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Bertha Jahnke's Travel Diary, 1894

Trip to Germany by Albert Franz Jahnke, Sr. and his daughter Bertha U. Jahnke in the Summer of 1894

Transcribed by Bertha's Grand-nephew

Ben N. Benson, M.D.

Copyright © 2001 by Ben N. Benson, M.D.


     Approximately four months after the death of Mary B. C. Jahnke (d. 10 Mar 1894) of tuberculosis, Albert and his oldest daughter, Bertha, took a trip abroad to Germany to Albert's birthplace to see relatives and friends. This was a trip of remembrance and healing since Albert had lost his wife, and three daughters in the preceding three years to tuberculosis. Bertha, almost 33 years old and unmarried, accompanied her father on this trip of healing. She kept a very extensive diary on a daily basis, often writing her notes late at night before retiring for the day. The detail of this diary gives an insight into the travel experiences in late nineteenth century Germany of an upper middle class immigrant German family as they visit the places of their origin, and details customs, styles, etc. associated with this trip. There are also a number of letters to the family back home which have survived and are on file in the Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA, along with this small diary. The diary measures approximately 2.5" wide by 4" long. It has a leather covering, but appears to be a small bound note pad, lined off in a 1/8 inch grid (graph paper). All of Bertha's notes are written in small, easy to read script (most of the time), one line every 1/8". Her notes are often shortened phrases without punctuation and/or adjectives to make them good sentences, and are often run together. However there is a lot of information saved in these notes. Toward the end of the trip, she substituted a larger ledger when she ran out of pages in this small book. I have attempted to transcribe this diary as it I have interpreted it, including spelling and punctuation. At the appropriate time, I will also transcribe the letters home to family members in the USA, as they expand upon the information contained in the diary. My editorial comments are denoted by ( ), Bertha's spelling errors including words that should be capitalized by [sic], and Bertha's side comments and notes by { }. Be aware that some of Bertha's spelling is correct and the words are not commonly used in today's vocabulary. Punctuation, spelling of proper names of persons and places, those words denoting ownership, and words that are capitalized that normally would not be capitalized will not be corrected or denoted by [sic].

To read Bertha's diary, click on links below:

  • Bertha's Diary, Part One

  • Bertha's Diary, Part Two

  • Bertha's Diary, Part Three

  • Bertha's Diary, Part Four

  • Bertha's Dairy, Part Five

  • Return to Jahnke Homepage

    • This page last modified on Saturday, 02-Jun-2001 23:34:18 MDT

    Copyright © 2001 by Ben N. Benson, M.D.

    Send email to: bnbenson@swbell.net