Gertrud Martina was my godmother. She was the wife of my father's brother Erwin. They had a small holding.The summer month they spend in the Swiss alps with the cows and made excellent butter and cheese. Her parents lived with them in the same farm house, like it was custom then.
Her parents name was Bischoff, as a child I thought he was a Bishop! It is a very old pre Christian and interesting name of Greek origin. If you are interested here is the link
Gertrud Martina, preferred to work outside on the farm. We visited often and helped also with the hay making. On Sunday she cooked always a beautiful meal which we ate in the living room. In the middle of the big kitchen was a table and benches but on Sunday we ate in the living room.
She was plagued with a big goitre but later it was removed.
Two of her children, my cousins. Erwin and his sister Erna. this picture was probably taken by my mother in 1944. Erna was a beautiful girl. She had these amazing big grey eyes and dark eyelashes. The house in front was the farm house. Nobody lived in the house at the back. All the rooms were empty, in a odd way it was a bit eerie. We used to play in there and I liked it very much running up and down the wooden stairs.
I have very fond memories of those people, especially my uncle Erwin he was a very kind and nice man.
Please visit Sepia Saturday
A wonderful photo of your godmother with her cows. As a little girl I loved the story of Heidi living up in the Swiss mountains and your photo reminds me of this! Isn't it interesting how surnames came to be, I have always been fascinated by this.
ReplyDeleteSuch fun photos! I remember the cows in Switzerland with their beautiful floral headdresses parading down the street.
ReplyDeleteYour memories add real depth to the photos.
Oh I think this is my favourite post this week. like Marilyn I loved the story of Heidi as a little girl in New Zealand. One of my loveliest memories is visiting Lucerne and going up into the mountains. i remember the beautiful soft spring grass with wild flowers..and the cow bells. Ahhh.
ReplyDeleteErna reminds me of Heidi, too. All of us must have grown up being read the Heidi story.
ReplyDeleteWieder so schöne Erinnerungen liebe Titania. Das Leben der Bergbauern war damals sehr hart, denke ich, auch heute ist es noch genügend arbeitsintensiv, doch einiges hat sich glücklicherweise geändert.
ReplyDeleteGerade durfte ich die Bergwelt auf einem schönen Ausflug aufs Stanserhorn erleben, einfach eine Pracht.
Einen schönen Sonntag noch
herzliche Grüsse
Elfe
These photos have transported me to another place, another time. A quieter, slower, peaceful place and time.
ReplyDeleteThe cows seem to really like your aunt Gertrud. And isn't it interesting how some folks are "indoor" people and some are "outdoor" people? We had an older neighbor once who told me that she only ever wanted to do the indoor work and her sister only ever wanted to do the outdoor work.
The photograph of your cousins is adorable because of the children and interesting because of the houses in the background. I would like to see inside those houses. They look very appealing to me.
2 very evocative photographs.They give a very real sense of Time & Place.Yes,I think I would have liked to run those stairs too!
ReplyDelete