Charlotte Marie Ottilie Anna Koberstein

In regards to Charlotte Marie Ottilie Anna Koberstein ancestor of Dr. Alexander Exiter-Scheel, I have this information from him.

Dr. Scheel felt that it was very likely that the Franz in the 1890 Berlin Address Book is the same as Paul Franz Koberstein above.

Here is this entry:

1890: Franz, Molkereibes., N BrunnenStr. 51. H.

This entry on the same year has the same occupation which appears to be related to Milking or Dairy business, Moker means milker and they are near each other on Brunnerstr. so I assume they are related, brothers etc. This address is given as being in the Elisabeth Parish in the 1874, 1881, and 1888 listings (http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/berlin/berevab.htm).

1890: Fritz, Molkereibes., N BrunnenStr. 18 H. Pt.

They are both listed the same in 1891, however in 1892 Fritz had moved to N LothringerStr. 9. but with the same occupation. I was unable to locate this address on a modern map but it is listed on the web site that gives the parish jurusductions. On this web site (http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/berlin/berevlm.htm) it is part of the Bartholomäus Parish which was made from the Georgen Parish in 1854.

However in 1893 Fritz is listed at the address that had been listed for Franz and Franz is missing from the Berlin Address Directory.

1893: Fritz, Molkereibes., N BrunnenStr. 51. Pt

It is interesting to note that the H. changed to a Pt. I understand these abbreviations listed after the address were used to help identify the exact entrance/house they lived in. I don't have a key to them so far.

Now a change in the listing is noted in 1894. Previously they were the first in the Berlin Address Book Koberstein's who were listed with their first name spelled out, all other were just initials. Now in 1894, we see a F. Koberstein listed with the occupation of "heu und Strohhol. Engr." which I understand is hay and straw supplier or hauler. This is very interesting because Dr. Scheel indicated his ancestors were know in family tradition to have a virtual 'monopoly' on the hay and straw business in Berlin. This is very probably a listing for either Franz or Fritz.

1894: Koberstein, F., heu und Strohhol. Engr. N Wollinerstr.46. 1. A.

This address is just a short distance from the previous address on Brunnerstr.

It appears one or both left the dairy industry and branched out into supplies needed, hay and straw. These listings continue on as given below:

1895: F., Heu u. Stroh Engr., N WollinerStr. 45. A

However, there are no more listing for F. Koberstein with either this occupation or this address in subsequent years. The records are silent on where they may have gone.

Since the IGI for these parish jurisdictions have largely been extracted I wondered why these people are not listed. Upon reviewing the Koberstein's of the Berlin IGI, I found there was one Franz listed as the son of Friedrich Koberstein as given below:

This Franz was christened on April 22, 1849. One of his two brothers named Friedrich may have went by Fritz to be separated from his father of the same name. I estimate that most young men of the era would be out on their own by the time they were 20, so we can expect him to appear in the Berlin Address book which lists occupations (a sign of a self supportive adult) about 1869. The first entry for Franz is 1890 which is 20 years later than this estimate. If they are the same person maybe it took 21 years to be in Berlin listed in the Dairy industry. Obviously more substantiation is needed to make this connection, but this is the only Franz in the IGI records for Berlin.

Since the above Franz was a bit of a long shot, I went back to search for any new additions to the IGI from Berlin. I found additions to one family found earlier, looks like the extraction work continues.

This Franz is a much better match since he could have been out on his own (using the rational above) by 1886 and would be reasonable to be listed in the Berlin Address Book in 1890.

You can add to the sons as follows:  In the Berlin Address Books Franz is listed with inh.(owner) as Franz Koberstein.  This must be a Franz other than himself otherwise all other entries would have this.  Therfore I conclude F(ranz) the father  listed at the Metzerstr. 5 address had two sons, E.(inh./owner listed as F. Koberstein) and Franz (The 1907 entry lists inh./owner as Franz). Also Edmund is listed as living at Metzerstr. 5 same as E. Koberstein (but dual listed in some years, see 1906, latter years listed as Wilh. Otto, see 1907) therefore I add to this family F(ranz) the father with three sons, E., Franz, and Edmund.  These conclusions are based on the practice more typical in olden days of the father having a business/property and having his son(s) take over the business/property as he gets older.

There are still some gaps in this arrangement: of since the father of the Rudolph Ferdinand Julius Koberstein/Ernestine Luise Kringel family could be F. Koberstein in the Berlin Address Books using Ferdinand for the F. but this doesn't work with the Franz listing with the Inh./owner being Franz.  This will have to be resolved with additional records.  These conclusions are consistant with the family organization given by Dr. Scheel for Paul Franz Richard Koberstein (also see top of this page).