My great-grandmother, Elise Horst arrived in America on October 25, 1901 with my grandfather and his brothers Fritz, Otto, and Carl on the Hamburg-American Line Steamship Pennsylvania. Fritz was 9 years old and was born in America. Otto was 7 years old and Carl was 3 years old, both were born in Germany. My grandfather was born in Erfurt, Germany and was 4 years old at the time he came to America.
When My grandfather was old enough he went back to Germany with his wife to study the floral business. While in Germany his wife came back to America. Then came world War I. My grandfather could not come back and his wife divorced him. After the war he met and married my future grandmother. My great grandmother and many of the Horst's settled in the Birmingham, Alabama area where they were in the floral business. There is a road in Birmingham named Horst Hill Road. At one time there was a Fritz Horst Florist and Horst Wholesale Florists in Birmingham. I can't find them now. there is a Horst Wholesale Florists in Charleston, SC and in Savannah, GA. I don't know if they are the same or if they were affiliated with the business in Birmingham. Maybe someone can help me out with that.
The picture below is a picture of my grandmother, Gretel Weinecke Horst. I don't know who the children are. They are probably part of her family in Germany. My grandfather and grandmother arrived in America on November 27, 1923 on the Hamburg-American Line Steamship Thuringia at Ellis Island.
I'm not sure who these pictures are either. They were with the above picture so I am guessing they are other family in Germany.
This is a picture of me with my father a couple of months before he passed away. We were visiting the King Tut exhibit in New Orleans, LA at the time. In this picture we were standing in front of the Place d'Armes Hotel which is where we stayed while in town.
The picture below is a picture of another relative that was in Germany. This is Rudi. Obviously he was on the other side. This is interesting because my father's step-brother, my Uncle Dickie, was in the military (Army, Navy, Marines, I'm not sure which branch) and was stationed in the Pacific Theatre. So our family had was involved in WW II on both sides. Much of our family suffered greatly in Germany. And I know my father had a rough time in school here in the US. He told me stories about boys that would pick on him since he spoke German and spoke English with a German accent.
© 2008 Barry T Horst
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