May 17, 1937 · Schleswig, Germany
A childhood in Germany
Oma B’s story begins in Schleswig, in northern Germany.
Brigitta was born on May 17, 1937. According to the family’s recollections, she grew up in Schleswig, in Schleswig-Holstein. Her early years spanned wartime and postwar Germany.
The family is gathering her own memories of childhood, school, and the people who shaped her life. These recollections will help preserve this chapter in her own words.
Family-confirmed detail
A childhood rooted in Schleswig
Brigitta was born on May 17, 1937. Her 90th birthday falls on May 17, 2027. The family remembers Schleswig, in northern Germany, as the place where she grew up.
A birth date gives us a point on a timeline; the home, neighborhood, and people around her will give that timeline its life. Her exact birthplace and the details of her earliest years are still being gathered.
The birthday was confirmed by the family. Schleswig is the recalled childhood home; the exact birthplace has not been established.
Family recollection
Her father, the musician
Brigitta’s father was a musician who played many instruments, including violin and piano. The family recalls that he was a prisoner of war and spent a year in a prison camp in Siberia.
His music helped him survive captivity, as the family remembers it. The details of that experience—and the part music played in it—are still to be recorded.
Family recollection shared September 11, 2026. The camp’s name and the dates of captivity have not yet been identified.
Family recollection
A wartime home in Schloss Gottorf
Brigitta lived in Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig while her father was a prisoner of war. Her mother, known to the family as Omi, and her two siblings were also part of the family’s recollection of this home in Schleswig.
The Schloss is now a museum. It houses the china Brigitta played with as a child—objects from her childhood that the family can still see on display today.
Source: Schloss Gottorf — photographs of the facade and clock tower
Family recollections shared September 11 and 14, 2026. The building was identified by matching the photograph’s facade, clock tower, and 1703 inscription to reference photographs.
Family recollection
Remembering her two siblings
Brigitta lost both of her siblings to leukemia during childhood, according to the family’s recollection. Their names, ages, and the dates of their deaths are still being gathered.
Family recollection shared September 11, 2026.
Historical context
Two years old when war began
Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, beginning the war in Europe. Brigitta was two years old. The years in which she learned about the world were also years of war.
That chronology helps place her childhood. It does not tell us what she saw or understood. Memories of school, food, sirens, soldiers, or conversations at home need to come from Brigitta and her family.
Source: Institute of National Remembrance — World War II: historical view
Historical date from the source; her age is calculated from the family-confirmed birthday.
Historical context
An eighth birthday just ahead
May 8, 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe. Brigitta was still seven, with her eighth birthday nine days away.
The end of fighting is a milestone in the wider history. How her household heard the news, what changed for them, and what she remembers of that birthday remain parts of her own story to collect.
Source: UK government history — May 8, 1945: the end of the war in Europe
This concerns the European war. Her age is calculated from May 17, 1937.
Historical context
A region reshaped by the war
After the war, Schleswig-Holstein was part of the British occupation zone. Refugees had already begun arriving before the fighting ended. The state’s historical overview describes a population rising from about 1.6 million in 1939 to 2.7 million in 1946.
This was the regional setting for Brigitta’s later childhood: communities adapting to many new arrivals while public life was being rebuilt. The figures describe Schleswig-Holstein as a whole, not her household or neighborhood.
Source: State of Schleswig-Holstein — A short history of Schleswig-Holstein
Historical context
Rebuilding everyday life
The British occupation authorities faced urgent problems of food, shelter, transport, and displaced people. The National Army Museum describes efforts to restore essential services and help people return home or find somewhere to live.
These conditions help explain the wider period in which Brigitta grew up. They are not evidence that she personally experienced a particular shortage, evacuation, or loss of her home.
Source: National Army Museum — The Army and the occupation of Germany
Still to be remembered
The childhood only she can tell us
What was her street like? Who lived nearby? What did she enjoy at school? Which foods, games, celebrations, or family routines does she remember?
The family hopes to preserve these small, specific details in Brigitta’s own words. They will tell us more about her childhood than any general account of the period can.
Family recollection
The houses she knew
The family has identified photographs of the house Brigitta lived in before the Schloss and her postwar house. Together with the Schloss photograph, they give her childhood story places we can picture.
The dates of each move and her memories of life in these homes are still to be collected.
Photographs and captions supplied by the family, September 14, 2026.
Family recollection
Remembering her parents
Among the family photographs is her parents’ headstone. It belongs here alongside the places where Brigitta grew up, preserving a connection to the parents whose lives are part of her story.
The family identified the photograph as her parents’ headstone, September 14, 2026.
Historical context
From wartime shelter to museum
The museum’s history records that Schloss Gottorf housed several hundred refugees as temporary accommodation in 1945. In 1948, Schleswig was chosen as the home of the two state museums now associated with the Schloss.
This history helps place the family’s memories of living there. It does not establish the dates or circumstances of Brigitta’s own stay. The china photographs and her childhood connection to those pieces come from the family’s account.
Source: Museumsinsel Schloss Gottorf — history of the Schloss
From the family collection
Places and keepsakes
Family recollections, including details shared September 11, 2026; historical context is cited separately.
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