Hermann Erich Zierenberg

My grandfather Friederich Hermann Zierenberg was born in Breitenberg near Duderstadt on August 8th, 1848. He went by the name Herman. The district of Duderstadt belonged to the Kingdom of Hannover since 1815, although the population was catholic. Part of that area of Eichsfeld had belonged under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Mainz. Bismarck didn’t establish registrar’s offices until 1875 so that the catholic rectory in Duderstadt had to authenticate my grandfather’s birth. My grandfather was raised in Schladen, north of Goslar. From 1868 until 1870 he visited the teachers’ seminar in Alfeld at the Leine. After a teaching position in Lochtum near Goslar, he later worked in Alfeld where from 1874 until 1875 he took an additional higher educational class at the seminar. My grandfather arrived in Gevelsberg on April 1st, 1876, four years after my grandmother’s arrival, and taught at the grade school on Mittelstrasse (Middle Street). My grandparents lived in a timber frame construction house, even after their wedding on December 21st, 1877. This house was later demolished. During that time, my grandmother retired from teaching. Hermann's SchoolI own a photo that is from the year 1883. It shows my grandfather as the only teacher with 86 students who are all similar ages. It was common practice at that time to be teaching two classes simultaneously. The class that would be without teacher at that moment would concentrate on written work. He had an additional teaching position at a private rectorate school. Hermann Erich Zierenberg Family abt 1887My grandfather had suffered from tuberculosis since the year 1884, the same year my father was born. He went for treatment to Bad Lippspringe twice but even though the bacterium for tuberculosis had been found by Robert Koch in 1882, he was unable to be cured. During that era, 12% of all adult deaths were caused by tuberculosis. My grandfather also fell victim to this illness at age 41 on February 16th, 1890.