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English text

[Partial translation]

5 November 1926

[Father wrote this letter]

Mother has caught cold and is spending today and tomorrow in bed. She has quite a head cold […]

Last Sunday, I was in Allendorf at Wilhelm’s wedding. I was supposed to leave on Saturday morning already, but could not do so because we had accepted an urgent job. Therefore, we did not leave until Sunday morning at 10:30 and arrived there at 3:45 pm, with the wedding ceremony starting at 4 pm. We celebrated quite a bit and wished the young couple all the best for the future. There were probably about 35 to 40 people present, close relatives of the young couple as well as the godparents. Those who did not have a place to sleep had to keep on celebrating throughout the night. I left at 2 am to go and sleep at Karl Hannjuste’s in-laws. I woke up at 9 am the next morning, feeling rested. There, I also saw little Heinrich from Steeden, who had been there for 6 weeks already. However, his grandfather is supposed to come and pick him up this week. I also learned there that Karl Hannjuste got engaged again to the girl about whom mother wrote earlier. I assume that he will get married sometime in the winter. We haven’t heard anything yet from the people in Steeden themselves. […] Back to the wedding celebration: Around 10 am, I returned to the house where the celebration had taken place and found about 25 people gathered again. In those parts, they extend the celebration into Monday. We were served breakfast and then, at noon, lunch. The last few people from out of town, which included me, left for the train station at 2 pm. I was back at home by 7 pm. Wilhelm and his wife intended to leave on the following day. Today I found out, however, that Wilhelm had to return on his own because an aunt of Gretchen’s died on Tuesday. Gretchen stayed to attend the funeral and is supposed to arrive in Nordenstadt tonight. Now the folks in Nordenstadt have succeeded, and the desired help is there.

Translated by Ilse Baker