by The Cousins Four

Karoline Moschel Schmidt was 63 when the The Great War started. Her husband, Friedrich, was 65. Karoline's five sons and one son-in-law were in the war. Karoline had 19 grandchildren when the war started. She had one grandson in the war, and it is possible another served as well. We know Karoline had one future grandson in law in the war.

In 1896 there were only two people in Webenheim who had the surname of Moschel. One of these was Karoline's mother, Louise, and the other her unmarried sister. Karoline's mother died in 1900, but her sister, Louisa, was to live through The Great War with her sister. Their brother, Christian, in Peoria, Illinois, died in 1912. Thus, the greatest connection to America was gone, but we believe the sisters still had contact with first cousins both in Chenoa, Illinois, and Beatrice, Nebraska, before and after The Great War.

We will look at the war through the eyes of Karoline Moschel Schmidt to understand how this tumultuous world event affected her. Here is the listing of Karoline's immediate family members in the war and where they served. With great effort, pictures of these family members have been traced and we share them so the reader can comprehend Karoline's world better.

Friedrich Schmidt

Friedrich Schmidt was the oldest son of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. Friedrich was 41 when the war started. He served in a Munitionskolonne unit. When the war started Friedrich was married and had four children ranging in age from 12-15.

Christian & Adolf Schmidt

Christian Schmidt was the second son of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. Christian was 40 when the war started. He served in the Fuhrparkkolonne 9 which was a transportation unit. When the war started Christian was married and had 2 children, ages 14 and 15. Later in the war Christian's only son, Adolf, also served in the war.

Ludwig Schunk

Karoline Schmidt Schunk was the only daughter of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. She was married to Ludwig Schunk who was 40 when the war started. Ludwig served in the 115th Landstrurm, Infanterie Regiment, I Battalion, 2. Company. Ludwig and Karoline had 2 children when the war started, ages 16 and 12. They were both girls, and thus not called to service.

Ludwig Jakob Schmidt

Ludwig Jakob Schmidt was the third son of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. Ludwig was 34 when the war started. He served in the Landsturm. When the war started Ludwig was married and had 5 children ranging in age from 0-8. Another was born in 1917.

Wilhelm Schmidt

Wilhelm Schmidt was the fourth son of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. Wilhelm was 32 when the war started. He served in the 4 E. Infanterie Regiment. When the war started Wilhelm was married and had 5 living children ranging in age from 0-7.

Jakob Schmidt

Jakob Schmidt was the fifth son of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. His date of birth is unknown. Jakob served in the 2. Fussartillerie Regiment. When the war started he was married and had one son who was 1.

Adolf Christian Schmidt

Adolf Christian Schmidt was a grandson of Karoline Moschel Schmidt. He was 15 when the war started, but served in the war in the 5th Bavarian Reserve Infanterie Regiment. He married after the war.

Friedrich Wilhelm Schunck

Friedrich Wilhelm Schunck was a future grandson-in-law of Karoline Moschel Schmidt and he married Lina Schunk, Karoline's granddaughter, in 1921. We will follow this couple during WWII. Friedrich was 20 when the war started. He joined the army in Metz (Lorraine) and was an artillery soldier who served in France. He served in the 2nd Bavarian Artillery Regiment II Battalion.

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Charlotte Moschel, circa 1860

There is a second family we are following in Webenheim and it is the son of Charlotte Moschel. Charlotte was part of the older generation of Moschels who emigrated to America in the 1860's. What made Charlotte's departure different was she left her husband and only living child, Jacob Scherer, behind in Webenheim without divorcing, or at least that's the family story. This had to be unusual. Charlotte is one of the people in the picture case sent back to Webenheim from Illinois in the 1860's. We believe the picture case was sent to Charlotte's brother, Philipp Moschel, and perhaps his instructions were to show it to her son Jacob. We don't know.

In our last scene Charlotte's son, Jacob Scherer, was 53 years old and living in Webenheim with his children in a house financed with money his mother Charlotte sent from America. One of Jacob's sons, Charlotte's grandson Christian, immigrated to America in 1894. These are things we know.

Adolph Goltzer

By 1918 the world had changed for the descendants of Charlotte in Webenheim. Charlotte's son, Jacob Scherer, died 1911; the grandson in the U.S., Christian, married in 1913; another grandson died in 1908 in Webenheim; but two grandchildren were still alive and both were married. Relevant to our WWI story, Charlotte's youngest granddaughter, Anna Scherer, married Adolph Goltzer who died of a war-related illness on November 23, 1918, leaving Anna with a 3-year-old son, also called Adolph. This we know.

We want to highlight Charlotte's grandson, Christian. Even though in this scene we have highlighted Germans who fought on the German side in World War I, Christian brings irony in this complex story. Christian Scherer left Webenheim as a teenager and we know he visited Webenheim in 1910. We also know Christian served in the U.S. Army and Navy in World War I. The Cousins Four speculate he served first in the U.S. Army and then in the U.S. Navy so as not to fight on the ground against his relatives such as Adolph Golzer, his brother-in-law, and other family members pictured above. One can only imagine Christian's state of mind in serving in the U.S. military during these times. We also know Christian visited Webenheim after World War I. What was his reception? A family member? A foe? We do not know.

We have learned more about Charlotte since we last wrote, and we hope the readers will indulge us in going back a bit to describe what we've learned about this mysterious relative, Charlotte Moschel Scherer, who spurs us on in this project. Once again Cousin Greg has pieced together the lingering puzzle of Charlotte, which, as it turns out, has tragic overtones. At some point Charlotte deserves to have her story told in total in one place, but, until then, we relate some of her story in this scene.

When we wrote the last scene, we knew Charlotte's first husband she left in Webenheim died in 1875. Now we know Charlotte died in 1873 of breast cancer in St. Louis, Missouri. Did this information filter back to Webenheim? We assume it did. Did Charlotte leave all her money to her living son in Webenheim? We don't know. There is no will of record. When Charlotte died, she had a second husband in St. Louis and two step children. Were the stepchildren equally remembered financially by her? We don't know.

What we do know is that after Charlotte died, her stepson in America, committed a widely-publicized murder in St. Louis in 1877 five years after Charlotte's death. The details of the grisley murder leave little doubt of a troubled young man who was then hung at a public execution when he was 21 years old. Did these facts make their way back to Webenheim? We don't know. We do know there was correspondence between Charlotte's son, Jacob Scherer, in 1894 from Webenheim to his first cousin in Illinois. We have the letter to document the contact.

What we also can say is that in 2003 there is weekly, sometimes daily, contact between Webenheim and California and Oregon trying to clarify this story. It's summer 2003, the 700thyear of Webenheim, and we can tell our readers it is interesting to piece this story together and try to understand the joys and sorrows of those before us.

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There is another solder we will follow in Webenheim in World War I. His name is Otto Klein, who is the great grandfather of Markus Klein, one of the Cousins Four, and the fifth cousin, twice removed of Elly, Greg, and Theresa.

Otto Klein

Otto Klein was 33 years old when the The Great War began. He joined the army in Zweibrucken, a town only 8 kilometers from Webenheim, as an infantry soldier in the 22nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment. Otto fought in France in some of the most famous battles, including the battle at the Somme River and at Verdun. He was seriously wounded at the battle of Verdun. After he recovered, he served in the 8th Bavarian Infantry Regiment as a driver behind the front in Charleroi, Belgium. He did not apply for war disability, even though he was eligible. Otto wrote a war diary, but it was lost during the family's evacuation from Webenheim in WWII. Otto did not describe his war experiences at any length to his son, Markus's grandfather. This Moschel writing project encouraged Markus Klein to retrace his great grandfather's war steps in June 2003. We will describe that search later.

Otto Klein had Moschel roots, although they are found farther back in his ancestry. To give a specific example, Otto Klein and Charlotte Moschel (pictured above) are third cousins, twice removed. Their common Moschel ancestor is Johann Daniel Moschel, born February 26, 1689. Johann is the 2th great grandfather of Charlotte and the 4nd great grandfather of Otto. As we will see later, Otto Klein's son married his sixth Moschel cousin after WWII.

As a footnote... as one might suspect, many people in Webenheim have Moschel ancestry. This makes our story both more simple and complex to tell. Our main effort is to tell the story through Moschel eyes, even though those eyes often have a different last name. The primary reason for that, of course, is when Moschel women married their offspring took the husband's family name.

Webenheim Before The Great War

Pictured above are the Moschel family members who served in The Great War. Now we will look at the town these men called home before the war. Geography placed Webenheim near much action in The Great War, the same as it did in WWII. The truth in real estate which is location, location, location, is also true in war. Webenheim was destined to be a part of the dramatic history of the first half of the 20th century by its location near the border.

Webenheim 1915

Prior to World War I Webenheim had the look and feel of the small town it had been for six centuries. The 1900 census counted 846 people, 166 buildings, 158 horses, 847 cows, 300 pigs, and 14 goats. The land under cultivation was 2184 acres which was primarily clover (for cattle), potatoes, rye, and oats and less acreage for wheat and barley.

The town was growing at the beginning of the new century. There was a new school house in 1904. The Moschel family added to this growth by four of the six Moschel siblings (the children of Karoline Moschel Schmidt and Friedrich Schmidt) building a new home between 1904 and 1908, which caused Markus to label this "the generation of house builders". The houses were build with large stones from a quarry and have the appearance of being expensive by that day's standards.

Webenheim Gymnastics Club 1921

In 1906 the gymnastic club of Webenheim was formed. Such organizations were popular in Germany after the first gym clubs started in Berlin around 1900. Many towns established clubs and regional gymnastic contests were held in 1911 and 1912. In 1913 Webenheim took part in the nationwide gymnastic festival. The Great War stopped the activities of the club.

A Savings Bank was started in 1904 by a Webenheim teacher and by 1907 it had 98 members. In 1910 five men were working in a steel factory, two in mining, and 123 men were working in agriculture. Clearly, Webenheim was an agricultural town. In 1911 Webenheim counted its residents again. There were 462 males and 431 females in 192 households. Twenty of these residents were Catholics and rest Protestants.

The nearest larger town of some size is Zweibrücken, 8 kilometers away from Webenheim. It provided the first movie theater in 1909; the first airplane landed in 1912; a Zeppelin arrived in town in 1913; and electricity came in 1913. In 1912, there was a new King of Bavaria (which included Webenheim and Zweibrücken) who would be the last King of Bavaria.

Life was about to change in the Webenheim/Zweibrücken area in 1914. The sounds of war were coming.

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Webenheim Men in WWI

As stated, in 1911 there were 462 males in Webenheim. It is uncertain how many of those were boys and older men. What is known is that 126 Webenheim men participated in WWI, and it appears this is about every able-bodied man in Webenheim. Of those 126 men, 34 were killed in action or declared missing in action. Thus, about 27% of the young and middle-aged men of Webenheim did not return from war. It is unknown to us (The Cousins Four) the number injured in the war, but it is clear the war was devastating for Webenheim. Every family had to be affected personally with a death in the family or extended family or someone who lived next door or down the street.

Selected incidents that occurred in Webenheim from 1914-1919 will now be reviewed.

Webenheim Area-1914

Consider these events all of which occurred within a 20-mile radius of Webenheim.

* Fear seems to be a key part of the pre-war experience. On July 27/28, 1914, a nearby savings bank in Saarbrücken had a rush on the bank with people wanting to withdraw their savings. Police were called to assure safety.

* Grocery stores were filled with people in late July stocking up on goods that had a long shelf life. Prior to the war people tried to pay with paper money and hold on to their silver coins. By the end of July, some merchants would not accept paper money.

* On August 1, 1914, the town crier of Webenheim, Ludwig Friedrich, rode a bicycle through town ringing his bell and shouting, "Mobilization! There is a war!" By August 6, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a similar announcement in the newspapers.

* On August 1-7, 1914, three thousand men were assembled as the 22nd infantry regiment in Zweibrücken (8 kilometers from Webenheim) were transported to Alsace by train, traveling through the Webenheim/Blieskastal enroute.

Mimbach Church

* On, Sunday, August 2, 1914, a well-attended service in the Mimbach church (1 kilometer from Webenheim) was lead by pastor H. Knecht, and there was a special Holy Communion for the men going to war. The pastor noted in 1914 the community spent more time in religious activities and stated that the whole community "held on to God, the ruler of all battles." During 1914 harvest work was done on the Sabbath because of lack of equipment and people to run them. The pastor hoped this would not happen after the war and also hoped the war would bring a religious, moral rebirth.

* A climate of fear was present in the early weeks of the war. Foreigners were suspect and French and Italian immigrants were forced to leave. On August 4, 1914, the police chief of Saarbrücken forbade violence against persons who were considered suspicious. Then on August 12, 1914, again in Saarbrücken, a priest who was probably French, was captured for fighting against German troops. Two days later a crowd tried to lynch the priest. Many other similar incidents were reported in the Saar region in which suspicious persons were chased, watched, and harassed particularly when they were near gas works, bridges, and power plants. Local citizens quickly were deputized and made a part of the police force and were sometimes overzealous in their new duties.

* Russians were not sent home. Local farmers intervened for their Russian workers and stated they were needed for harvest and they were not a threat against Germany.

* On August 12, 1914, the first wounded German soldiers arrived from the battlefields and were taken to the hospitals in Zweibrücken which was the headquarters for the entire Bavarian army from August - November 1914. Eventually there would be 11 military hospitals in Zweibrücken.

* One effect of war starting was mass civilian unemployment. As more men were called up for military service, production slowed down or in some cases came to a halt. Mines and factories closed. The coal mines hauled only 15% of their normal output. The iron works closed in St. Ingbert in summer 1914. On September 9, 1914, 5950 were unemployed in Saarbrücken, as compared to only 227 in June, 1914. All transportation systems were used for the military and the factories could not transport their products.

* The U.S. had Liberty Bonds during WWI, Germany had Kriegsanleihen between 1914 and 1918. Persons could subscribe nine times for these loans. Citizens could also start a savings account book and receive 5% per annum, repayable two years after the end of the war. Another government plan for financing the war was purchasing gold jewelry and gold coins from citizens using paper money.

* Three men from Webenheim died in the war in 1914.

 

Webenheim area 1915-1919

More selected incidents in a 20-mile radius of Webenheim during war time.

August 9, 1915

* Monday, August 9, 1915, at 7 a.m. 40 bombs were dropped on Zweibrücken (5 miles from Webenheim) by 10-12 French airplanes. The citizens were unaware of what was happening and went into the streets to look overhead at the sound of the approaching motors. There was little damage, and only one casualty. On the same morning the towns of St. Ingbert and Saarbücken were also hit by the same squadron with an additional 21 killed and several wounded. Part of the reason for so many casualties were people going outside rather than staying in their homes. After this incident, citizens were warned to stay inside houses during air raids, and no doubt complied.

* In August, 1915, the community officials of Webenheim wrote the Bavarian authorities in Munich requesting deployment of five Webenheim soldiers to help with the harvest. It was also common for enemy prisoners of war to be assigned farm work. The Moschel family document through family oral history two French POW workers in their fields.

* In 1915, three Webenheim men died in the war.

* In spring of 1916, Webenheim residents could hear the constant monotone roaring in the distance. What was it? The sound of war in nearby France.

* Webenheim was located between two German states, the Bavarian Rhein-Pfalz and the Prussian Saar region. During the war there were different food prices in these two states. Prices were higher in the Saar region. Smuggling food from one region to another became common. The following comment was reported by the Bavarian Board of Examiners for Food Prices in Homburg in September, 1916, "There is more butter smuggled out of my district into the Saar Region, than to be sold here!"

* During the war the citizens of the Webenheim area volunteered in many ways. They gave time, materials, and money to the local hospitals. People volunteered in legal aid offices, orderly rooms, disability insurance offices, orphanages, and also collected scrap materials. Moral support was given by going to the rail station and offering food to the troops passing through. Everyone cared for the families who had fathers at war. School children also contributed time and collected money for the war effort. Probably the most effective way Webenheimers helped the war effort was continue raising crops and feed cattle.

* In 1916 six Webenheim men died in the war.

* In 1917 Electricity came to Webenheim.

Food Distribution Center In Blieskastel

* The winter of 1916/1917 was called the "turnip winter." The British Navy had a sea blockade and stopped all supplies to Germany. The result was a disaster regarding food and other supplies reaching the German people. The blockade is said to have caused the deaths of 763,000 German people. The people in Webenheim did not escape these problems. There was a shortage of almost everything. Potatoes were eaten for breakfast, lunch, and supper. Food not raised on their own land was available only by food ration coupons. Citizens walked barefoot to save their shoes; smokers raised their own tobacco; and stinging nettle was grown to produce their own fiber.

* There were three air bombing raids in Zweibrücken in 1917. Altogether, Zweibrücken had 6 bombing air raids in World War I which certainly affected civilian lives.

* In 1917 six Webenheim men died in the war.

* On July 18, 1918, two of the three bells of the Webenheim church were confiscated and melted down for weapons. The first bell, made in 1801 was 300 kg. and the second bell, made in 1866, was 108 kg. The community received 1836 Marks for the bells.

Search Light WWI

* In 1918 enemy airplanes dropped bombs on the larger cities in the area. search lights were set up on hills surrounding the Webenheim area to spot planes at night.

* In November 1918 German troops retreated from the front and marched through Webenheim. In December 1918 Webenheim was occupied by French troops.

* Zweibrücken, 8 km from Webenheim, housed the 22nd Infantry Regiment. As the country fell after the war, the internal revolutions began, first to the North and then to the South. The revolutionary fever did not escape Zweibrücken. The head of the garrison in Zweibrücken tried to keep order, but eventually revolution came to the barracks and the German soldiers took over and ordered an evacuation of the post. Before evacuation, general looting of the supplies by both soldiers and citizens occurred, and it was general chaos. Eventually what was left behind in the garrison, which included military records and large equipment, fell in the hands of the French troops on December 1, 1918.

* On November 9 and 10, 1918, ten towns in the Webenheim region had groups of German soldiers and workers take over the towns and select new leaders and lead the way for a Socialist Republic. Change was taking place everywhere.

* In 1918 twelve Webenheim men died in the war.

Saar basin set by Treaty of Versailles

* In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The conditions of the end of the war dearly affected Webenheim. Webenheim no longer belonged to Bavaria and Germany, and it's centuries old relationship with Zweibrücken was gone. Webenheim now belonged to newly founded Saar Region and was under the control of the League of Nations. The Saar Region was governed by France and thus they had the right to exploit the mines in the Webenheim region. French customs officers were in Webenheim and the citizens of Webenheim were cut off from their own German heritage. They were French controlled, but not French at heart. The Webenheim citizens did not like the situation at all!!

* In 1919 one Webenheim man died in the war. (Three other Webenheim men died in the war without year of death documented.)

Facts such as these help us understand how the Moschels lived during 1914-1919. It was very difficult times which changed the life of every Moschel and every Webenheimer.