Doing german research and knowing my own family ( my mom and dad ) I first googled the name Seidel and came up with a few different spellings that it could be of germanic decent, or jewish decent and so on.  Having the history that Berlin, Germany has I asked my mom, do we have jewish blood in us , are we from a Jewish family and she straight away said no not that I know of. I dont know if I startled her or because she knew I was doing the research on the family if it just was a question she knew I would ask I dont know.  My Seidel family begins with my grandfather who was born in Berlin, Germany

Erich Seidel and his wife Gerda Arndt- Seidel.  Gerda and Erich had three children

Barbara Seidel

Dietmar Seidel

and my mother Ingeborg Seidel

This is a photo of the living room, this is the room that held the most memories for me while visiting there.

You see most things happened there not just Lunch and Dinner, but Kaffee und Kuchen.  When we visited we had a traditional standard day to do routine, just like all and every german household of course.

The Memories of my grandparents

My Grandparents lived on the Rudolph Mosse Strasse when I knew them and when asking my mom she said that is where she was born and lived until she married and moved to the USA.  The house was not altered in any way at any time.  The same old radiator heaters and electric was there from th 1920s and 20s like it was today.  The home was located on the fourth floor of an old apartment building, with no elevator, so we got our walking and excursize in while we went out during the day and when we came home ( and especially when we did the shopping and I am not talking about clothes  or shoe shopping either )

In the morning, the kitchen was filled with smiles and happiness hugs and kisses as my grandmother had the local Berlin Classical Radio station on playing the news and classical music , we rose early and had breakfast in the kitchen, but not Opa my grandfather ( Erich Seidel ) would have his breakfast in the dining room reading the morning Paper, the berliner Morgen Post of Course.  My Mother ( if she was there ) or My Grandmother was given Money to do the shopping ( counted to a tea by my grandfather he knew to the penny how much would be spent and how much change we may or may not bring home as we had to give him the receipt and change back we got when we would get home )

While my grandfather got ready, witch took 5 hours in the bathroom, so you better have gone to the bathroom before him otherwise there would be either hell to pay or he would let you come in to use the bathroom if need be.  My Grandmother and I would do the shopping and come home, she would finish up some dusting in the home while I would sit there watching Tv or in the ” Diehle ” coloring in my coloring books or something of that nature.

My grandmother would make lunch, just like I was taught a main dish with gravy, 2 side dishes and something to drink.  We usually never had desert but would go out for coffee and cake or my grandmother would make a ” Kompot ” which is basically fruit that is boiled in a little water and some sugar and cooled down.  My favorite when visiting Berlin was having Sugared ” Rote Johannis Beeren ” my grandmother would get them fresh from the supermarket and add sugar to them.  When I go back I still eat them but straight off the vine, I could never wait for dessert that was my favorite fruit!!

After Lunch we would clean up and take out the Scrabble Board and now ” IT WAS ON” because I didnt know German well my grandfather and grandmother would allow me to use the dictionary to find words to use to play with them as well.  My Grandfather beeng very competitive would hate losing and always make a fuss to explain how he might have won or how he could have won in the end.

After Scrabble it was nap time and if we didnt take a nap it was time to have coffee and cake and go around the town.  My Grandfather would go out and do his excersize and take the car out ( he drove until his death at 99 ) and go visit his parents grave to take care of them and use a rake to clean the gravesite ( this was a daily thing ) take a walk and come home.  Here is a Photo of his original Drivers Liscence made out of leather I think when he first got it years and years ago

 

In the evening we would sit and watch whatever my Grandfather wanted on the TV while we all stared and waiting in silence to see what he would pick out.  Sometimes my grandmother would get a movie in that we could both watch or let me sneak in a show of

Sandmaenchen https://youtu.be/WUW7ShoAZLs one of my favorite shows as a child… a little episode…https://youtu.be/UGawBAMVmi8