LUDWIG ANDREAS AND MARIE SEIFLOH

Ludwig Andreas Seifloh, ("Ingenieur" - engineer), the son of Ludwig and Walburga Seifloh, was born in Coblenz on 31 October 1824. On 26 October 1854 in Bockwitz he married Marie Reuleaux, who was born in Eschweilerpumpe on 28 June 1832, the daughter of Johann Joseph and Heloise Reuleaux. He died aged 47 on 17 April 1872 in Eisleben and according to the deed of grave-ownership of 18 April 1872 was buried in the town graveyard. Marie survived him by 45 years,dying in Bad Kösen on 19 January 1917 at the age of 85.

Ludwig Andreas and Marie Seifloh were our grandparents. were our grandparents.

The names of their children, as written into the Family Bible, were:

  Ewald Ludwig Andreas: born in Lauchhammer 11 October 1855; baptised 18th November 1855; godparents: Ewald Friedrich Scholl ("an engineer in the Lauchhammer Ironworks"), and his wife Heloise (née Graeser and lately Reuleaux); died 15 January 1861 in Berlin, aged five.

  Ludwig Andreas: born 28 June 1857 in Lauchhammer; baptised 3 July 1857; godparents: Ludwig and Walburga Seifloh; died at five weeks on 26 July 1857.

  Heloise Walburga Caroline Christine: born 10 July 1859 in Lipine; baptised 26 August 1859 in Königshutte; godparents Heloise Scholl (as above), Christine Seifloh (later Ratzek) living in Coblenz, and Carl Meusel ("Maschinenmeister in Friedenshutte, Upper Silesia"); Heloise died aged 39 on 10 December 1898 in Jena.

  Emma Louise: born 25 March 1861 in Lipine; baptised 25 May 1861 in Königshutte; godparents: Louis Sober and Christine Ratzek (as above); Louise Thum; died at two months on 28 August 1861.

  Max Paul Ewald: born 8 April 1863 in Lipine, Upper Silesia; baptised 24 May 1863 in Königshutte (now Krolewska Huta). Godparents: Ewald Friedrich and Heloise Scholl (as above), Hermann Ratzek and his wife Christine (as above), Emma and Phillipine Freudenberg, and Julie Graeser [the sister of Heloise Scholl] living in Eschweilerpumpe;  Max married Emma Katharina Amalia Voigt (1878-1944) in London, 29 September 1898. He died 15 September 1944 in Hatch End.

Ludwig Andreas, an employee in the Gräflich von Einsiedelsch Eisenwerk, Lauchhammer, is described in various documents as a "Bau-Imspektor", a "Maschinenbau-Inspektor" and a "Maschinen Meister", which seem to suggest that he was some sort of mechanical engineering supervisor with increasing responsibilities. He was apparently sufficiently senior to be required to travel abroad, and the archives contain two official travel permits, dated 1862 and 1870.

We do not know how Ludwig Andreas and Marie met, but her father and grandfather were also engineers, as were other of her relatives, including her brother Franz Reuleaux, and maybe that provided opportunities for meetings.

There was considerable sadness in their lives. Marie was only a year old when her father died in 1833 aged 37, and Ludwig Andreas himself was only 47 when he died, in 1872. Of their five children, Ludwig and Emma died in their first year, and Ewald when he was five. Heloise, the surviving daughter, died unmarried in 1898 when she was 39, and Max, the youngest of the family, was then Marie's only surviving child. Marie herself lived on until 1917 when she was 85. but by then Max was a naturalised citizen of a Great Britain that was at war with Marie's Germany.

We have a copy of Ludwig Andreas's will dated 11 April 1872 ( i.e. a few days before he died); the copy was made in Mainz for Max in 1884 by Louis Reuleaux (1828-1900), Marie's brother. Marie was appointed executor, and guardian of Max and Heloise who were the sole legatees; Max became 21 in 1884 when the guardianship presumably ceased (Heloise was three years older, but seemingly Max was considered the senior). The estate was valued at 20,361 marks, perhaps the equivalent of £1000, worth today (in the year 2000) probably £50,000-£75,000 - not a fortune, but a not inconsiderable sum.

Marie was given a life interest in the estate, but she was also required to complete the children's education, and it may have been difficult to make ends meet. It appears from the letter that she wrote to Max in 1907 (see below for a translation) that he may have made her an allowance, but that must have ceased in 1914; perhaps she was then helped by her four brothers who lived into their 70s.

It is curious that there are no other references to Marie in the papers we have, nor does her letter make any mention of previous correspondence or of a hoped-for reply or of any past or expected meetings. Did Marie never come to England? Why did she not come to live here when Max was settled and prospering in the 1890s and early 1900s? Why did she not come to his wedding? Or did she? Or was there some reason why she could not leave Heloise (about whom we know practically nothing) ?

There is a clue of sorts in the Family Bible. The Bible was apparently originally presented to Ludwig Andreas and Marie as a wedding present from the Lauchhammer Ironworks. It looks as if Marie then gave the Bible to Max and Emma on the birth of their first child (Max Julius Reinhard, 5 September 1901), since the dedication in her handwriting from Bad Kösen , "God Bless the New Family" is also dated 5 September 1901. The Bible would have made a very bulky parcel if it was sent; I wonder, did Marie bring it over herself and stay for the birth of her first grandchild?