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I am looking for information on Heinrich Märte (my grandfather) and his family. He was born on July 1, 1912 in Sipplingen and died On April 19, 1944 when the military plane crashed in Geierswalde because its engine failed.

I am not sure if his family knows that he fathered my dad. I am hoping someone knows of him or his family. I would love to know how he met my grandmother or any further information on him.

We have always had two photo's of him, but never knew his name. We have only just found out about him and it has opened so many more questions.

How can I determine Heinrich's parents and siblings, and then locate any living family members?

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    Hi Renee, welcome! When we have questions that are "looking for any information", they tend not to get good answers just because they are too broad. I have therefore tried to narrow down your question a little bit. If you would like to refine it further, feel free to edit your question. Keep in mind that this is a Q&A site, it's not really set up to connect cousins, but we certainly may be able to provide you with guidance as to how to go about connecting with cousins.
    – Harry V. ♦
    Feb 15, 2017 at 12:02
  • Thanks Harry, I would love any information about him. Appreciate your help.
    – Renee
    Feb 15, 2017 at 12:11
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    I found this. I think it could be linked to him that shows his death dlapilota.pl/wiadomosci/polska/…
    – Renee
    Feb 15, 2017 at 12:54
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    RENEE, I have just acquired two (02) pictures of Gefreiter Heinrich Märte. I do not know if you managed to find his relatives or not. My contact is: [email protected] Adriano S. Baumgartner
    – Adriano Silva Baumgartner
    Dec 11, 2018 at 17:37
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    @AdrianoSilvaBaumgartner You are welcome to include your email address in your user card but please do not provide it in posts or comments here.
    – PolyGeo ♦
    Dec 11, 2018 at 22:10

1 Answer 1

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Volksbund, where a database of German war graves is kept, has the following information:

  • Nachname: Märte
  • Vorname: Heinrich
  • Dienstgrad: Oberfeldwebel
  • Geburtsdatum: 01.07.1912
  • Geburtsort: Sipplingen
  • Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 19.04.1944
  • Todes-/Vermisstenort: b. Geierswalde, Ostpr.

(Unsourced) information on the flight accident are available here: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archive/index.php?t-34830.html

In Germany, records on birth, marriage and death are kept by the ''Standesamt'' (registrar’s office).

Depending on the kind of record, they are kept at least for:

  • 110 years (birth records)
  • 80 years (marriage records)
  • 30 years (death records)

at the Standesamt which has the duty to make corrections and additions to them during this time (e.g. adding a hint on someone’s death in his birth record). (Personenstandsgesetz, § 5 Fortführung der Personenstandsregister). Afterwards, they are handed over to the local archive, if possible.

Contact the Standesamt Sipplingen for access to his birth records. As he his dead for a long time, this should be no issue (even without formal evidence of relationship). The birth record provides information on his mother and father.

Gathering information about siblings is more difficult, as they have died in recent years, so that there personal information are not available to third parties.

You can use address directories like Das Örtliche to contact possible family members. The surname seems to be quite common at this place. I don’t know your evidence for paternity. Please be careful, as it might be wrong or as it might be correct but disrupting to possible family members (maybe other descendants).

Please see also How to find information on German soldiers from World War I and World War II?

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  • Thank you very much. you are correct, i miss typed the date. thank you
    – Renee
    Feb 15, 2017 at 12:55
  • My father's name is not on the birth certificate - it has no father listed. The only evidence we have is the images that have a striking resemblance to my father. He was told by family that this is his father. Not sure we will be able to obtain further information without a formal link.
    – Renee
    Feb 15, 2017 at 13:35
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    @Renee You will definitely get the birth certificate, as Heinrich Märte ist dead for > 70 years. To establish paternity, genetic testing might help, if you find living relatives. But as mentioned above: Please be careful. Write letters instead of making phone calls, send copies of the photos.
    – lejonet
    Feb 15, 2017 at 14:25

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