Among the scores of new documents pertaining to the family was this picture of Kuhlenstrasse in Uetersen. This photo must be after 1896 when the family sold the family house and saddlemaking store, because some of the houses have changed. Marianne Wagner-Renecke was such a wonderful help in understanding some of the history of the Hahn family. She is the person who transcribed Doris' diary, from which another cousin, Ilsa Nottrott Peetz translated to English. So I am eternally grateful to her for being the instrument through which I received this inspiration to seek out my heritage. Beyond that she was a great encouragement to me for the writing of the books about Ferdinand, Doris, and possibly other members of the Hahn/Voss family. Her father was the son of Marie (nee Hahn) Wagner. Who was very close to Doris. In fact they died within months of each other and buried in the same cemetery, also with husband Paul Wagner, in Hassegerode (near Wernigerode). I also spend some more time with Helga Ottow. While she is not a blood relation I feel we are both tied together in the Gossner family. Gossner was the well known Pietist Evangelical* pastor of the Bethlehem church. Now only a frame of the building near Check Point Charlie commemorates the church. It was a church known for receiving refugees from other countries. The words on the base are: "Hope for those with hope." While Gossner was there in early 1800s, people from all walks of life attended his services. He taught much about the necessity for faith to be evident in actions. He was able, through the help of his parishioners to start the Elizabeth Hospital and many schools. Also the Mission Society and training school that made possible for humble artisans, like my great great grandfather Ferdinand, to go out as missionaries. The Gossner legacy is mine in so many ways. There are family connections, but I also have a spiritual relationship with the teachings of Gossner and the impact of those teachings in the world. For example, the Confessional Church during WWII also based much of its thinking on the teachings of Gossner. * Note: "Evangelicalism (from the Greek euangelion, “good news” or “Gospel”) emerged out of disparate movements that swept through Protestant churches in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first, and in many ways the most influential, was the Pietist Movement of the seventeenth century in Germany, a reform movement within Lutheranism which focused on the conversion and regeneration of the “inner man” and the belief that such an experience was necessary for salvation"
rom.http://www.astudyofdenominations.com/movements/evangelicalism/
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