Alfons's emigration, Bernhard's family, Adolf to Robert to Gerold
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Translated from Ludwig Distel's German.
Alfons learned the saddler's trade. Around 1930 he followed his brother Willi to
Australia. He was drawn, however, to the Brisbane area, where he lives to this
day. His son Peter, with his family, represents the Distels in that part of the
world.
Bernhard is the youngest son. He was just six years old when his mother Anna died
on 29 March 1932. His mother's sister then became the good spirit of the family
in the house at Herdstrasse 34. Bernhard became a machine fitter. The Second
World War, into which he was sent at barely 18, he went through as a soldier like
his brothers Adolf and Friedrich. Together with his wife he converted the former
stabling in the Herdstrasse into a dwelling house. Here three children grew up:
Marianne, Ludwig and Albrecht. Bernhard died as early as 1978.
Continuation of the butcher's tradition under Adolf and Robert Distel
As already said, the history of the butchery in the Niedere Strasse does not end
with Robert Distel. His eldest son from the second marriage, Adolf, took over the
butchery in 1933. Together with his wife Karolina, called Lina, Adolf ran the
business through the thirties, forties and fifties. From this marriage came the
daughter Rita, today a doctor in Stuttgart, and the son Robert. He likewise
became a master butcher and followed his father Adolf in 1965 in the direction of
the business. As the fifth butcher in unbroken family succession he is now able,
in 1986, with his wife Isolde nee Gamerdinger, to celebrate the 150th business
anniversary. The elder son of the present owners, likewise a Robert, lives today
with his family in Munich as a qualified engineer. It is a pleasure from the whole
family's point of view that the second son, namely Gerold Distel, with his wife
Sonja nee Aigeldinger, is already available as a master butcher to carry on the
business with its great tradition. The handsome renovation and rebuilding of the
butchery, an ornament of the Niedere Strasse, should contribute to a successful
future for the Distel butchery.
Written in January 1986 by Ludwig Distel
The German as printed in 1986, as transcribed.
Alfons lernt das Sattlerhandwerk. Er folgt um 1930 seinem Bruder Willi nach
Australien. Ihn zieht es allerdings in die Gegend von Brisbane, wo er bis heute
wohnt. Sein Sohn Peter mit seiner Familie vertritt die Distels in diesem Teil
der Welt.
Bernhard ist der juengste Sohn. Er ist gerade sechs Jahre alt, als seine Mutter
Anna am 29. Maerz 1932 stirbt. Die Schwester der Mutter wird daraufhin im Hause
Herdstrasse 34 der gute Geist der Familie. Bernhard wird Maschinenschlosser. Den
Zweiten Weltkrieg, in den er mit knapp 18 Jahren geschickt wird, erlebt er wie
seine Brueder Adolf und Friedrich als Soldat. Zusammen mit seiner Frau baut er
die frueheren Stallungen in der Herdstrasse zu einem Wohnhaus aus. Hier wachsen
drei Kinder, Marianne, Ludwig und Albrecht heran. Bernhard stirbt bereits im
Jahre 1978.
Fortfuehrung der Metzgertradition unter Adolf und Robert Distel
Wie schon gesagt, endet mit Robert Distel die Geschichte der Metzgerei in der
Niederen Strasse nicht. Sein aeltester Sohn aus zweiter Ehe, Adolf, uebernimmt
1933 die Metzgerei. Zusammen mit seiner Frau Karolina, genannt Lina, fuehrt
Adolf das Geschaeft in den dreissiger, vierziger und fuenfziger Jahren. Aus
dieser Ehe gehen die Tochter Rita, heute Aerztin in Stuttgart, und Sohn Robert
hervor. Dieser wird ebenfalls Metzgermeister und folgt seinem Vater Adolf 1965
in der Leitung des Geschaeftes. Als fuenfter Metzger in ununterbrochener
Familiennachfolge kann er mit seiner Frau Isolde geborene Gamerdinger jetzt 1986
das 150jaehrige Geschaeftsjubilaeum feiern. Der aelteste Sohn der jetzigen
Inhaber, ebenfalls ein Robert, lebt mit seiner Familie heute als
Diplomingenieur in Muenchen. Erfreulich aus Sicht der ganzen Familie ist, dass
der zweite Sohn, naemlich Gerold Distel, mit seiner Frau Sonja, geb.
Aigeldinger, bereits als Metzgermeister zur Fortfuehrung des Geschaefts mit
seiner grossen Tradition zur Verfuegung steht. Die ansprechende Renovierung und
der Umbau der Metzgerei, ein Schmuckstueck in der Niederen Strasse, sollen zur
erfolgreichen Zukunft der Metzgerei Distel beitragen.
Verfasst im Januar 1986 von Ludwig Distel
The pedigree that closes this page is on the scan above. It is not repeated here as text: it prints the full birth dates of four people who are living, and text on a web page is searchable in a way that a photograph of a page is not.
Interesting facts
A saddler's trade was dying. Motor transport was destroying the demand for harness just as this generation qualified. A young saddler in 1930 had every reason to look at another continent.
Twelve years in one clause. Three brothers are said to have served as soldiers in the Second World War and the sentence stops. A firm's anniversary booklet written in 1986 had nothing it wished to say about the years between 1933 and 1945, and this one says nothing at all.
Why the pedigree is not retyped here. The chart at the foot of this page is on the scan, where it belongs. It is not repeated as text because it prints the full birth dates of living people, and text on a web page can be searched by name in a way a photograph of a page cannot.
People: Alfons Distel (1909-1988), Peter Distel (b. 1950), Bernhard Distel (1925-1978), Anna Zeller (1882-1932), Marianne Distel (b. 1950), Ludwig Distel (b. abt 1954), Albrecht Distel (b. 1955), Adolf Distel (b. 1904), Karolina Risle (b. 1904), Rita Distel, Robert Distel (b. 1930), Isolde Gamerdinger (b. 1930), Gerold Distel (b. 1959), Sonja Aigeldinger (b. 1965)