Charles (76) is looking for family of his Flemish father: « Who knew my father, Firmin? » (Ostend)
« I have known all my life that I have a Belgian father, » says Charles Niethe on the phone, from Nürnberg, Germany. « Yet I have always felt a German. During my life I went on vacation a few times in Belgium. Then I searched for tips and instructions for my family. But my motivation was never big enough at the time, and I let it rest. »
« However, I recently turned 75 years old. That is the age at which you already look back. I would like to know more about my father now. Who was he? »
Charles Niethe is the son of a Belgian father and a German mother, who met just after the Second World War. That was in Nürnberg, Germany, where his mother Kunigunda lived. « That must have been in 1946, or 1947, » thinks Niethe. A year later he was born. He doesn’t know exactly what his father did in Germany. Perhaps Firmin Charles Bouten was stationed as a Belgian soldier after the war in Germany.
« Seriously ill »
« I never knew my father, » says Niethe. « I was too small to remember him. Because shortly after my birth, my father became seriously ill. He then returned to Belgium, perhaps to start treatment. He died on March 30, 1950, at the age of 34. My mother then remarried here in Germany with another man, and she founded a family with him. »
An image of Ostend from 1939. Firmin Bouten probably grew up here. – © VLN
In his search for answers, Charles Niethe discovered that his father probably came from Ostend. Both his parents, Germanus Bouten and Josephina Goes, were born in that Flemish city. But strangely enough, Firmin Bouten itself was born in Great Britain: in Edgbaston, near Birmingham.
Pedigree
« I found a family tree, which shows that he was born there. The maker of the family tree himself has already died, so I can no longer ask him any questions. My father was born in 1916: that was during the First World War. That is why his parents were therefore pulled to Edgbaston? »
Read too. « Back to the coast with the Guide Michelin from eighty years ago. »
Firmin Bouten was a Flemish soldier, and died in 1950.
After the war they may have returned to Ostend, and Firmin Bouten grew up in the seaside town. He probably went to school there, and made friends there. According to that pedigree, he was an electrician. « Both of my grandparents Germanus and Josephina have already died in Ostend, and buried. »
Firmin Bouten was previously married to a Belgian woman before he got to know Kunigunda.
« Are there any people who remember him? Or did he have brothers and sisters, who in turn had children? »
Charles Niethe
« Who was my father? » That is Charles Niethe’s central question. « Are there any people who remember him? Or did he have brothers and sisters, who in turn had children? » According to the family tree, Firmin had at least two sisters, who both died.
« Does anyone know where my father’s grave is? Or does anyone have other information for me? I am grateful for every tip or indication. »
Those who have information about Firmin Charles Bouten can contact Charles Niethe on [email protected]
