THE JOHANN COLBERG FAMILY IS FOUND!
I was one excited researcher as I waited to hear from this woman contact in Berlin as to whether she indeed was from the family of my elusive Johann Colberg. It only took her a surprising two weeks to respond to me. When I saw the letter in my mailbox, postmarked Berlin, I eagerly opened it and out spilled some photos with a letter. There for me to see was the photo of a very distinguished white haired gentleman with the indication on the back that he was Johann Colberg of Berlin.
Johann Colberg, Berlin, Germany, ca 1930:
This lady indicated that her husband had been a grandson of Johann Colberg and that she indeed knew the Gerhard Kolberg that I was searching for. She told me she had telephoned to the daughter of Gerhard who would stop by her apartment and pick up my letter to deliver to Gerhard. She commented also that she was sure that Gerhard would respond to me as "he is retired and has much time to spend on his research". I could only hope.
It was only another 10 days or so when my first letter from Gerhard Kolberg arrived. He expressed pleasure and surprise that I had found him from his seven year old letter to the "O" family and more surprised that I was able to find him after he and his wife had moved to a new apartment. He had extensively traced his grandfather's family and he eagerly shared the data with me. The fact that he had been a graphic artist in his career certainly did not hurt and his charts and graphs were beautifully presented. I, in turn, shared the data from the five Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to the US.
After just a few letters back and forth, with Gerhard writing in German and my needing to have the letters translated, he switched to using English which was just as proficient as his graphic design skills. In the course of our correspondence Gerhard explained that the surname was originally spelled Colberg and that most of the cousins still in Germany used that spelling. He told me something interesting in that there had been two Otto Colberg men in Berlin, both dentists. Gerhard's father, Otto, was one of these dentists so Gerhard's father changed his surname spelling to Kolberg to differentiate between himself and the other dentist. Gerhard uses the spelling, Kolberg, but all the other cousins in Germany, descended from Johann Colberg, spell their names as Colberg.
I now had SIX Kolberg brothers' families traced to the present generation. It had only taken me 23 years to accomplish this but it wasn't until the Internet was popular that this connection was actually made.
Over the years since our 1999 discovery of each other began, Gerhard and his two adult grandsons have visited my mother and myself here in St. Joseph for our 2000 Kolberg family reunion. They stayed in our home and spent three weeks with us here in the US. Gerhard obtained the Internet and E-mail and our correspondence travels quickly through cyberspace.
Both my niece and nephew have visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin on several occasions while they were studying in Spain and Italy respectively.
My niece, Diane, (left side in black shirt) in Berlin, Germany with Gerhard Kolberg family (Gerhard not shown as he was taking photo) in 2004:
My nephew, Jay, (back row, far right side) in Berlin, Germany with Gerhard Kolberg family (Gerhard in back row, far left side) in 2007:
In October, 2008 I visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin for two weeks where I met his daughter and son-in-law as well as meeting the new wives of both of the grandsons who had visited us in 2000.
In addition, Gerhard arranged a mini Kolberg reunion in Berlin where I was able to meet other Colberg cousins. To further prove the connections with Johann Colberg and his five brothers who immigrated to America, Gerhard had written verification in Johann Colberg's own hand contained in Johann's diary.
Entry for Vater Colberg, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr., born 1821/died 1900:
Entry for Mutter Colberg, Henriette Amalie Kolberg, born 1831/died 1908 (vital records I received from Klein Tuchen actually showed her birth as in 1832):
Entry for Bruder, Friedrich Colberg, Jr., born 1852/died 1918:
Entry for Bruder, August Colberg, born 1854, Amerika, died unknown:
Entry for Bruder, Heinrich Colberg, Amerika, born 1857, died unknown:
Entry for himself, Johann Colberg, 1859:
Entries for Bruder, Otto Colberg, born 1867 to Amerika with death unknown and Bruder, Ferdinand Colberg, born 1872 to Amerika with death unknown:
Entry for Bruder, Paul Colberg, born 1869 to Amerika with death unknown:
What have I learned from these years of research and what hints have I come away with from my extensive efforts in tracing my Kolberg family:
1. All things come in time. If I had connected with Gerhard in 1979 when I began my research, perhaps it would not have been as important to him as he was still working and raising his family. Only in retirement did he develop his passion for his family history.
2. Snail mail is still a good option. While e-mail has overtaken the world and researchers alike, sometimes success is found with writing letters to small villages, churches, archives.
3. Cemetery searching and vital record searching are still vital tools for research. Not every cemetery is computerized. Not every archive has their records on the Internet. Much can be found in stomping through cemeteries, reading gravestones, visiting vital record repositories to search out information.
4. Family assistance is of the utmost importance. I could never have even begun my research without the assistance of Kolberg cousins Grace Kolberg Gaul, Ruby Kolberg Berndt, Edna Kolberg, Walter and Iva Kolberg. They started me on the path and encouraged me along the way and we remained close for the rest of their lives.
5. Memories of other family members adds to the knowledge. If not for cousin, Oliver Kolberg, I would never had made the connection that took me across the ocean to the family of Johann Colberg. Oliver was a source of inspiration and encouragement. His death in January, 2006 was a true loss and his memory lives on.
Oliver Kolberg:
While I sincerely appreciate all the help that I have received over the years, and truly believe I could never have achieved what I did without this help, if it were not for my very special cousin, Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder, I would never had had the enormous success that I did with this research.
Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder, 2004:
Bernice was a researcher's dream and her help and excitement over every step of this research was inspiring. She passed away unexpectedly in June, 2007 and will never be forgotten.
Following her death, her children surprised me by presenting me with all of her genealogical documents, photos, albums and other information which they knew would be preserved and appreciated by myself. They even gave me Bernice's copy of the Kolberg book I had written in 1980 and I now had a copy of that book for my own records. Of course, while I had expanded the information on the family Kolberg since 1980 and that book was very much outdated, it was still important to me to have a copy showing my original research results.
To be successful in genealogical research is not a solitary venture. It is only with the help and assistance of many, many people that success is truly just that...success.
Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte
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