Family history

The first known ancestor is Nikolaus Boetticher (ca. 1650-1692). It is known of him, that he attended high school (Gymnasium) in Erfurt and studied theology before moving to the then duchy of Courland and settling as a minister in Blieden (today: Blidene in Latvia). His son Christophorus (1686-1745) served as a minister in Ober- and Nieder-Bartau (today: Barta and Nica in Latvia).

He is the starting point for the older and younger branches of the family henceforth: The descendants of the older or Goldingen line (named after Goldingen in Courland, today Kuldiga in Latvia) can be found in the magistrates of Goldingen, and later Riga, living as merchants and landowners in Courland. The descendants of the younger or Tuckum line (named after Tuckum in Courland, today Tukums in Latvia) left a mark as lawyers and officers of the Imperial Russian Army.

In 1842, 1844 and 1846 the family was recognized as ancient gentry by the Governing Senate (pravitelstvuyushchiy senat, Supreme Appeals Court), which in 1863 decreed the registration of the family into the Genealogy Roll (Geschlechterbuch) of the not matriculated gentry of the Gouvernement (district) of Courland. In 1882 Rudolph was registered into the Courland Gentry Roll with the manor (Gut) of Kuckschen (today: Kukšas), 1909 Hermann achieved the same for the manor of Groß-Spirgen (today: Spirgus).

After WWI the larger part of the family remained resident in the newly created Republic of Latvia as part of the local Baltic-German minority. Most of them were relocated to Poland in 1939. After the expulsion of 1945 almost all of them ended up in the western part of Germany.

How Did We Get Our "von"?

In 1795 the duchy of Courland (Kurzeme) was annexed to the Russian empire, to which Estonia, Livonia and the town of Riga had already belonged since 1710. This opened new doors for our ancestors. The sons of Johann Christoph, Karl, Moritz, Gustav and George (Nos. 27, 29, 31 and 34) enlisted in the Russian army, and fought in wars against Sweden, France and Turkey. This service offered them the opportunity for distinguishing themselves and gaining promotions and military decorations. Other members of this Tuckum (Tukums) branch (Nos. 26 and 28) stayed in Courland as lawyers. The Goldingen (Kuldiga) branch was established by Karl Dietrich. His son Karl Friedrich B. (No. 20) acquired considerable wealth, while a nephew, Karl (38), moved to Riga in 1805 and made this old Hanseatic city with its more cosmopolitan setting the stronghold of the Boetticher family for some time.

But the annexation of Courland to Russia led to even more important changes for the family. Already during the 18th century some members of our family (Nos. 11, 16, 17, 19, 20, 27) had enjoyed nobility privileges, but the social standing of the Boettichers at large still needed formal confirmation. This came to pass only after Lithuania and Courland had been absorbed into Russia and local laws and customs had to be aligned with the Imperial system, necessitating Russian recognition of ranks of nobility. Karl Friedrich (No. 20) had been elevated to nobility in 1795, but since he remained unmarried this was of no consequence for the Boetticher descendancy.

On August 21, 1820 however, the existing family members and their offspring in Courland and Riga (Nos. 26, 28, 38, 43, 44) were recognized by the convention of representatives of the nobility of the Lithuanian-Wilna (Vilnius) Gouvernement as nobility of German origin and thus entered into the Wilna nobility register.

This recognition led in turn to resolutions of the heraldic department of the Executive Senate of September 29, 1842 and September 6, 1844, by which all members of our ancestry (Nos. 38, 43, 48, 50, 51, 53, 56, 59 and 27, 29, 31) were entered into the 6th part of the nobility register of the Russian Empire (nobility of before 1685). Henceforth in all official decrees (Ukasy) in Russian for military promotions and decorations that carried the Emperor's (Czar's) signature, family members were regularly called "von" Boetticher. Because of the decree (Ukas) of the Executive Senate of August 22, 1863 (No. 2330) the family was entered into the register of the non immatriculated nobility in the Gouvernement of Courland as "von Boetticher".

Translated by Jürgen von Boetticher from v. Boetticher Familien-Nachrichten (family news) #11, edited by Uwe Hager.

News About the von Boetticher Family

Courlandic Branch

Preface to the 11th Edition of the “News about the von Boetticher Family, Courlandic Branch”

The first “News” appeared in 1891, edited by Dr. Walter von Boetticher, who lived at the time in Göda (Saxonia, Germany). They contained the fundamental results of research into our family history. In 1892, the next edition followed, mainly in memory of Council Carl von Boetticher, written by his son Emil, the Mayor of Riga. The next year, the 3rd edition appeared in honour of the Wippert relatives and it also contained biographic writings about the founder of the Kuckschen family, Johann Christoph Ernst von Boetticher.

Much later, in 1937, a 4th edition was printed, a history of the family with the individual “courses of life”, written by Dr. Ernst von Boetticher. This edition became the foundation for all later publications about our family.

After the Second World War, three more editions followed (the 5th in 1953, the 6th in 1957, and the 7th in 1959). Here, some articles and stories about our family appeared, written by family members. The 8th edition, with the complete courses of life as they had appeared in the 4th edition, was written and edited by Herbert von Boetticher and was printed in 1967. He also wrote and revised the next two supplements, the 9th edition (1973) and 10th edition (1977). These mainly supplemented the courses of life of the then living family members, which were done by sending out questionnaires.

Almost 20 years have passed since then and now almost 30 years since the 8th edition was written. In the meantime, a whole new generation of our family has grown up. A number of publications have also appeared and they have made it possible to add missing information to the courses of life or to correct wrong information and show new connections. The Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility, Nobility House B, edition XV of 1984, shows for the first time a complete genealogy of the von Boetticher family, Courlandic branch. Even though much of the information is from earlier publications of our family union in this handbook, there are also more recent supplements.

The plan was now for the 11th edition of our “News” to continue with the newest courses of life as it had been done in the 9th and 10th edition, but also to revise the older courses of life. Here, too, the 4th edition of our “News” was the most important foundation. Besides using content in the 8th to the 10th editions, information from the aforementioned genealogical handbook of the nobility was used. New questionnaires were also sent out.

To enhance the connection and to compare our family to other families as well as to know more about the fate of the women who married outside the family, we tried to get extra data about their husbands and children. To accomplish this, not only were the answers to the questionnaires used, but also the many hints from genealogies of other families to be found in the Gotha Genealogical Pocketbook, in the Handbook of Nobility, in the German Family Book and in the Baltic ancestral and genealogical tables. Articles that have appeared in Baltic student society papers (Album Curonorum, Album Livonorum, Album Fratrum Rigensis and publications of the Corps Curonia Goettingensis) and information about individual persons from our family and outsiders also proved helpful. We used data as well from letters in the family archive.

The editor in charge of the 11th edition is very grateful to the many people who helped with their valuable information. To name them all would take much space and time.

Shortly before completing the work on the 11th edition of the “News”, we were successful in attaining data from previously unknown sources in Russia. The sources are as follows:

These sources gave us important hints, but mainly enhanced our knowledge about the Orthodox branch of our family a great deal.

Please let the author know about mistakes or incomplete information in this 11th edition of the “News,” as well as new information in the future. The author emphasizes the importance of informing him of any changes or additions to the courses of lives in order to make changes in later supplements.

There was a speech given in 1890 by the then Mayor of Riga, Emil von Boetticher, in the prologue of the first “News”. At that time, the Russification of the Eastern Provinces had begun and he feared that this would lead to a growing number of people immigrating to Germany.

“Our family will be further pulled apart and therefore it will be harder to keep a firm bond to all members…”

The later events of the two World Wars, the loss of the Baltic homelands and the great exodus at the end of the Second World War and thereafter increased this fear. During the course of the last decades, our family members have gotten used to their new surroundings and the memory of their times before the Second World War is beginning to fade. The acquaintance between family members has often been lost. The reason of the previously printed “News” and this 11th edition is to further the connection and knowledge between our family members. The 11th edition also aims to show how our family has been integrated in the general history during the last decades. May it be successful on both accounts!

Here now are some directions about the 11th edition of the “News” and its structure:
Following the prologue in the first print of courses of life in the 4th edition of the “News” (1937) an overview of our family history is given, then the first print starts with the courses of life, which, except for some corrections and editorial changes, is 4 completely reprinted. The family history after 1937 follows. Here references from the prologue of the 2nd print of the courses of life in the 8th edition of the “News” and the 10th edition of the “News” are continued. The courses of life are then printed with the name register (one register for the given names and two registers for the family names). A record is also given with our family members and their relatives who died in connection with the two World Wars, as well as a list of our family union presidents. The next page shows a list of old titles, plus administration names and their present use and a register of town names in Latvia. These two lists may lead to a better understanding of the courses of life, especially those of the older generations. Two tables of our family tree are on the back cover.

The principle structure of the courses of life was taken without changes from the 4th edition of the “News”. The courses of life have been put in numerical order within the generations with the genealogical sequence starting from the oldest to the youngest generation. This principle only changes on two occasions: new information about our Orthodox family branch enabled us to add some courses of life, which are inserted between the existing ones. At this point, we used the same number as the person previously known in the courses of life, but now with the addition of the letters “A,” “B” and so on. Furthermore, the number system of the 11th generation courses of life was not continued, but the numbers of the respective fathers with the edition “a”, “b” put in place. Also, the courses of life of the 11th generation were placed right after those of their father.

Introduction

To the 1st Print of the Courses of Lives (1937)
In the 4th Edition of the News about the von Boetticher Family
(Early Family History)

The members of the von Boetticher family currently living mostly in Germany and Latvia originated in central Germany, but the exact location has not been narrowed down. On the one hand, we know that the ancestor Nikolaus Boettiger (Böttiger, Bötticher, Botcher), Pastor in Blieden (Blidene) in Kurland (Kurzeme), graduated from the high school in the City of Erfurt (Central Germany) and was known as one of its pupils in that city and its surroundings. On the other hand, a record from 1818 shows that he moved from Braunschweig-­Lüneburg (Upper Central Germany) to Kurzeme (Latvia) and that his family was of nobility. Researches in Erfurt about the parents of Nikolaus B. were up to this point inconclusive. Not all of the church records of Erfurt concerning this case have survived, and the church records of Braunschweig-­Lüneburg and some 70 other towns in the area around Erfurt have not yet been investigated. So far, we do not know if any of the many families with the same names that lived around 1650 in Central Germany, especially near Erfurt, were related to Nikolaus B. or if his parents just lived there temporarily. The fact that he, as a child, was enrolled in to the University of Erfurt shows us that his parents were either scholars or they had the financial means. This was not uncommon in the 17th century, but still quite a costly undertaking.

Earlier generations believed in a connection to the scholar and civil servant family von Bötticher, which lived in Braunschweig and became nobility in 1717, but this cannot be supported. Also, that Nikolaus B. is a relative of the Chancellor of Halbertstadt who was elevated in 1563 into nobility, Peter Boetticher from Nordhausen (Germany), has not been proven. The connection between Nikolaus B. and the owner of the estate Jagieliszki in Samagotien (Lithuania), Zacharias Bötticher, who allegedly came from Braunschweig-­Wolfenbüttel (Germany) and his grandson Christoph, Starost (estate owner) von Augustow, is not clear either. An unreliable source tells us that the latter had given his estates to the grandsons of Nikolaus B., the brothers Johann-­ Christoph and Karl Dietrich B. in 1751. Any relations to the many families with the same name who lived in central, northern and eastern Germany cannot be made. It is remarkable that some of the families with the same name in Germany used the pelican in their coat of armour. A large field waits here to be explored by a family researcher.

The reasons why our ancestor Nikolaus B. emigrated from Germany to the Duchy of Kurland (Kurzeme) are only partly known. He and some of his school friends who later lived in Riga, Reval (Tallinn) and Kurzeme (Province, northern part of Latvia) planned not to immigrate originally. It is possible that the separation of the City of Erfurt and its surrounding areas belonging to the Elector of Saxonia in 1664 to the Archbishop of Mainz (Rheine) made the difference. This large property change also brought confessional changes, which may have motivated the young men from Erfurt to immigrate to the Polish Duchy of Kurzeme and the Swedish provinces of Livland (Vidzeme, Latvia) and Estland (Estonia). It is not known what brought the young, circa 30-­year-­old Nikolaus B. to the Courlandic country-­like parsonage in Blieden (Blidene). Was it just by chance? Shortly after his early death, the Nordic War began and this brought new changes again for his two sons. The first son, Nikolaus Friedrich (2) entered the Russian Army and we do not know if he got married. He may have descendants among the different Russian and Polish-­Lithuanian people with the same name that have appeared. The second son, Christophorus (3) arrived as a boy in Königsberg (Prussia) and was already a candidate to become a Minister in the Prussian Samland (on the Baltic Sea). From here, he was appointed in 1710 by Friedrich Wilhelm “Duke in Lievland, Courland and Semgallen” to become Pastor in Upper and Lower Bartau in Courland and this brought his family branch back again. At that time, Christophorus was 24 years old.

During the 18th century, the families lived as good middle class citizens in the “God’s Land,” Courland. Two sons were doctors and two army officers;; they left the country. All the others became pastors, civil servants, merchants and lawyers and often part-­time farmers. The daughters married in the same circles. At the beginning, the family was concentrated at the Parsonage in Lower Bartau and the nearby harbour town of Libau. In 1746, the son of Christophorus, Karl Dietrich (11), became a citizen of the Town of Goldingen (Kuldiga) and bought houses and properties and the next two generations (11 and 20) were mayors of this city and so Goldingen became the centre for our family. In 1772, the stepbrother of Karl Dietrich Johann Christoph (16) who up to this time was the City Secretary in Goldingen, moved to the village of Tuckum (Tukums). Here he and later his son Friedrich (26) were administrative lawyers and that started a new family branch.

Besides Goldingen (Kuldiga) and Tuckum (Tukums), the Lithuanian city of Birsen played a role in the lives of the families. The widow of the former Pastor Wagenseil (later General-­Senior), had lived here and was now married to Christophorus B. (3). But, there were other connections to Lithuania. Here, the aristocratic estates Jagieliszki-­Scymeize and Girki, allegedly given to the brothers Karl Dietrich and Johann Christoph B. (11 and 16) in 1751 to 1770, were situated. Karl Dietrich was the King’s financial civil servant in Lithuania, his son Johann Friedrich (20) was a cadet in the Lithuanian Army, and Johann Christoph’s son Karl (27) started his military career in the Lithuanian Army. The youngest son of Christophorus B., Karl Friedrich (17), also spent his later years in Lithuania.

In 1795, the Duchy of Courland was annexed to Russia;; Livland (Vidzeme = part of Latvia), the City of Riga and Estonia belonged to Russia since 1710. This annexation opened new possibilities for the members of the family. The sons of Johann Christoph, Karl, Moritz, Gustav and George (27, 29, 31 and 34) entered the Russian Army. Here they fought in the wars against Sweden, France and Turkey and were decorated and promoted. Other family members of this (“Tuckum”) branch (26 and 28) lived as lawyers in Courland. Karl Dietrich established the (“Goldingen”) branch and his son Karl Friedrich B. (19) became a considerably wealthy man. His nephew Karl (38) moved to Riga from the small city (Goldingen) and from then on the family hub was in this old and larger Hanseatic city.

How Did We Get our "von"

The annexation of Courland to Russia led to even more important changes for the family. Already during the 18th century some members of our family (Nos. 11, 16, 17, 19, 20, 27) had enjoyed nobility privileges, but the social standing of the Boettichers at large still needed formal confirmation. This came to pass only after Lithuania and Courland had been absorbed into Russia and local laws and customs had to be aligned with the Imperial system, necessitating Russian recognition of ranks of nobility. Karl Friedrich (No. 20) had been elevated to nobility in 1795, but since he remained unmarried this was of no consequence for the Boetticher descendancy.

On August 21, 1820 however, the existing family members and their offspring in Courland and Riga (Nos. 26, 28, 38, 43, 44) were recognized by the convention of representatives of the nobility of the Lithuanian-­Wilna (Vilnius) Government as nobility of German origin and thus entered into the Wilna nobility register.

This recognition led in turn to resolutions of the heraldic department of the Executive Senate of September 29, 1842 and September 6, 1844, by which all members of our ancestry (Nos. 38, 43, 48, 50, 51, 53, 56, 59 and 27, 29, 31) were entered into the 6th part of the nobility register of the Russian Empire (nobility of before 1685). Henceforth in all official decrees (Ukasy) in Russian for military promotions and decorations that carried the Emperor's (Czar's) signature, family members were regularly called "von" Boetticher. Because of the decree (Ukas) of the Executive Senate of August 22, 1863 (No. 2330) the family was entered into the register of the non immatriculated nobility in the Government of Courland as "von Boetticher".

During the 19th century, the sons of the Tuckum branch were all, except for one, employed by the government as officers, civil servants, engineers, lawyers, teachers and doctors. With the Russian influence and the fact that they took Russian wives, some of them became estranged to the German customs and traditions. Their descendants were of the Greek Orthodox confession.

Members of the Goldingen branch acquired estates in their homeland at the beginning in a lease system and since the release of new property laws after 1865, as owners of these properties. The estates of Kuckschen, Pommusch and Great-­Spirgen, and also Ebelshof (Ebelmuiza) near Riga were owned by their families. Almost all of their sons were involved in farming. Towards the end of the 19th century, two thirds of them were either farmers or foresters. These family members in Courland with properties felt more and more connected to the country. Rudolf v. B. (90), owner of Kuckschen, entered the Courlandic Knighthood on February 20, 1882, and Hermann v. B. (132) of Great-­Spirgen followed on March 12, 1909. Friedrich v. B. (76) went a different path. In the middle of the 19th century, he went back to the motherland and established his family in Saxonia (central Germany).

Members of the Goldingen branch acquired estates in their homeland at the beginning in a lease system and since the release of new property laws after 1865, as owners of these properties. The estates of Kuckschen, Pommusch and Great-­Spirgen, and also Ebelshof (Ebelmuiza) near Riga were owned by their families. Almost all of their sons were involved in farming. Towards the end of the 19th century, two thirds of them were either farmers or foresters. These family members in Courland with properties felt more and more connected to the country. Rudolf v. B. (90), owner of Kuckschen, entered the Courlandic Knighthood on February 20, 1882, and Hermann v. B. (132) of Great-­Spirgen followed on March 12, 1909. Friedrich v. B. (76) went a different path. In the middle of the 19th century, he went back to the motherland and established his family in Saxonia (central Germany). With the beginning of the Slavophilic course in Russia and the Russification of the Baltic Sea provinces in the end of the 19th century, the political climate changed. The peaceful and successful aspirations of the families found many hurdles in their path now. The career of the civil servant in the Baltic homeland was almost totally blocked and the career of an officer very difficult. This led to the immigration of Friedrich v. B. (145), who followed his uncle Friedrich in 1891 back to Saxonia. Paul v. B. (83) of the Tuckum branch moved to Berlin in 1895 and established here the Prussian family branch. On May 20, 1898, he was accepted into the Prussian nobility and the son of Friedrich, Walter (122) and his nephew Friedrich (145) were registered on July 21, 1904, into the Saxonian nobility book. This branching out of our family brought a fear of estrangement and the effort was made for a conscious concentration of the present energy in material and ideological form: for a stronger research in the past and the publishing of the “News about the von Boetticher Family, Courlandic Branch”, commissioned by the family council, written by Dr. Walter von Boetticher (1891-­1893) and to establish the “Association for Mutual Assistance of the von Boetticher Families (Courlandic Branch)” in the year 1906. A greater unity among family members was established, but the connection to the Orthodox branch in Russia was almost totally lost.

At the beginning of the First World War in the summer of 1914, the family counted 106 members (without the Orthodox branch). Our members owned the Knight manors Kuckschen (1019 ha), Groß-­Spirgen (1650 ha), Rosenfeld (1517 ha), Klein Iwanden (762 ha) and Appussen (516 ha) and the farms Pitze (93 ha) and Skribeniek (105 ha) in Courland, the estate Kussen with a part of Lodenhof (510 ha) in Livland (part of Latvia) and Dsernowitz (2774 ha), the farm Klein Otjahevita (Hohensee) in Deutsch-­Südwestafrika (Namibia), the Sanatorium Marienbad in Majorenhof near Riga (beach), house and properties in Riga, Livland (Vidzeme) and Kurland (Kurzeme), in Radebeul and Dresden (Germany). Close to 11,000 hectares of land was owned by the von Boetticher families at this time.

War, but the outcome of the war brought great changes for everyone. Twenty-­seven male members of the family were soldiers in the Army during the years 1914-­1920. Every able-­bodied family member in Germany took part in the war. In Russia, five were drafted (excluding the Orthodox branch). Nineteen fought in the Baltic Landeswehr as volunteers in the fight against Bolshevism, the names of three members are engraved in the monument for the deed of the Baltic Landeswehr (territorial reserve) on the forest cemetery in Riga: Erich v. B., born 1889 (174), Erich v. B. born 1900 (205) and Günter v. B. born 1903 (206). Civilian victims of Bolshevism included Marie von Bilterling, nee v. B. (117), Bernhardt v. B. (151), Konrad v. B. (137) and Karl v. B. (149). We have no information about the Orthodox branch of the family. The rest of the family members living in the interior of Russia were able to leave the country, but had to leave all their belongings behind. The properties of most family members were lost due to the political and economical upheaval of the post-­war period. The land reform of 1920 reduced the large estates in Latvia to small remainder farms of between 50 to 100 hectares without any compensation, a loss of 9000 hectares. A large part of the family members left the Baltic homeland and immigrated to Germany at this time.

The years after both World Wars meant adjusting to the changed conditions and a struggle for a new way of life for our family members.

Our von Boetticher Coat of Arms

Our coat of arms was first traceable in Kurland to the sons of Christophorus B. Gottfried Andreas (8) used the seal depicting a pelican feeding his two young with his life blood, arranged in a round shield between two bay leaf branches with a crown above it and the initials G.A.B. in 1751. His stepbrother Karl Heinrich (17) used a seal of the same depiction and the initials C.F.B.

There are still two seal rings – stones that belonged to the wife of Karl Dietrich B. (11), Susanne Gottliebe Goetecke, with the pelican in the coat of arms shield. The crest shows a heart pierced through by three arrows (from the coat of arms of Goetecke) between two wings with the initials S.G.B. Today, this stone is owned by Edda v. B. The second stone belonged to the Court Official Johann Christoph B. (16). It shows the pelican in the shield, the helmet ornament above a bird, with a leaf in its beak and the initials J.C.B. It is owned today by Erich v. B.

According to their contemporary taste, the next generation expanded the crest with additions and allusions. The merchant brothers Karl Friedrich and Johann Friedrich (19 and 20) used a split shield with an upright black anchor in gold on the right side and a pelican on the left side. Karl’s helmet ornament showed an anchor and Johann’s showed two bright flames. This crest was given to Karl Friedrich at his appointment into the nobility of the Empire 1795. Their cousin, the officer Karl B. (27), showed in his shield two crossed swords and a cannonball, a metal cross, three six-­ pointed stars and the pelican;; the helmet ornament had three ostrich feathers;; the crest surrounded by cannon barrels, swords and flags. Later on, he and his brother Gustav B. (31) took the crest of the Braunschweig family v. Bötticher, which showed an oak stump with two short branches and two leaves into their crest. This was under the assumption that both families had the same origin. The Supreme Court Advocate Philipp B. (28) used the Minerva with helmet and spear next to the pelican crest. In the second half of the 19th century, the family came back to a simpler coat of arms, which was confirmed on September 26, 1884. On a blue shield on a green hill, it shows a silver pelican ready to take flight, feeding both its young (looking in the same shape as its parent) with its heart blood. The crowned open helmet with a blue-­silver top shows a blue eagle wing on the right and a silver eagle wing on the left.

In more recent times, and with the symbol of sacrificing love, our coat of arms motto is: “QUID NON DILECTIS!” [“All for the Loved Ones!”]

More History of our Family after 1937

The Second World War had a drastic effect on the lives of all family members. The first of the two most important events was the resettlement of our families from their Baltic homeland, where they had lived for 250 years. A large part of the families settled in the Wartheland between 1939 and 1940. The second major event was the flight from there and other parts of East Germany in 1945 after the Second World War had ended. Both events are reflected in the “Courses of Life”, (Lebens-­Läufe). Due to this process, all the properties in the Baltic that were still owned before the Second World War were now lost. This included land, estates, foundations and gravesites.

The extensive family archive, which had been moved to Posen after the resettlement, was not saved during the flight. This fact and the circumstance that it was now impossible to have access to any archives in the East German area or any of those in the Baltic or Polish areas (if any had survived the war at all) meant that further research about our family was therefore quite difficult.

One family reunion took place in Posen in 1940. In the same year, the family association was registered in Posen. Hugo von Boetticher made this possible against strong opposition from the government. A family reunion was planned for the summer of 1948. This did not happen because of the currency reform. So the first family reunion after the Second World War took place on November 5, 1949, in Hannover. Every year since then we hold a family reunion, at first in Hannover, then in Meissen near Hannover, in Bad Pyrmont and now in Castle Höhnscheid near Kassel. These reunions became the highlights for the resurrected old family association.

On January 10, 1963, the “Association of the Kurlandische Family von Boetticher” was registered at the District Court in Hannover into the association register. Now the legal framework for the common interest of our family was secured.

Paragraph 3 of that article says:

“The association will carry on in the same tradition as established in 1906. (Association to assist the family members von Boetticher), which was until the resettlement of the Baltic Germans, in Latvia, and then from April 1, 1940, in Posen, here in the registry under the number 485.”

Due to the change in the law of the Kurlandische Knighthood, it became possible in 1952 to admit some members of the family, where at least one family member had been registered in the Kurlandische Knighthood earlier. Quite a number of our family members, that up to this time did not belong to the Knighthood, were now able, after making an application, to join the Kurlandische Knighthood.

It was possible after the war to build up a new family archive. Dr. Phil Manfred von Boetticher is managing it. A picture archive was also established and Friedrich von Boetticher in Laazen looked after it for many years. Also, some members of our family made grants to the association.

On November 14, 1957, the “Olga von Boetticher grant to further fellowship and the future of the members of the association and their children” was established, granted by Friedrich von Boetticher (178) and his children.

On November 3, 1962, the “Wolfgang von Boetticher – Africa – grant” was established, granted by Wolfgang v. B. (180).

As mentioned already in the introduction of the first edition in the Course of Lives, the social and occupational situation had changed quickly due to the effect of the years 1939 to 1945, for all family members. During this time, all members lost their properties, except those in Africa. Also, the family members had lived much closer together in the Baltic lands and even after the resettlement to the Wartheland this was mostly the case. After the flight, however, our families lived in all parts of the Bundesrepublik and a few immigrated to North America. Today, most families live in Hannover, Hamburg and in the region of Stuttgart. The first edition of the “Lebensläufe” already showed changes in the occupation of our family members and now these great changes have continued. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, women began participating in different occupations in Germany and this was also the case in our family.

After the chaos of the first half of the 20th century, most family members were able to build a new existence and often own houses and other real estates, but the former lost wealth has not been replaced.

In 1939, only about half of our family members (68) still lived in Latvia. In the same year, they all had to leave the old homeland and 62 of them resettled in the Wartheland. (The Warthe is a tributary of the River Oder). From here, all of those who had survived left this area on the big flight in 1945 to the West. Some family members who had lived before the resettlement in Germany and Danzig (on the Baltic Sea, now Poland) also had to flee at this time. In the beginning, many of them got stuck in the DDR (Deutsche Democratic Republic, “East Germany”). In 1948, 15 members lived here, but this number was down to three in 1971. Another big change happened after 1948 because some family members immigrated to Canada, where, in 1971, 18 members lived and this number has increased to 24 in 1995, from birth and marriage. One family member had moved to Africa (Namibia) before 1914 and here a small increase from birth and marriage was recorded as well.