Breite Herzogstraße 27, Kramer hairdressing salon
Getting married at last!
In the first days of April 1945, the 9th US Army approached Wolfenbüttel. Meanwhile, the National Socialist regime tried to maintain its power by brutal means. People were executed right up to the final hours of the war and on April 10, the front page of the Braunschweig daily newspaper threatened anyone who did not offer resistance. Uncertainty prevailed among large sections of the population when American soldiers took the city on April 11, 1945. But for two people in Wolfenbüttel, this day meant:
Finally we can get married!
On April 21, 1945, just ten days after the liberation of Wolfenbüttel, hairdresser Margarete Muhs and master hairdresser Kurt Kramer said "I do". The couple had had to wait six years for this moment. According to the "Nuremberg Race Laws", Kurt Kramer was a "1st degree half-breed", which forbade their union for the "protection of German blood and German honor".
But the two were not deterred by this and had been living under the same roof since 1939.
In the 1950s, their marriage date was backdated to 1 September 1939 for unknown reasons.
Margarete Kramer brought two sons into the marriage, which Kurt adopted as his own. The couple ran a hairdressing salon at Breite Herzogstraße 27, where the family also lived. Kurt Kramer became head of the hairdressers' guild in 1945.
The 1930s and 1940s were difficult times for Kurt Kramer. He had to do forced labor and was temporarily imprisoned in a camp in Emsland. As one of the "moor soldiers", he went into the moor equipped with a spade to drain, cut peat or build roads.
Although it seems that he had found his way back to a middle-class life after the war, Kurt Kramer was found dead in 1959. The circumstances suggest that he took his own life.
Getting married at last!
In the first days of April 1945, the 9th US Army approached Wolfenbüttel. Meanwhile, the National Socialist regime tried to maintain its power by brutal means. People were executed right up to the final hours of the war and on April 10, the front page of the Braunschweig daily newspaper threatened anyone who did not offer resistance. Uncertainty prevailed among large sections of the population when American soldiers took the city on April 11, 1945. But for two people in Wolfenbüttel, this day meant:
Finally we can get married!
On April 21, 1945, just ten days after the liberation of Wolfenbüttel, hairdresser Margarete Muhs and master hairdresser Kurt Kramer said "I do". The couple had had to wait six years for this moment. According to the "Nuremberg Race Laws", Kurt Kramer was a "1st degree half-breed", which forbade their union for the "protection of German blood and German honor".
But the two were not deterred by this and had been living under the same roof since 1939.
In the 1950s, their marriage date was backdated to 1 September 1939 for unknown reasons.
Margarete Kramer brought two sons into the marriage, which Kurt adopted as his own. The couple ran a hairdressing salon at Breite Herzogstraße 27, where the family also lived. Kurt Kramer became head of the hairdressers' guild in 1945.
The 1930s and 1940s were difficult times for Kurt Kramer. He had to do forced labor and was temporarily imprisoned in a camp in Emsland. As one of the "moor soldiers", he went into the moor equipped with a spade to drain, cut peat or build roads.
Although it seems that he had found his way back to a middle-class life after the war, Kurt Kramer was found dead in 1959. The circumstances suggest that he took his own life.
Good to know
Eligibility
for individual guests
Pet allowed
for Children of the age of 10 upwards
Payment Options
free of charge
Contact person
Stadt Wolfenbüttel / Abteilung 412
Ms. Lena Simon
Löwentor, Löwenstraße 1
38300 Wolfenbüttel
Author
Lessingstadt Wolfenbüttel
Stadtmarkt 3-6
38300 Wolfenbüttel
Organization
Lessingstadt Wolfenbüttel
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