Here is the story of my grandfather, Wilhelm Altenkamp of Borbeck, Germany, near Essen in the Ruhr Valley. As a toddler, he and his brother were tragically orphaned when their father killed their mother and went to prison. The year was 1897. Their mother's family sent the boys to a boarding school/orphanage until they finished grammar school. "Willi" graduated in 1908 and was then apprenticed to a blacksmith to learn his trade. He lived and worked with his master, who grew very fond of Willi and was something of a surrogate father. He gave Willi extra money on Saturdays and insisted he go out and have some fun. When Willi's apprenticeship was over, he turned down the offer to stay on as a fully paid journeyman. He felt he should "see how it's done somewhere else." That was 1914. By August he was marching through Belgium with a machine gun on his back. After he was injured, he became an Army blacksmith. I have a photo of him in a leather apron and an Army hat. When he got out of the Army, he went to work for Krupps Ironworks, the industrial giant of the Ruhr Valley. In 1920, he saw my grandmother on stage in an operetta and fell in love at first sight. They were married a year later and had 2 children. In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr Valley and took over mining, transportation, and industry, setting off run-away inflation like the world has never seen before or since. (I realize this was a complicated situation, not caused solely by the occupation) Krupps paid my grandfather twice a day. He would race home with a wheelbarrow full of currency, and my grandmother would dash to the baker's with it to try to get a loaf of bread before the prices went up. In the middle of this chaos, Wilhelm Altenkamp was promoted to supervisor at Krupps, but when the French took over the factory, he was demoted. "I was back on the anvil," he said. My grandfather saw no future for his family in Germany, so he wrote to his wife's relatives who had emigrated to America. They sent him a steamship ticket, and he arrived in New York Harbor on July 4, 1925. He thought the fireworks were a welcome gesture for his ship. He worked for a blacksmith in Chicago for a year and was able to send for his family in 1926. By 1928, he had established his own shop. The shift in transportation from horse and buggy to automobile drastically changed his business. He became more of an all-purpose fix-it man, especially when the depression hit and people repaired things instead of buying new ones. My mother and her friends used to stand at the shop window and watch him, powerful arm working a piece of metal and brilliant sparks flying. By the late 1930's, this trade was no longer enough to make a living. Now a proud American citizen, William Altenkamp trained himself as an industrial welder and got a job at Chicago's Continental Can Company. He loved his job and the union. He stayed until his retirement at age 65 in 1960. When people asked him what he had done before retiring, he would reply in his thick German accent, "I vas un blacksmit." Linda in Boston

Great story! By chance I have a Krupp rifle my grandfather brought home from WW1, says Krupp Munitions Fabriken 1916 on the breech (yes I know not spelled right). His father was the blacksmith. Dan Hogan On Friday, February 27, 2004, at 08:24 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Here is the story of my grandfather, Wilhelm Altenkamp of Borbeck, > Germany, > near Essen in the Ruhr Valley. > > As a toddler, he and his brother were tragically orphaned when their > father > killed their mother and went to prison. The year was 1897. > > Their mother's family sent the boys to a boarding school/orphanage > until they > finished grammar school. "Willi" graduated in 1908 and was then > apprenticed > to a blacksmith to learn his trade. > > He lived and worked with his master, who grew very fond of Willi and > was > something of a surrogate father. He gave Willi extra money on > Saturdays and > insisted he go out and have some fun. When Willi's apprenticeship was > over, he > turned down the offer to stay on as a fully paid journeyman. He felt > he should "see > how it's done somewhere else." > > That was 1914. By August he was marching through Belgium with a > machine gun > on his back. After he was injured, he became an Army blacksmith. I > have a photo > of him in a leather apron and an Army hat. > > When he got out of the Army, he went to work for Krupps Ironworks, the > industrial giant of the Ruhr Valley. > > In 1920, he saw my grandmother on stage in an operetta and fell in > love at > first sight. They were married a year later and had 2 children. > > In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr Valley and took over mining, > transportation, and industry, setting off run-away inflation like the > world has never > seen before or since. (I realize this was a complicated situation, not > caused > solely by the occupation) Krupps paid my grandfather twice a day. He > would race > home with a wheelbarrow full of currency, and my grandmother would > dash to the > baker's with it to try to get a loaf of bread before the prices went > up. > > In the middle of this chaos, Wilhelm Altenkamp was promoted to > supervisor at > Krupps, but when the French took over the factory, he was demoted. "I > was back > on the anvil," he said. > > My grandfather saw no future for his family in Germany, so he wrote to > his > wife's relatives who had emigrated to America. They sent him a > steamship ticket, > and he arrived in New York Harbor on July 4, 1925. He thought the > fireworks > were a welcome gesture for his ship. > > He worked for a blacksmith in Chicago for a year and was able to send > for his > family in 1926. By 1928, he had established his own shop. The shift in > transportation from horse and buggy to automobile drastically changed > his business. > He became more of an all-purpose fix-it man, especially when the > depression > hit and people repaired things instead of buying new ones. My mother > and her > friends used to stand at the shop window and watch him, powerful arm > working a > piece of metal and brilliant sparks flying. > > By the late 1930's, this trade was no longer enough to make a living. > Now a > proud American citizen, William Altenkamp trained himself as an > industrial > welder and got a job at Chicago's Continental Can Company. He loved > his job and > the union. He stayed until his retirement at age 65 in 1960. > > When people asked him what he had done before retiring, he would reply > in his > thick German accent, "I vas un blacksmit." > > Linda in Boston