Currently I am working on a biography of Ferdinand Hahn
Following are sample chapters, again still in the works.
If you are interested in offering feed back please email:
maribeti2004@gmail.com
Research is ongoing:
Current plans for future trips
London
Germany
India
The following stories are still a little fictionalized. I have tried to incorporate as much as I know into the story.
Following are sample chapters, again still in the works.
If you are interested in offering feed back please email:
maribeti2004@gmail.com
Research is ongoing:
Current plans for future trips
London
Germany
India
The following stories are still a little fictionalized. I have tried to incorporate as much as I know into the story.
Formative Years
Stretched out under the pear tree on the green bank of the Havel river chewing a piece of grass, Ferdinand contemplated his options. Within the shadow of the Church steeple it would seem that childhood here was perpetually enchanting. After all Herr Fontane had written of the place, so romantic and idyllic. But the young Ferdinand Hahn could only envision a wonderful word far beyond his parochial home. Save for the one time when the Prince of Prussia himself handed the young lad a bit of candy, life for this boy had not been so sweet.
His parents had married when his mother was four months pregnant with him. Maybe just in time for his father to have completed his apprenticeship and secured the position as chief cobbler of Ketzin. He came forth bursting with life, his mother was weak and couldn't handle his constant motion and uncontainable curiosity. At the age of four their house burned down, but fortunately the community rallied to find the Hahn family a small house next to the church. The parents were religious in form, but the father daily self-medicated his premature arthritis with whiskey. The mother died soon after giving birth to Elisabeth. And young Ferdinand was often taken out of the village primary school to help at home and in the cobbler's shop.
The young boy could never feel safe in his own home and would escape whenever he could.He was a handsome boy and all the girls would swoon over him. He loved dancing and was a favorite partner at town fairs and dances. But in general he was a loner and sought out what little solace he could find by himself. If he could find one, he would hide away and read a book.
The town was full of whisper and gossip about his poor father. Children would tease the old cobbler when he swayed down the street. Adolescence heightened Ferdinand's frustrations. He wanted to learn but the family could not afford to send him to gymnasium. No one, it seemed, was interested in his thoughts and wild dreams of adventure. Unable to keep his emotions bottled for long the boy would lash out, it seemed every week he would be involved in some kind of brawl.
Now at the age of 14 he felt like a hounded fox seeking some place to hideaway. From the sailors down at the dock he had learned that people were heading to America by the hundreds. There was a land of freedom where you could have your own property, plenty of jobs and affordable education. Today, he decided, would be his day to sneak onto one of those barges that flowed into the Elbe, down past Hamburg, out to the North Sea, across the Atlantic. Off to America he would go and be free of this life, this sleepy pastoral town embroiled in the petty lives of small minded people.
The perfect plan for escape that day was spoiled when the captain found the stow away among the towns people heading for market with their pigs and baskets of hops. The police were called, his father was called but was in such a drunken stupor that he could not come to retrieve his son from the holding cell. The boy was left in the cold damp cell for two days.
It would be Superintendent Knuth of the Evangelical Ketzin church who came to his rescue. The kind pastor would often see the boy running about the church seeking a hiding place. When he wasn't spotted for a few days he went to the cobbler's home to inquire about him and discovered that he was forgotten down at the town jail. After releasing the lad from the jailers hold, the two went for a meal in the parsons kitchen. With much prodding the Pastor was able to warm up the dejected youth. To Ferdinand's delight, for the first time he was able to actually talk to someone about all his dreams, his fears, and his burning wanderlust. An actively listening ear was salve to the wounded young soul.
After a hearty meal and tired of talk, the young boy was shown the pastor's library. Never before had Ferdinand seen so many books. He hungrily browsed the names of authors etched into leather bindings: Hegel, Goethe, Schlegel. Then he turned to the desk that had scattered pamphlets written by names he had not yet heard of: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, Dr. Jakob Pister, and Johannes Evangelista Gossner. By the time to return the youth to his disquieted home, the embers of hope were lit in the young heart. The pastor assured the lad of an education, as long as Ferdinand agreed to also attend Sunday school.
As the pastor had expected, this high-energy youth was hungry for learning. Ferdinand became like a sponge, transferring all his pent up energy and deflating his frustration towards a persistent pursuit of knowledge. He read the ancient writings and taught himself the Latin and Greek, He kept up with the latest writings and developments in science, history, folk tales, linguistics, philosophy and theology.
He loved theology, the study of God. His heart had been transformed by a new found understanding of God when he actually read the Gospels and studied the Old Testament and the Epistles. It was not all in his head. His heart was transformed as he grappled particularly with the mystery of Grace. By the age of 16 he received catechism which was not just confirming his membership into the church, but declaring a faith that was newly birthed in him. He would, as was commonly the custom, declare his life verse and carved it into a wood plaque himself. Psalm 23:4
Und ob ich schon wanderte im finstern Tal,
Fürchte ich kein Unglück;
Denn du bist bei mir,
Dein Stecken und dein Stab trösten mich.
Yea, though I walk through the dark valley,
I fear no evil;
For thou art with me;
thy prod and thy staff they comfort me.
e
His parents had married when his mother was four months pregnant with him. Maybe just in time for his father to have completed his apprenticeship and secured the position as chief cobbler of Ketzin. He came forth bursting with life, his mother was weak and couldn't handle his constant motion and uncontainable curiosity. At the age of four their house burned down, but fortunately the community rallied to find the Hahn family a small house next to the church. The parents were religious in form, but the father daily self-medicated his premature arthritis with whiskey. The mother died soon after giving birth to Elisabeth. And young Ferdinand was often taken out of the village primary school to help at home and in the cobbler's shop.
The young boy could never feel safe in his own home and would escape whenever he could.He was a handsome boy and all the girls would swoon over him. He loved dancing and was a favorite partner at town fairs and dances. But in general he was a loner and sought out what little solace he could find by himself. If he could find one, he would hide away and read a book.
The town was full of whisper and gossip about his poor father. Children would tease the old cobbler when he swayed down the street. Adolescence heightened Ferdinand's frustrations. He wanted to learn but the family could not afford to send him to gymnasium. No one, it seemed, was interested in his thoughts and wild dreams of adventure. Unable to keep his emotions bottled for long the boy would lash out, it seemed every week he would be involved in some kind of brawl.
Now at the age of 14 he felt like a hounded fox seeking some place to hideaway. From the sailors down at the dock he had learned that people were heading to America by the hundreds. There was a land of freedom where you could have your own property, plenty of jobs and affordable education. Today, he decided, would be his day to sneak onto one of those barges that flowed into the Elbe, down past Hamburg, out to the North Sea, across the Atlantic. Off to America he would go and be free of this life, this sleepy pastoral town embroiled in the petty lives of small minded people.
The perfect plan for escape that day was spoiled when the captain found the stow away among the towns people heading for market with their pigs and baskets of hops. The police were called, his father was called but was in such a drunken stupor that he could not come to retrieve his son from the holding cell. The boy was left in the cold damp cell for two days.
It would be Superintendent Knuth of the Evangelical Ketzin church who came to his rescue. The kind pastor would often see the boy running about the church seeking a hiding place. When he wasn't spotted for a few days he went to the cobbler's home to inquire about him and discovered that he was forgotten down at the town jail. After releasing the lad from the jailers hold, the two went for a meal in the parsons kitchen. With much prodding the Pastor was able to warm up the dejected youth. To Ferdinand's delight, for the first time he was able to actually talk to someone about all his dreams, his fears, and his burning wanderlust. An actively listening ear was salve to the wounded young soul.
After a hearty meal and tired of talk, the young boy was shown the pastor's library. Never before had Ferdinand seen so many books. He hungrily browsed the names of authors etched into leather bindings: Hegel, Goethe, Schlegel. Then he turned to the desk that had scattered pamphlets written by names he had not yet heard of: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, Dr. Jakob Pister, and Johannes Evangelista Gossner. By the time to return the youth to his disquieted home, the embers of hope were lit in the young heart. The pastor assured the lad of an education, as long as Ferdinand agreed to also attend Sunday school.
As the pastor had expected, this high-energy youth was hungry for learning. Ferdinand became like a sponge, transferring all his pent up energy and deflating his frustration towards a persistent pursuit of knowledge. He read the ancient writings and taught himself the Latin and Greek, He kept up with the latest writings and developments in science, history, folk tales, linguistics, philosophy and theology.
He loved theology, the study of God. His heart had been transformed by a new found understanding of God when he actually read the Gospels and studied the Old Testament and the Epistles. It was not all in his head. His heart was transformed as he grappled particularly with the mystery of Grace. By the age of 16 he received catechism which was not just confirming his membership into the church, but declaring a faith that was newly birthed in him. He would, as was commonly the custom, declare his life verse and carved it into a wood plaque himself. Psalm 23:4
Und ob ich schon wanderte im finstern Tal,
Fürchte ich kein Unglück;
Denn du bist bei mir,
Dein Stecken und dein Stab trösten mich.
Yea, though I walk through the dark valley,
I fear no evil;
For thou art with me;
thy prod and thy staff they comfort me.
e