A German mother of three kids travels to China in 1909
German mother China 1909
In the past, it was possible for a traveler to reach Perm, Russia, in just five days when heading eastward. However, traveling a similar distance to Africa, where several countries were still under British rule, could take over 40 days. It was quite extraordinary for a woman with three children to undertake a journey to China in 1909.
Embarking on a journey to China was both an adventurous undertaking and a formidable challenge, considering the extensive duration of 30 to 40 days required for travel. In contrast, a relatively easier voyage to the United States would take approximately five to ten days for a traveler.
Meet Ottillie Wilhemine Amelie Rosa Anz, nee Fock. Ottilie was then thirty-three years old. She traveled with her three children. Daughter Ilse Marie Angrete Rosa and the two boys Wolfgang and Harald Walther Otto.
As the passport indicates, Ottilie was married and traveled back to her husband in China to Chefu (German: Tschifu). Today the city’s name is Yantai, which is in Eastern China.
The passport is issued by the Free City of Hamburg and has passport number 45. Passport numbers start every year again with number one. So, this was the 45th passport issued at this specific town hall of Bergedorf in 1909. The exact issuing date is September 25, 1909. We can see a Russian stamp dated October 28, 1909, and a Russian visa. Her passport was valid until December 31, 1911.
In her diary, she wrote… German mother China 1909
“On October 29, 1909, the children and I cheeringly began their return journey to their father, to Chefoo this time, and via Siberia. “Martyrdom of a mother” was the headline I had in mind when I decided to write a small essay about this most terrible of all my travels. Harald was very ill. For days he lay feverishly, partly apathetic, partly crying, did not eat, only wanted to drink. I, miserable and half-dead with the other two children in the continuing train’s uncomfortable compartment.
The father surprises us in Manchuria at midnight, the mother is childishly blissful and Ilse, awakened, gently greets him while still half asleep. Harald gets up and slowly and calmly asks: “Are you also a father? I only have one Chefoo father. Slowly, after days, he realizes that the two are one person.”
The diary reveals that Otti and her children finally returned to Germany in 1912 and further… German mother China 1909
“Around the Korean peninsula, the ship’s route leads to Vladivostok. In September 1912, Oscar Anz accompanied his sister-in-law and the children to the Russian port. Then Otti, the 10-month-old Ursel in his arms, pushing the two-year-old Oscar by the hand and the 6-year-old Harald in front of him, climbs the Trans-Siberian Railway.
It is 9289 kilometers from Vladivostok to Moscow. It is the longest railway line in the world. Before the October Revolution of 1917, the route departed from Vladivostok via Grodekovo, Harbin, Manchuria, Tarskaya, Chita, Omsk, Petropavlovsk, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Samara, Ryazan to Moscow. It is still more than 2000 kilometers from Warsaw to Hamburg…”
It is Ottis’s second journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway after 1909. She had traveled by ship four times (1903, twice in 1906, and 1909).
The Passport
You can read the full story at https://wurzelton.wordpress.com/ (in German)German woman goes to China in 1909 with 3 kids.
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
Featured in media incl. CNN, BBC, Newsweek. Awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
"Want to go deeper? My book Let Pass or Die covers the full 400-year history"
👉 Ask Me Anything | 🏛️ View the Recognition List | 📚 Rare offers from my personal collection
