häfner (abt. 1840 - 1892)
+ Christine Wilhermina Walther (abt. 1840 - abt. 1862)
. . . 2- Moritz Gotlieb Ernst Häfner (13 May 1861 - 25 Apr 1919)
. . . + Henriette Marie Korb (abt. 1861 -)
. . . . . 3- Max Erich Häfner (1 Oct 1895 -)
. . . . . 3- Marie Gertrud Häfner (1 July 1897 -)
. . . . . + Hermann Erich Bernhardt (5 Feb 1898 - 13 Feb 1945)
+ Marie Luise Lindemann (abt. 1840 - abt. 1928)
. . . 2- Wilhelm Friedrich Traugott Häfner (18 Jan 1865 - 3 July 1941)
. . . + Frida Paula Schmidt (27 Dec 1893 -)
. . . + Klara Meta Leidhold (24 Feb 1867 - 28 Nov 1934)
. . . . . 3- Max Friedrich Wilhelm Häfner (4 Nov 1886 - 8 May 1956)
. . . . . + Eliza Ann ? (abt. 1886 -)
. . . . . + Christine Rosa Spilger (28 Apr 1891 -)
. . . . . . . . 4- Kurt Herbert Häfner (14 Oct 1906 -)
. . . . . 3- Clara Johanne Gertrud Häfner (18 Aug 1892 - 10 May 1978)
. . . . . + Martin Herbert Johannes Nauke (5 Aug 1892 - 29 Nov 1954)
. . . . . . . . 4- Johanna Gertrud Elizabeth Nauke (1920 - 2005)
. . . . . . . . 4- Wolfgang Johannes Nauke (1921 - 1995)
. . . . . 3- Arno Fritz Kurt Häfner (18 June 1891 -)
. . . . . + Rosa Friebe (abt. 1892 -)
. . . . . + Anna Elise Helbig (11 June 1891 -)
? . . . . . . . . 4- Kurt Häfner (abt. 1909 -)
? . . . . . . . . . 4- Werner Häfner (abt. 1920 -)
. . . 2- Hermann Richard Häfner (abt. 1873 - abt. 1930)
. . . + Helene Häfner (abt. 1873 - abt. 1945)
? . . . . . . 3- Elisabeth Häfner (1892 -)
. . . 2- Arthur Emil Hermann Häfner (14 June 1878 - 6 Jan 1949)
. . . + Hedwig Häfner (abt. 1878 -)
? . . . . . 3- Karl Paul Häfner (abt. 1900 -)
? . . . . . 3- Herbert Häfner (abt. 1904 -)
? . . . . . 3- Arthur Häfner (abt. 1910 -)
Nauke Family Tree
1- Johann August Emanuel Nauke (9 Nov 1809 - 25 March 1896)
+ Charlotte Louise Caroline Jung (28 Aug 1812 - 28 March 1874)
. . .2- Martin Friedrich Julius Nauke (26 Aug 1855 - bef. Oct 1909)
. . .+ Anna Amalie Dittmann (14 Dec 1852 - abt. 28 Nov 1914)
. . . . . 3- Johannes Martin Erhard Nauke (16 Apr 1881 - 17 July 1892)
. . . . . 3- Erich Gotthard Walter Nauke (5 May 1882 -)
. . . . . + Alma Emma Bella Ludloff (19 Oct 1884 - 19 Oct 1966)
. . . . . 3- Erna Ewelina Nauke (7 Oct 1883 -)
. . . . . 3- Harry Wilhelm Ludwig Nauke (16 Jan 1887 - 8 Dec 1945)
. . . . . + Malvine Frankl (12 Feb 1893 - 20 Sep 1926)
. . . . . . . . . 4- Violet Julia Nauke (1920 - 2015)
. . . . . . . . . 4- George Nauke (2 Apr 1922 - 8 Feb 1923)
. . . . . + Irene Angelus (16 July 1887 - 3 Apr 1934)
. . . . . 3- Hildebert Martin Engelbert Nauke (24 May 1891 -)
. . . . . 3- Martin Herbert Johannes Nauke (5 Aug 1892 - 29 Nov 1954)
. . . . . + Clara Johanne Gertrud Häfner (18 Aug 1892 - 10 May 1978)
. . . . . . . . . 4- Johanna Gertrud Elizabeth Nauke (1920 - 2005)
. . . . . . . . . 4- Wolfgang Johannes Nauke (1921 - 1995)
. . . . . + Anna Presberg (28 Dec 1897 -)
. . . . . . . . . 4- Seymour Gross (1922 - 1993)
. . . . . . . . . 4- Leona Martin (abt. 1931 -)
. . . . . + Adele Martin (abt. 1900 -)
. . . . . 3- Ferdinande Elisabeth Nauke (24 Jan 1897 - 9 Aug 1897)
Wolfgang Johannes Nauke
1921 - 1995
Son of Martin Nauke and Gertrud Nauke born Häfner. Born November 16, 1921 in Dresden Germany. He arrived in America on April 10, 1927 with his mother, sister, and grandmother. The family lived with Martin's brother Harry for a short time, then in an apartment of their own. Around 1929, the family moved to Huntington, Long Island, New York. After serving during World War II with the American Army Medical Core in North Africa, he returned to Huntington and married "the girl across the street," Lena Alessio (sister of John Alessio), and raised three boys. I am the youngest of those three children. He died in Huntington on April 10, 1995.
Johanna Gertrud Lizabeth Nauke
1920 - 2005
Daughter of Martin and Gertrud Nauke. Born May 9, 1920 in Dresden Germany. Always referred to as "Liz." She arrived in America on April 10, 1927 with her mother, brother, and grandmother. The family lived with Martin's brother Harry for a short time, then in an apartment of their own. Around 1929, the family moved to Huntington, Long Island, New York. She married "the boy across the street," John Alessio (brother of Lena Alessio), and raised three boys. She died in Huntington on November 24, 2005.
Gertrud Häfner - Gertrud Nauke
1892 - 1978
Daughter of Wilhelm and Klara Häfner, wife of Martin Nauke. Born Clara Johanne Gertrud Häfner on August 18, 1892 in Altendorf near Chemnitz Germany, always referred to as "Gertrud." As a young girl she traveled and assisted her parents when they operated their zip-line ride at various festivals throughout Germany and adjacent countries. Many of the postcards she received were from suitors, the young men that worked for her family at these events. Gertrud completed her schooling to become a "Modestin," a ladies' dress and hat designer. During the separation and then after the divorce of her parents, she remained in Dresden with her mother. She worked making chocolates and later as a mail carrier. She also assisted her mother with her laundry and seamstress services.
In 1916 she became engaged to Martin Nauke. That same year she contracted tuberculosis of the bones. She received treatments at the Weisser Hirsch sanatorium spa and convalesced there for several months. She recovered from the tuberculosis but walked with a metal leg brace for the rest of her life. Gertrude and Martin were married on December 31, 1917 in Dresden. They had two children: Lizabeth in 1920 and Wolfgang in 1921, both born in Dresden. She remained in Dresden with her mother and two children, while in 1923 her husband Martin left for America to find better work.
In 1927 she, her mother and her two children joined Martin in New York City. Around 1929 the family moved to Huntington, New York where her brother Max lived. As Martin was often away seeking work as a machinist/engineer, Gertrud and her mother resumed working as seamstresses and dress designers, also operating a laundry service. She became friends with the Alessio family who lived nearby and who owned a farm. Salvatore Alessio would frequently distribute fresh eggs, meat and vegetables to local families. Without this kind assistance during the Depression, it is questionable how the family would have survived. In 1938 Gertrud divorced Martin on the grounds of mental cruelty. She never remarried. Through the 1970s and 1980s Gertrud lived at times with her daughter Liz and family or her son Wolfgang and family. It was while staying with Wolfgang, my father, and his family that I was introduced to the postcard collection (Gertrud’s Postcards) as a young boy.
Martin Johannes Herbert Nauke
1892 - 1954
Husband of Gertrud Häfner, son of Martin F. J. Nauke and Anna Nauke, (born Dittmann), born August 5, 1892 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. He spent his early childhood living with his parents and five siblings in back family rooms of the "Hotel Langes Haus." His father Martin F. J. Nauke co-owned and operated the hotel with his brother Adolf. Since his father was responsible for operating the in-house brewery, bakery and sausage works, Martin Jr. was exposed from a very early age to various machines and steam kettles used in the making of beer, bread and sausages. Sometime in the mid 1890s, the family moved to the town of Schweidnitz, Silesia. There they owned and operated the hotel known as "Martin Nauke's Etablissement Preussischer Hof." It is here that Martin first met Gertrud Häfner in their mid-teenage years, when Gertrud's family rented rooms there while operatinh their Zip-Line ride at the 1908 Technical Expo in Schweidnitz. In school Martin studied and got degrees as a locksmith, a machinist and as a steam engineer. After working for a short time as a mechanical steam engineer he joined the German Navy as a "Torpedo Oberheizer" or "Chief Torpedo Boat Boiler Engineer." He was responsible for the steam boilers that powered the ship and the steam devices that propelled the torpedoes off the ship and through the water. He served on the S.M.S 143, and on the S.M.S 141 before serving on his last ship, one of the newest and largest destroyer class torpedo boats called the S.M.S. B97. He saw action in several naval engagements, and as a result suffered from what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At the time there was no recognition or treatment for this condition. Throughout World War I Martin and Gertrud corresponded by letters and postcards. They often met when he was on shore leave. From the postcards it is evident that their relationship developed from acquaintances to friends to lovers. They were engaged in 1916 and married on December 31, 1917. They went to live with Gertrud's mother in Dresden. There they had two children, Lizabeth in 1920 and Wolfgang in 1921. Martin found it hard to find a permanent job in Dresden, so in 1923 he left to find work in America, hoping to bring his family there to join him. It was not until 1927 that he sent for his family. In New York City he lived with his brother Harry and his family until his own family joined him. He moved with them into an apartment on East 96th street until about 1929 when the family moved to Huntington, New York. Once there, Martin was again mostly away from the family looking for work as a machinist/inventor. He traveled as far away as Ohio. In 1938 Martin and Gertrud divorced. In the 1930s he had abandoned his family, changed his name from Martin Nauke to John Martin, then converted to Judaism to marry Anna Gross. With Anna, he moved to Rosedale, Queens, New York where he found work as a machinist for an optical lens lab. He spent the rest of his life raising his new wife's three children, providing no support to Gertrud, Liz or Wolfgang. Martin continued to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and also severe depression later in life. After Martin left the family, Wolfgang was to see his father only twice more: once shortly after his wedding and then at his father's funeral. Martin died on November 29, 1954 in Rosedale, New York.
Wilhelm Friedrich Traugott Häfner
1865 – 1941
Father of Gertrud Häfner, born January 18, 1865 in Chemnitz, Germany. His family wass originally from Hof, near Munich. He was an entrepreneur who failed at numerous ventures: a carriage fabrication company, a bicycle shop and a zip-line amusement ride he operated at various festivals throughout Germany and adjacent countries. On May 14, 1889 he married Klara Leidhold and had three children: Max in 1886, Kurt in 1891, and Gertrud in 1892. He was known to borrow money from family and friends without paying it back. He and Klara divorced on May 3, 1919, and shortly afterwards he married his assistant Frida who was 28 years his junior. He died July 3, 1941, in Dresden Germany.
Martin Friedrich Julius Nauke
1855 - 1909
Father of Martin Johannes Nauke, born August 26, 1855 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Around 1880 he and his brother Adolf co-owned the "Hotel Langes Haus" (the Long House). He operated the in-house brewery of a dark malt beer and the sausage works with his wife Anna. This beer was served at the hotel, sold in bottles to take out, and was sold house to house throughout the town from a dog cart that held a medium sized wooden keg of beer. One of their regular customers was the local convent. From a high tower almost directly across from the hotel was a small window which would open and lower a small metal bucket. In the bucket would be a few coins that would be exchanged for a full bucket of beer. The bucket would then be carefully pulled back up to the window to be served with the evening meal.
The Nauke family lived above the brewery and had eight children: Johannes 1881, Gotthard 1882, Erna 1883, Harry 1887, Hildebert 1891, Martin 1892, Ferdinande 1897-1897, and a stillborn infant in 1901. Around 1900 the family moved east to Schweidnitz, Silesia, where he and his wife Anna owned and operated the "Preussischer Hof" guest house. It featured an indoor concert hall and an outdoor beer garden. Located across from the town army barracks it must have been a popular meeting place for soldiers. It is here that Martin and Gertrud first met as teenagers when the Häfner family rented rooms while operating their zip-line ride at the 1908 Technical Expo. He died in Schweidnitz in October of 1909.
Clara Meta Häfner
1867 – 1934
Mother of Gertrud Häfner, born February 24, 1867, Clara Meta Leidhold in Chemnitz, Germany. Her family operated a custom embroidery shop. After her marriage to Wilhelm Häfner on May 14, 1889, she worked for his carriage fabrication company while also operating a bicycle shop. Around 1903 she assisted Wilhelm with his zip-line ride. Around 1914 she divorced Wilhelm. She operated a laundry and seamstress service in Dresden, with the sisters Mina and Hedwig Speck and her daughter Gertrud.
In April of 1927 she, her daughter Gertrud and two grandchildren, Elizabeth and Wolfgang, joined her son-in-law Martin Nauke in America in New York City. In 1930 they moved to Huntington, New York near her son Max. She died November 28, 1934, in Huntington, New York.
Anna Nauke
1852 - aft. 1914
Mother of Martin Nauke, wife of Martin Freidrich Julius Nauke. Born Anna Amalie Dittmann December 14, 1852 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Like the Nauke family, her family was in the hotel and restaurant business. There is a reference to a prior marriage before Martin F.J. Nauke to a “Lucas” or “Lakas”. She married Martin Friedrich Julius Nauke on October 25, 1880. They lived in Hirschberg and had eight children: Johannes 1881-1892, Gotthard 1882, Erna 1883, Harry 1887, Hildebert 1891, Martin 1893, Ferdinande 1897 – 1897, and a stillborn infant in 1901. Three of the eight children died at childbirth or at a very early age.
Anna worked alongside her husband operating the Langes Haus hotel and restaurant in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Sometime in the mid 1890s she moved with the family to Schweidnitz, Silesia, Germany. There they owned and operated the hotel known as "Martin Nauke's Etablissement Preussischer Hof" on Waldenburger street # 27. It featured an outdoor beer garden and an indoor concert hall. As it was located directly across from the Schweidnitz military barracks, it was a popular meeting place for off-duty soldiers. Around 1906 the address of the postcards for Anna changes to Äussere Kirchestrasse or Outer Church Street #26 in Schweidnitz, where she owned a much smaller guest house. It is presumed that this move was made after the death of her husband Martin F.J. Nauke. Not much more is known about her. From the postcards it is presumed that she died in Schweidnitz after November 28, 1914.
Max Häfner
1886 – 1956
Brother of Gertrud Häfner, born November 4, 1886 in Löbtau near Dresden, Germany. As a young man he worked for his father Wilhelm as a painter and plasterer. In 18xx, he married Eliza Ann (last name not known) and had a son, Kurt, in 1906. No other information is known about his wife Eliza Ann. On April 29, 1911 he married Christine Rosa Spiliger in Dresden. In 1913 he served with the First Royal Saxon Reserve Division regimental band as an Oboe player. During World War I he was attached to the 23rd Reserve Field Artillery Regiment 3rd Battery, 12th Army Corps, then served in France as part of the 212th and 279th Field Artillery Regiments.
In April of 1930 he and his wife emigrated to America. They lived for a few years in New York City where he found work as a faux plasterer, painter and decorator and joined the local painter and decorator’s union. They moved to the town of Huntington, New York, to work on the plaster filigrees and paint decorations on the new construction of a large movie palace. It wass during this job that he invited his mother and sister, with her two children, to join him living there. He retired with his wife to Florida but returned to New York near the end of his life. He died on May 8, 1956, in New York City.
Erna Ewelina Nauke
1883 – 19xx
Sister of Martin Nauke. Born October 7, 1883 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Oldest female sibling. Very little is known about her other than that she lived in Berlin for most of her life. Date and location of her death are unknown.
Kurt Häfner
1891 – 19xx
Brother of Gertrud Häfner. Born June 18, 1891 in Chemnitz, Germany. As suggested in the postcards, as a young man Kurt was an unwelcome house guest. There are several references that speak of him arriving uninvited to stay for a few days unkempt, and eating all of the food, only to leave without notice, as abruptly as he came. He served in World War I as an ambulance driver in Belgium, France and Russia. He was hospitalized for typhoid fever and released to serve the rest of his duty in a reserve unit in Germany. On April 12, 1919 he married Anna Elise Helbig and lived in Dresden. They had two children: Kurt 1909 and Werner 1920. In 1922 he divorced Anna and married Rosa Friebe. It is unknown if they had any children. Date and location of his death are unknown.
Gotthard Nauke
1882 - 19xx
Brother of Martin Nauke. Born May 5, 1882 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Oldest male sibling. His work as an architect caused him to move where projects were available. On October 19, 1909 he married Alma Ludloff also known as “Bella.” It is believed they had at least one child. From the postcards it is known that they lived in the town of Czerwionka / Oberschlesien, Poland / Germany. The ownership of this town by Germany or Poland was in constant dispute. They lived there for several years while he designed and oversaw the building of residential and commercial buildings. It is known that he also worked on the design of the new Town Hall building and several municipal buildings in Czerwionka. Date and location of his death are unknown.
Arthur Häfner
1878 - 1949
Brother of Wilhelm Häfner. Born June 4, 1878 in Chemnitz, Germany. From early 1900s Chemnitz address directories, his occupation at Zschopauerstrasse 49 is listed as “Stainless Steel Distributor.” At this time Stainless Steel was a very high-end metal alloy used for the most demanding applications requiring steel. He married Hedwig Richter, (date unknown) and had three children: Karl-Paul 1900, Herbert 1904, and Arthur 1910. From a personnel stamp used on some postcards, it is also known that he either operated or was a member of a double quartet group and also performed as a “Humorist.” It is not clear if the double quartet was a vocal group or music group. He died on January 6, 1949 in Chemnitz, Germany.
Harry Wilhelm Ludwig Nauke
1887 - 1945
Brother of Martin Nauke. Born January 16, 1887 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. New York Census records list his first visit to America in 1904. He was 17 years old and traveled alone working onboard as a baker. He traveled to America again on: June 3, 1906, October 2, 1911, and July 30, 1914, his final trip. He remained in America and applied for citizenship to avoid the German draft of World War I. He worked first as a baker then as a waiter in various German beer halls. He married Malvine Frankel on March 9, 1920, but did not convert to her Jewish faith. They had two children: Violet on November 17, 1920 and George on April 2, 1922. The next year his wife and the two children traveled to her home town of Szombathely, Hungary, to visit her parents. It was there that she and her young son were diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her son George soon succumbed to the disease and was buried in Szombathely. Malvine and her daughter Violet returned to New York by way of Canada to avoid the Ellis Island health exams. After a long illness Malvine died on September 20, 1926 in a tuberculosis convalescent home in Liberty, New York. Harry married again to Irene Angelus who worked as a clairvoyant. In 1934 Irene went into the hospital for a simple cosmetic operation to repair a varicose vein in her leg and died. Having no mother to care for her, Violet, though raised in the Jewish faith, spent most of her teenage years in and out of a Catholic girls’ boarding school. Her father continued to work as a waiter in Jansson’s Beer Hall in New York City and for the Hershey Hotel in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Shortly after the end of World War II in December of 1945, Harry was found in his bed with four broken ribs. He died a few days later in Bellevue Hospital of pneumonia, a complication from his injuries. The Police deemed the incident as suspicious. Records of the investigation have been lost to time. He is buried in New York City in an unmarked pauper’s grave provided by the Masons. Violet later married and adopted three children.
Hedwig Speck
18xx - 19xx
Sister of Mina Speck. Co-owned or worked for Klara Häfner in a laundry and seamstress service operated in Dresden, Germany. From her many postcards to Klara and Gertrud Häfner, it appears she was not only a coworker but a family friend.
Hildebert Nauke
1891 - after 1926
Brother of Martin Nauke. Born May 24, 1891 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany. Postcards indicate that he worked from around 1910 to about 1920 for the castle in Plauen near Dresden. The New York passenger list of the S.S. Reliance documents that he was a baker whose last residence was Sonnenwalde, Germany, then left from Hamburg and arrived in New York City on September 29, 1922. It is unknown if or for how long he may have lived with his brother Harry. A record from Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital in New York states that on September 6, 1924 he was admitted for the third time for treatment of depresion. The last known information about him is from the New York State Census of June 1, 1925 which lists him as an "inmate" of Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital. No further information has been found about him. Date and location of his death are unknown.
Minna Speck
18xx - 19xx
Sister of Hedwig Speck. Co-owned or worked for Klara Häfner in a laundry and seamstress service operated in Dresden, Germany. From her many postcards to Klara and Gertrud Häfner, it appears she was not only a coworker but a family friend.