This
week I continue my
project of transcribing Luxembourg sources with the birth
certificate of Eduard STROESSER.
The
obituary
of Baltasar STROESSER referred to one of his survivors as “Edy
STROESSER.” At the time I first accessed that article, I had never
heard of anyone of that name, nor had I any information about the
possible children of Baltasar STROESSER. I surmised that this Edy,
and the next named Marcel, were Baltasar’s sons. The obituary of Anna KAYSER,
Baltasar’s wife, strengthened this hypothesis. Her first identified
survivors were Eduard and Marzel STROESSER. Although the names are
not identical, they are clearly similar enough to likely refer to the
same people.
This
thought led me, naturally, to the Luxembourg civil registration
digital images at FamilySearch. Luck was with me, as there was indeed
a collection of birth records for the time and place that would have
been most likely for the children or Baltasar and Anna.
So
once again I began the familiar task of looking through registers
page by digital page to reconstruct a family. And once again success
smiled upon me. About a year after the marriage
of Anna and Baltasar, just when a child might be expected, a
child appeared in the record. And, sure enough, he was named Eduard.
This image has been trimmed from the original at FamilySearch. |
Transcription (the italicized parts were handwritten on the record):
Im Jahre tausend neun hundert acht, den achtzehntendes Monats Oktober um zehn Uhr Vor= mittags ist vor UnsJacob Stoffel, Schöffen delegirten Beamten des Civilstandesder Gemeinde Esch , im Kanton Esch, Großher=zogthum Luxemburg, erschienen Baltasar Stroesser, Wagner.alt dreißig drei Jahre Vater des Kindeswohnhaft zu Esch , welcher Uns ein Kind mannlichenGeschlechts vorgestellt hat, geboren zu Esch, vorgesternum neun Uhr Nach mittags, im Hause Nr. 1 Norbert Metz Platz= Gasse,erzeugt von dem Comparenten und dessen EhefrauAnna Kayser, alt acht und zwanzig Jahreund welchem er den Vornamen Eduard Heinrichgeben zu wollen erklärt hat.Diese Erklärung und Vorstellung sind geschehen in Gegenwart SebastianKayser, alt dreißig ein Jahre Ackerer,wohnhaft zu Esch, und des Michel Rinnen,Wagener, alt zwanzig fünf Jahrewohnhaft zu Esch, und haben die Comparenten dieseUrkunde, nachdem sie ihnen vorgelesen worden, mit Uns unterschrieben.
Line by line Translation:
In the Year one thousand nine hundred and eight, the eighteenthof the Month of October at ten o'clock Before noon is before UsJacob Stoffel, Alderman delegate Officials of the Civil Stateof the Commune of Esch , in the Canton Esch, Grand-duchy of Luxembourg, appeared Baltasar Stroesser, Coach-builderaged thirty three Years Father of the Childresiding in Esch , which to us a child of the maleGender has presented, born in Esch, the day before yesterdayat nine O’clock After noon, in House No. 1 Norbert Metz Place- Street,begat by the Comparent and his WifeAnna Kayser, aged twenty eight Yearsand which he the First Name Eduard Heinrichhas declared to want to give.This Statement and Presentation are done in the Presence of SebastianKayser, aged thirty one Years, Farmer,residing in Esch and Michel Rinnen,Coach-builder, aged twenty five Yearsresiding in Esch, and the Appearing Parties have thisDeed, having been read to them, with us signed.
Apart from the confirmation that Eduard was the son of Baltasar STROESSER and Anna KAYSER, this record supplies another piece of new information: the family’s address in Esch-sur-Alzette. Addresses now inspire me with excitement, ever since the use of Google street view occurred to me last year. So upon translating this certificate, I hurried there. Unfortunately, the address took me to a complicated intersection and I wasn’t able to determine exactly which building corresponded to the address, but I didn’t give up. A regular internet search took me to an auction site called Delcampe containing old post cards of the area. Some of them I was able to recognize as the same area I had seen in street view. Upon closer inspection, several of them included in the photograph a business with the word “Wagner” painted in bold letters on the front. Could this be the home and business location of my Baltasar STROSSER, wagner? I cannot say for sure, but it certainly seems possible. Even more thrilling, one of the post cards depicted a small family standing in front of that particular business. Perhaps it is the STROESSER family in person.
Source:
Esch-sur-Alzette,
Luxembourg, birth certificate no. 408 (1908), Eduard Heinrich
Stroesser; digital image #107 of 975, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, “Naissances 1908-1913,” FamilySearch
(www.familysearch.org
: accessed 26 Oct 2014).