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"Franz was born on July 1, 1889 in Wehr, Baden, Germany. His parents were Anna and Ludwig Trefzger"
Franz came from a long line of Trefzgers that were born in Wehr, Baden and lived all of their lives in Wehr, Baden.
His Trefzger ancsetors can be traced back 7 generations to 'Hans' Leonhard Trefzger born in 1624 in Wehr, Baden.
"When Franz was fourteen years old he left school and went to work as a weaver, in a factory called Neflin Kught. He worked there 11 years."
“When he was 25 years old he received an invitation to come to Brazil in order to work in factory named Kifler, in Barra do Piraí, Rio de Janeiro.
“Franz and a friend Thomas, left home, went to Hamburg or Bremen and boarded a ship to South America, landing in Brazil. They came to Rio de Janeiro,
and after fulfilling the contract at the factory, my grandfather moved to Mato Grosso (now Mato Grosso do Sul)”
“When my grandfather went to Mato Grosso, the region was very undeveloped, with predominance of native vegetation, little explored.
Today Mato Grosso do Sul is an important state, with its economy based on agriculture and livestock raising.
The city of Dourados, where my grandfather owned a small farm, now has almost 200 thousand inhabitants.”
"In 1918 when he completed his work commitment Franz moved to Campo Grande. After some time they moved to the farm called Buriti, near the city of Maracaju,
to work in the manufacture of sugar, alcohol and 'cachaça' (like rum) for 12 years."
"In 1923 he wrote to his fiancee Hilda Buehler. She came to Brazil and they got married on July 30,1923. His first child Lothar Ricardo was born was born in 1924.
At this farm they had 6 daughters, including my mother."
"On March 15, 1936 Franz's wife died (she probably died of bronchitis). When she died my mother was 7 years old.
"On his deathbed, he promised to take the children to Germany. However, his salary of 13 years working on the farm was applied to goods, tools, oxen, horses ..
After selling things, he came to Campo Grande to get the passports ... But in 1939 the second war broke out and the ports were closed."
" At the invitation of a friend (a doctor) Dr. Krone, they moved to Nioaque, where his 2nd son (Helmut) was born. During the second world war he lost everything,
just because he was a German (it was a very difficult time for him - without his wife and with eight little children). He always hated the war and the nazism...
But he was helped by brazilian friends and moved with his family to a little farm near Dourados (where I was born). He was very happy there."
"After the war he returned twice to Germany to visit his parents."
"Grandpa Franz died in 1993."
* all of quotes are by Helder Trefzger.
Comment:
Helder Trefzger found our web site about 'Trefzgers in North America'.
In 2004 he e-mailed us from Brazil telling us about his grandfather Franz who was born in Wehr, Baden and immigrated to Brazil in 1914.
He sent us a list of the Trefzgers in Brazil.
Helder's orchestra has an instantgram (@orquestrasinfonicaes).
See the link to Helder.
In 2008 Wolfgang Trefzger e-mailed from Switzerland that his Uncle Franz, who was born in Wehr, Baden, emmigrated to Brazil, S.A..
Wolfgang is interested in genealogy and has traced his and Franz's ancestors back to 'Hans' Leonard Trefzger, born in 1625 in Wehr, Baden.
Thanks:
Our sincere thanks to Helder and Wolfgang for the information about Franz and the Trefzgers in Brazil.
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