My mother was born in this town of nearly 100,000 in Northern Germany. During World War II Wilhelmshaven was heavily bombed and among many other buildings, my great-grandfather's Wine and Liqueur Factory was totally destroyed. Since he was older, he never rebuilt but spent years cleaning up the ruins, brick by brick. Only the office building of the compound remains and today my mother lives right across from the place where she spent many happy hours as a child!
The apartment building where my Mom
lives today, at that time they were adding
another floor. The yellow building at the
right of the picture is all that remains of
my great-grandfather's factory.
My great-grandfather's house around 1925.
I am glad that I wasn't born early enough to see all of this destruction. "War is a terrible
thing", my mother told us and we always included a plea for peaceful times in our nightly
prayers.
My memories of Wilhelmshaven are happy ones, of summers spent going to the beach, the
numerous crushes my sister and I had on the life guards, taking little trips to the
surrounding towns, of the yearly beach festivals, and the many table tennis games we
played with the neighbors' kids.
My parents with us at the beach in 1955 and the upper part of the beach today. The hotels
were already there then but the benches in the front have been added in recent years.
As much of Germany, Wilhelmshaven has many old structures, such as this windmill and
the church above.
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Last Updated 22 - January - 2004 by Heidi Stepp
The factory around 1925 before it was
destroyed. The dark mark at the center
left of the picture is the office building that
still remains. The two darker marks at the
center of the picture denote the living
quarters shown in the picture above.
The court house in Wilhelmshaven. From the tower
you can overlook a large part of the city.
Wilhelmshaven as it looked in its early beginnings.
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