Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 43

Repository:

German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library

Extent:

0.33 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

German

Preferred Citation:

Krutzke family papers, Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library, German Society of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1860s-1934, 1948-1969

Creator:

Krutzke, Herbert Fritz, 1888-1969, Krutzke, Louise, 1898-1987, and Krutzky, Maria, 1881-1959

Form:

Art objects (object genres), Children's art, Correspondence, Greeting cards, Manuscripts, German--20th century, Memorabilia, Photographs, Postcards, and Prints (visual works)

Abstract:

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs and memorabilia from the Krutzke (Krutzky) family. The correspondence is mostly addressed to Herbert Krutzke and his wife, Luise (Louise) Krutzke (née Greger), German Americans who came from East Prussia and lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The correspondents are family members and several friends living in Germany. The correspondence falls into two time periods, 1911 to 1934 and 1948 to 1969. The memorabilia includes an art work, partly sewn, with a handwritten text, created by a German child in school, in the 1860s or early 1870s.

Herbert Fritz Krutzke was born in Wehlau am Königsberg in East Prussia, Germany, on March 16, 1889. He immigrated to the United States in 1911, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, to Philadelphia on the ship Prinz Adalbert. Before immigrating to the United States he served two years in the German army. In 1914 he married another German immigrant, Luise Emilie Greger, who was born on May 20, 1896 in Friedland, East Prussia, Germany. Herbert was naturalized on February 2, 1916. They had two sons and two daughters: Herbert George (1916-1998), Helen (1918-1981), Eleanor (1920-2006), and Warren J. (1926-2006). Herbert Fritz was a successful businessman who ran his own business. He died in November 1969 in Philadelphia, and Luise (Louise) died in February 1987.

Hans Georg Krutzky was the older brother of Herbert. He was born in Germany in 1880 and immigrated to the United States in 1904, settling in Philadelphia, where he worked as a watchmaker. He married Klara E. Rogge in 1907 and they had one daughter named Klara, who was born in 1913. Hans died sometime in 1925.

Herbert and Hans had another brother, Bruno, who died in 1916 in Romania during World War I.

Maria Krutzky (née Alexander) was born in 1881 and lived in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany (today, Kaliningrad, Russia). She was married to Walter Krutzky, who may have been a brother of Herbert and Hans, since she refers to herself as sister-in-law in her letters to Herbert and Luise Krutzke. Walter died in 1920, leaving Maria a widow with two small children. One of those children was Jutta Krutzky, who married Fred Kraaz on May 26, 1950. Jutta Krutzky was born in 1917. The other child was Lothar Krutzky, who was born in 1918 and died in 1943, at Lake Ladoga, Russia, during World War II. After World War II Maria lived with her daughter, first in Krefeld then in Menden, West Germany. She died on March 5, 1959.

The brothers Gustav and Harald Streit were nephews of Herbert and Luise Krutzke.

This collection contains correspondence, photographs and memorabilia from the Krutzke (Krutzky) family. The correspondence, spanning the years 1911 to 1969, is mostly addressed to Herbert Fritz Krutzke and/or his wife, Luise Krutzke (née Greger), German Americans who came from East Prussia and lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their correspondents are relatives or friends living in Germany. Two letters are addressed to Herbert's brother Hans Krutzky, and Hans's wife Klara, who were also living in Philadelphia. The correspondence is from two separate periods of time, 1911 to 1934 and 1948 to 1969. Included are several wedding and death announcements, and some greeting cards. A few of the photographs are cabinet cards that date to the 1890s. Also included are two religious prints, and an art work, partly sewn, with a handwritten text, created by a German child in school, in the 1860s or early 1870s.

This collection is arranged in three series. Series I consists of correspondence that was written and sent from Germany to Herbert and Luise Krutzke in Philadelphia. Series II consists of various family photographs. Series III contains memorabilia, including religious prints and a child's art work.