The Schroeders had  origins in the Mark Brandenburg,  the heart of the Prussian Empire. Neu Ruppin i(below right) is a garrison town, home of the famed 24th Prussian Infantry Regiment, which was closely associated with Fredric the Great

               . Grandpapa Schoeder, Anita's paternal Grandfather, was a military man, a petty officer in the 24th.

He was one of the 9 children of the venerable lady seated second from the right, and he is shown with his two sons, Paul, on the right  and my wife's father, Willhelm, next to his mother nee Schwarzkopf. Schwarzkopf was native to Neu Ruppin and  dauhter of a lumber yard manager..    Grandpa Schroeder was a good looking man and had a side-line as an amateur actor. After retirement the old man became a public accountant andt he enjoyed hunting  on the Schorfheide.

Grandpa Schroeder never saw military action but he saw to it that his son Willy, born in the house on the left above,did; He made him  volunteer his services. aged 17, in the first World War.  Willy probably worked in the accountancy business after he came back from the 1914-1918 war, a victim of poison gas but otherwise OK. Hapless Willy. somewhat of an opportunist, joined the Nazi Party after they came to Power in 1933. He had the great misfortune to be the right age to be drafted to serve in the second World War. He took part in the occupation of Paris and then served on the Eastern Front. He was captured by the Russians and returned to Berlin  a skeleton of a man, crawling on all fours and was nursed back to health by his wife Ellen (nee Hohenstein) and his daughter, my wife Anita. It should be noted in passing that the earlier origins of the Schroeders lay in Gross Schoenebeck: they were farmers and petty bourgeoisie.


Willy HIGH SCHO0L                 1917                                        1922                                  ELLY  HOHENSTEIN

The Hohensteins were artisans, craftsmen, and engineers.


Anita's Maternal Grandparents, HOHENSTEIN -AUST   Maternal Gr. Parents of Father (SCHWARTZKOPF)
 
 


ANITA (CHILD IN THE CENTER) HER GRANDMOTHER TO HER RIGHT, FATHER AND MOTER TO HER LEFT
AUNT LISA far LEFT UNCLE PAUL SECOND FROM LEFT

Anita's father worked on the stock exchange but he also stayed in the accounting business which became his main source of income after the crash of 1928


       1931       BERLIN                                 1934    BERLIN                                     1950 LONDON
 

Note: for a continuation of Anita's history go back and look at 'Anita1' and 'Lothar'