Maths Diary--Part Six--May 16th to 28th, 1914

or, BERLIN on 40 cents per...

(This is part of a notebook diary kept by Math Hesch during a trip he took with his brother Ted in the spring of 1914. Click DIARY on the sidebar to see only the diary entries. Enjoy!)

May 16--Friday--12 A.M. we are now 135 feet in the air looking at Berlin. We are in the Zoo garden. Lots to see , meet some English folks.
THE ZOO



(The "Neu" Aquarium opened in 1913).

(The Elephant Gate at the Berlin Zoo).




May 17--Saturday--Just come out of the St. Hedwigs church in Berlin.
ST HEDWIGS CATHEDRAL

Nothing extra, are living cheap now about 40 cents per & good feed at that. Rye bread is all you get in this part of the ball but it is better then the rye in the states.

May 18--Monday--Am sitting in Berlin under den Linden & watching the Honk Honk's go by.
(Unter den Linden is the street under the Brandenberg Gate--a main thoroughfare in Berlin).

May 19--Tuesday--Were out to Wannsee ( two nearby lakes, the Grosse and Kline Wansee, were the local beach); took a bath & had our back sun burned. Seen many there.

(He wasn't kidding this time!!...lol)

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This sounds like a stock yard to hear all those autos roar.

May 20--Wednesday--Meet our neighbor, he plays fiddle & his daughter piano, sounds good.

May 21--Thursday--Well this is Fensoffen, some holy day (probably Ascension Thursday).

Was to church in Berlin.

Will teach a roman girl English tomorow. (Just like that!)
Were in the Hotel all day. Theo is laid up with a burned back.
That is all so far.

May 22--Friday--Just now seen a air ship going about 500 feet in the air.

A great big one, made lots of noise.

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(In 1914, Zepplins were about 490-520 feet long and powered by 3 engines, cruising at speeds up to 50 MPH--impressive even today!)

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(Can you imagine their amazement? Standing on the street, looking up at something so monstrous...

Dirigibles were being developed as 'reconnaissance vehicles', but when WWI started later that summer, they were outfitted with bombs).

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Met a girl friend tonight named Lena. Some gal. She will come over the pond next year.

Sat in the park till 12, cost not a cent. She is 19 years old weight about 140, good looking.

May 23--Saturday--Well, I was out in park, meet a woman with a baby. I gave the kid milk out of a bottle and then pushed it home in a baby carrage, about 1/4 mile. Great fun.

Met 2 coon's. They are from Minneapolis. One sings here in a show house, the biggest in Berlin. Have heard him sing cause I have been to the show.

This troup is "Vasco the Mad Musician" from 1914--it's possible they played the Wintergarten since we think they returned to America on the Olympic with Math and Ted).

(This couple JOHNSON & DEAN may have been performing at the time, too).

There are 4 coon's in there in all.

Winter garden is the name of the place.____(GERMAN)____

(This poster wasn't from their time there--but it gives you an idea of who played the Wintergarten!

We haven't been able to pinpoint who the black singer was, but there were a few possibilities from Minneapolis in those years. We'll add info if we discover who they were).

May 25--Monday--Had a great time last night. Those 2 girls were here visiting till 12:30, singing songs & having other pass time. (ahem!)

(Wintergarten ad from the Berlin Adressbuch, 1914).
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It is raining hard today. Got a hair from a girl**.

Best singer on the ball she is.

May 26--Tuesday--Am worrying a little about my girl.

Seen a small man with a good crop of beard on his face.

Met another coon, been all over the ball. Nice man.

They, he says, try to clean the black off his face, so he cleans em.
Many have there face cut. To him, this land comes from devils.

(Man, reread that last paragraph...a decent, well travelled black man who fears having his face cut by Germans. It had to be awful).

May 27--Wednesday--Well, we ain't doing much these days--too much rain. Bought some cherries. They aint bad.

May 28--Just seen old things of 100 years of war, kings & bad girls, 100's of em on wax statues.

(Wax Museums in Berlin were popular--the city center, the Kaisergalerie, had at least two--the Passage-Panoptikum and Castan's Panoptikum.

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF FILE ABOUT IT )

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**(We don't know why Math and Ted were in Berlin for 10 days, but they were. Maybe they intended to stay longer, but there's a Family story: the "hair he got from a girl"? Math told Joanie that it was a lock of hair (significant in 1914!) and that when the girls' father found out, he was furious. Math and Ted had to leave Berlin in a hurry!)

NEXT, MATH AND TED HEAD TO HOLLAND, BY WAY OF HAMBURG...STAY TUNED!