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Sunday 10 October 2010

Sepia Saturday; Summer 1934


My aunt Helena called Tante Leni and Thomas her husband to be. Bathing in the river Drau, summer 1934. Helene was born 1911 and Thomas 1907. They married in 1936. They already had a daughter born 1930.
It was common in Austria to have children out of wedlock. My mother did not but both my aunts
have born children before they got married.
My great grand mother had both her daughters out of wedlock, my grand mother Franziska Aloisia and an other daughter Helena.She did not have more children. My grandmother also had some of her children out of wedlock.

1934; the taller boy Richard was the youngest child in my mother's family. He was born 1922.
He is now 88 years old and the last alive of my mothers siblings. His mother died at is birth.
The cheerful little fellow Seppel was born 1927. He is the son of my mothers older sister Viktoria
called Tante Dora.
I am not sure who took the pictures, probably my mother who was always taking photos.

Enjoy Sepia Saturday and click here;

13 comments:

  1. Austria sounds like a very forward thinking country.
    Those are some very cute pictures. It looks like everyone is having fun.

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  2. What a good job your mother was such an enthusiast with a camera. These lovely, informal shots must be so precious to you and your family.

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  3. lovely old family photos. Love the clothes!

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  4. Whoever the photographer was they had a great rapport with the kids.A Perfect Snapshots in Time.

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  5. Glad to see the boy who lost his mother looking so happy. How interesting that so many had illegitimate children. I have a lot of that in my family too. My great great grandmother in Finland had three children over a span of 20 years and was never married at all. Too bad she didn't live in Austria! Life might have been easier for my illegitimate great grandmother there. Thanks for sharing the great photos and the interesting information.
    CeCe

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  6. What joyful photos! I love the swimsuits.

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  7. What wonderful photos, so lovely to have. There are many instances where the children came before weddings in many of my family lines from many generations ago until present day generations.

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  8. nice to see them all so cheerful, despite what was a difficult political and economical time. here in quebec, having children out of wedlock was shameful, due to the oppression of the catholic church. pregnant girls were sent away to deliver the baby which was left in an orphanage and some girls were never allowed to return to their family because of the dishonor...
    thankfully, the mentality here started to change in the early 1960s, when we had was is referred to as our "quiet revolution". it may have been quiet, but no stone were left unturned...
    :D~
    HUGZ

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  9. Makes me want to paddle alongside them! :)

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  10. Yes great photographs - and such an informative post as well. As always, such and interesting and enjoyable read. Thanks so much for participating.

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  11. I'm surprised that out-of-wedlock children were accepted. How very forward thinking of them. I love the classic names Franziska Aloisia and Seppel.

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  12. That is an interesting social behavior. It would be interesting to know what stage of the evolution of the Austrian culture brought the practice of having children before marriage. Of course in this country it has almost become common to not marry at all or wait until they want to throw a big wedding just for the fun of it.

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  13. Love the family history. It may explain why there is no mention of my MIL's father as she was born in Austria also. Her mom came over without her, she stayed with the nuns. She came alone at age 16.
    PS noticed a 2nd gourd hanging in the boxwood after I'd posted that story!

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