Beautiful Objects that Survived–1865-1901

When my mother and father were forced to leave Germany in 1939, they had to abandon everything they owned. Five years earlier, however, when my father’s parents were expelled by the Nazis, it was still possible for them to bring personal effects with them.    My grandfather, Rudolf Höber and my grandmother, Jospehine Marx Höber, both came from families that were pretty well off. Some of the things they brought with them are still in use in our house today, and we enjoy them particularly around Christmas time.

Linen napkins monogrammed by my great-grandmother Elise Köhlau before her marriage to Anselm Höber in 1865.

At Christmas dinner we often use white napkins saved for special occasions. Linen napkins in bourgeois households in 19th century Germany were huge, nearly a meter square.  When my great-grandmother, Elise Koehlau, married Anselm Höber in 1865, she brought a supply of such napkins into the marriage.  As was traditional then, she embroidered the monogram of her maiden name in the corner of the napkins with red thread and each napkin was numbered.

Hand painted dessert plates, Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur, Berlin, 1870.

My grandmother’s father, Jakob Marx, made money as a financier in the Franco-Prussian War.  He and his wife Marie had a home at Pariserplatz 1, next to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.  These plates were theirs.

A hand painted flower from one of my great-grandparents’ KPM plates, 1870.

When my grandparents, Rudolf and Josephine, married in 1901 they got a set of silverware with an “RJH” monogram.

The silverware in use in 1901 was larger than the pieces we use today. The soup spoon on the left is ten inches long and feels huge.

The RJH monogram is for Rudolf and Josephine Höber, 1901.

When my parents and grandparents came to this country over 75 years ago, they rapidly became integrated into the life of their new country, to which they were devoted.  Like so many American families, however, we hang on to some of the ways our family did things generations ago, particularly at holidays.  After all these years, we still roast a goose at Christmas and bring out some of the beautiful things that remind us of our history.

The last remaining Christmas decoration that my grandparents brought to America when the Nazis expelled them from Germany in 1934.