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I volunteer with the Chelsea Pensioners in London. I am helping one of the Pensioners with his Family Tree, which includes German ancestors, in particular the surname Bertram. He has been trying without success to find information about Walter Bertram born in Braunschweig in approximately 1944 and daughter Angelika Bertram who was also born in Braunschweig.
I wonder if anybody could please help in uncoveriing any information about these two individuals. I appreciate that there is little detail in my request, for which I apologise.
Many thanks in advance.
Ron

What is the source of the info?

Did both of these people remain in Germany?

Are they really Ancestors of a Chelsea Pensioner? Thinking of the time-scale………. :-\ ;-)

Good evening Erika,
I'm afraid I don't know about the source, but some additional details are as follows:
Walter served in Der Kriegsmarine in WW2. Spouse Eva (no maiden name).
Angelika was employed at Voigtlander camera/optical factory in Braunschweig.
Her last known residence was in Hamburg and before that in Stuttgart am Main. Her grandmother was Anna Ahren (no maiden name)
Error in my original message: Angelika, not Walter, was born in approximately 1944, address Kreutz Strasse, Braunschweig.
I believe they did stay in Germany.
I'll contact the Pensioner tomorrow and come back to you about the exact relationship between him and the Bertrams.
Thank you.
Ron

For European research you usually have to apply to the relevant district authorities.

It would be worth checking Family Search ( a free site) to see if they have any records.

For info : to become a Chelsea Pensioner you must be at least 65 years old or a state pensioner.

Added: Braunschweig is in Lower Saxony, Hannover is the capital, which is where you may need to start. Brunswick is the English version of Braunschweig.

Angelika Sausmikat Bertram
Birth
1944
Death
2005 (aged 60–61)
Burial
Friedhof Brinkum
Brinkum, Landkreis Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany
Memorial ID
271377820 · View Source.

find a grave,,,,,would need to be verified the name is not unusual.

Thank you namelessone for your message. The Pensioner is in the process of researching some of the district authorities.
I have started to search Familysearch for him.
I have been volunteering at the Royal Hospital Chelsea for 11 years and love it.
Thank you for the information on Braunschweig. I wasn't aware of the English version.
Kind regards,
Ron

Angelika Bertram
Maiden Name Sausmikat
Birth Date 1944
Death Date 2005
Cemetery Friedhof Brinkum
Burial or Cremation Place Brinkum, Landkreis Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany


Appears to not be this lady Kay???? Bertram was her married name.

As Walter was in the kreigsmarine the website ( in English) www.uboat.net is well worth a look.

Clickable link for the site mentioned above

https://uboat.net/

There is a tree on ancestry belonging to Peter Seward - the Polke tree. He has this for Walter. There are also photos attached to the tree.


Birth

01 Jan 1925 • Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany

1939Age 14
Military

19 Jan 1939 • Germany(Deutschland)

Walter served in the kreigsmarine during WW2.

1990Age 65
Death

01 Jan 1990


Marriage
(Vera served in the Kreigsmarine during WW2 as a naval intelleligence officer Serving in La Rochelle, France.

Vera died in
Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany


Parents

Richard Walter Bertram (another tree owned by Ria Seward has Walter Kurt Richard Bertram as his name)

1896–
Anna Ahren

1896–84

Spouse

Vera

Spouse and children

Private
Private

This is given as the death of Walter's father.

Name Walter Bertram
Birth Date 14 Oct 1896
Death Date 21 Mar 1943
Cemetery Konzentrationslager Dachau
Burial or Cremation Place Dachau, Landkreis Dachau, Bavaria, Germany
Has Bio? N
URL
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249590813/walter-bertram



Germany, Dachau Concentration Camp Records, 1945

Name Walter Bertram
Nationality German or Austrian
Birth Date 14 Oct 1896
Birth Place Braunschweig
Prior Residence Braunschweig
Street Address Hasenwinkel 11
Arrival Date 17 Aug 1942
Arrival Country Germany
Death Date 21 Mar 1943
Prisoner Number 34496
Arrival Notes 17 Aug 1942 Norwegian
Disposition Notes died 21 Mar 1943
Page 392/Ga
Original Notes (desc. / arr. / dis.) PSV. DR./ 17 Aug 1942 Nw./ gest 21 Mar 1943



Germany, Incarceration Documents, 1933-1945

Name Richard, Kurt, Walther Bertram
Birth Date 14 Okt 1896 (14 Oct 1896)
Description Individuelle Unterlagen Dachau
URL
https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/document/9980986

Anna Ahren remarried.

Marriages Jun 1950 (>99%)
Ahrend Anna Pritchard Bristol 7b 445
Bertram Anna Pritchard Bristol 7b 445
Pritchard Joseph A T Bertram Bristol 7b 445
Pritchard Joseph A T Ahrend Bristol 7b 445

You beat me to it.

Also from Find A Grave :

Gravesite Details
Bertram Walter , 14 Oct 1896 Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Hasenwinkel 11, Came From:, 17 Aug 1942 Nw., Prisoner number: 34496, police prisoner German - died 21 Mar 1943,

Walther had a sister who died in 2007, Bristol - according to the tree.

Ron - you can access Ancestry from most public libraries but you won't be able to make any contacts. You need a sub for that. Seward was the 2nd husband of the sister and she had children from both marriages.

Added: I forgot to mention there are photos on that Ancestry tree.

Wow! Thank you to all of you who have kindly given so much information. I spoke with my Chelsea Pensioner (Peter Seward) yesterday and he gave me some details from his Polke family tree on Ancestry, a good deal of which you kind people had already posted here. I hope you haven't wasted time on my behalf.
I've posted below what details Peter has provided me with.

1. Bertram family, ancestors of Angelika

Richard Walter Bertram, grandfather, b 14 October 1896, d 21 March 1943 in Dachau Concentration Camp, ref: Prisoner no. 34496 aged 46.

Walter Bertram, father, b 1 January 1925 Braunschweig, Lower Saxony.
Vera or Eva (no further information), mother.

Angelika Bertram, daughter, b circa 1944, Braunschweig, Lower Saxony.

2. Polke family, ancestors of Peter Polke (now Seward, see below).

Gunther Heinrich Polke, father, b 3 July 1906, Neustadt am Neisse, Upper Silesia, d 10 November 1943, Kiev, Ukraine, USSR.
Marianna Lina Minna Luise Helena Bertram, mother (no further information)

Peter Polke, son, Chelsea Pensioner, b 16 July 1942 (Birth certificate reg. 2569-42).
(now Seward, see below).

3. Seward family

Peter Seward (formerly Polke, see above). Adopted 8 May 1950, Bristol.
Angelika Bertram and Peter Polke (Seward) are first cousins through Angelika's mother Marianna.......... Bertram and Peter's father Gunther Polke.

Posts from you wonderful people.

ErikaH

I now understand Peter's relationship with the Bertram family.

Kay ???? and alviegal

Thanks re: Angelika Sausmikat Bertram, but agree that she is not the correct Angelika. A shame as I like the Sausmikat name.

namelessone and ErikaH

Thanks for the www.uboat.net and clickable link https://uboat.net/ I will check that out when I next meet Peter.

alviegal

Thanks so much for the Polke tree and other references. I found the Polke tree, but couldn't find any photos. They're usually in the Gallery tab, but it said no media?? Am I looking in the wrong place? I shall run through the references with Peter when next I meet him.

namelessone

I have a standard Ancestry subscription.

To all

I'm so impressed with your efforts to help me and spend your leisure time in doing so.

Peter is very keen to find Angelika Bertram in particular, if she is still alive. Any further help would be very much appreciated.

Ron

Unfortunately, she isn’t in a GR tree, so no-one on here is likely to know anything about her.

Presumably Peter knows that Anna’s husband (Pritchard) died in 1980?

The photos are on the Seward tree run by Ria Seward (Ancestry)
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/profile/08068a86-0006-0000-0000-000000000000?compareToTestId=1AD0CAE5-D0B2-4604-A225-F559ADF213DA

Try searching for Marianne L Bertram - that might help. Ria is probably her great grandaughter.