The Long Arduous Road to the Panwitz Estate
While World War I was still raging and devastating Europe, Anna’s husband Ludwig von Waldenfels was reactivated into the military service on July 27th 1918 and served as supervising officer at a penal camp at Oberhaus near Dachau until demilitarization in May 1919. Now already 43 years old with a modest pension Ludwig had to worry about his family’s future. After his high school graduation in Munich he had taken a three-semester training course at the forestry college at Aschaffenburg between 1894 and 1896. Therefore, he had some basic agricultural knowledge. On the northern edge of Passau the couple acquired the estate Kastenreuth. On the hilly terrain the work in the fields was not very cost effective and the harvests appeared to have been quite meagre. Already by 1922 Anna and Ludwig sold the property to the physician and researcher Professor Dr. Wilhelm Kattwinkel.
In the same year they acquired the estate Neuhof (today Polish Garbek) in the county of Schlochau. It was located right at the border of the newly formed ‘Corridor’ between the remaining part of German West Prussia and the new state of Poland. According to my cousin Eberhard Klopp’s research my Uncle Hermann (1892-1937) had passed on the 200ha property to his brother-in-law Ludwig. As a result of the Versailles Treaty the Polish border was moved within a few metres of the estate boundary. It ran about 300 metres east of the village street alongside a pond still existing today. In a 100 m direct line of sight was the Polish hamlet Zychce (German Sichts). In 1921 the West Prussian rural bank founded ten settlers’ places in Neuhof. Baron von Waldenfels and his wife Anna acquired the remaining parcel with the even today well-preserved estate building on the left side of the village street.
In the village of Neuhof of some 200 inhabitants Ludwig von Waldenfels worked the 810ha farming property and served at the same time as mayor until 1927. “The inhabitants originated mostly from the stolen parts of West Prussia and partly from Münsterland (Münsterland is a mostly flat, agricultural region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). Only 14 people were speaking Polish.” When the family von Waldenfels left Neuhof in 1927, their property was also parcelled into seven more settlements.
It is definitely unimaginable that the couple von Waldenfels accustomed to the big city life style of Metz and Berlin would feel at home in the solitude of a remote little border village. In the year of their departure in 1927 brother Ernst Klopp (1900 – 1964 my father) found employment and stay during the summer harvest. Mostly likely he participated in the preparations for the move out of the second agricultural venture. In the remote bush, heather, and meadow landscape with a few deciduous woods the family von Waldenfels managed to last barely five years.
Now brother-in-law Herman Klopp jumped into action as helper in a new government initiative. Having been the administrator of the copper mill near Meseritz, East Brandenburg (today Polish Miedzyrzcezc) he was familiar with all locally pertinent facts. He made a concrete proposal to the couple von Waldenfels, which turned out to be a stroke of luck.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 
The shifting borders of Europe are a real puzzle for me (and I think most Americans). Your history and your geography are so much more complex.
Do you know the book The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding? It tells in some ways the history of Germany from the 19th century through today using the changes in ownership of one house situated outside of Berlin. It’s a fascinating read and helped me understand much more about German history.
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It is interesting to learn about a country through the history of ownership of a house. I will put this book on my to-read list. Thank you, Amy!
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Hope you enjoy it!
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This is an amazing story. The parts of the land changing hands, yet some of the buildings remaining the same. Germans having parts turned into Poland. City living to country living. It is fascinating to see where all your relatives scattered to live, including Canada!
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Excellent.
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When my father researched our family in Poland, he mentioned the borders changing frequently and his family were located near the border with Germany/Austria. My Polish grandmother spoke of walking over the border to work in Germany during the day before coming to the US in the 1920s at the age of about 24. My name Niemczura means “die Deutsche” or the German girl and here I was years later getting my Ph.D. in German to teach it. Amazing family histories too. Imagine growing up speaking one language only to be told you must now speak another because you belonged to a different country? That could not have been easy either.
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Within this context it is worth mentioning how much the Polish suffered being squeezed and often driven to the loss of their statehood by the superpowers Russia, Austria and Germany in the 19th century.
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‘Tis true, Peter. Man’s inhumanity to man. Many countries suffered as the result of greed for more power and land.
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History was one of the more boring subjects in school. I guess as kids, we did not have a perspective on ‘history’. As I have grown older, I find history more and more interesting. And micro history, such as the one you have described, is precious. It provides a much more human account, than just reading about kings and queens and conquerors and conquered.
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Thank you, Ankur, for your words appreciation and interest! The family history within the context of great historical events evolving during the time of war and turmoil is intended for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. However, what amazes me how much greater interest there is among my blogging friends near and far than within my own family. My consolation is that I was the same when I was young, so interest will come with age. Have a great weekend, Ankur!
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