Mandolin

My Grandfather, Rudi Oestmann Sr, gave me his mandolin (because I am a guitar player) in 1987. He told me that he had bought it off of a Greek Sailor, and it was made in Brazil. It was also borrowed from me and used on a national TV show in Australia the 1990's. So it has been well traveled. Before he gave it to me he and my dad sang German shanties on it : )

The people at Giannini told me that it was made in 1954 "bandolim-romano 1954"



That's me (Tim) with the mandolin

Here is the ad that Giannini kindly sent me:

Oestmann's from Germany to Australia 1958

All the Oestmann's in Australia (up to this date, anyway) all come from one single family who migrated from Hamburg in Germany to Australia in 1958. They came on the ship "Castel Felice" (pictured) :

Here is a picture of the Oestmann's who migrated from Germany to Australia. The photo was apparently taken in Terowie, South Australia in 1960:

Pictured (left to right) Rudi Oestmann Sr, (back row) William Oestmann, Erna Oestmann (nee Pfeiffenberger), Gerhard (Gus) Oestmann, Rudi Oestmann Jr, (front row) Uwe Oestmann, Peter Oestmann

Until they arrived we are not aware of any other family of "Oestmann's" living in Australia. All the descendants (their children and grandchildren) all come from this family.

-Background of Australian "Oestmann" line-

Rudi Oestmann Sr
b 2 Feb 1914 Neuhof, Prussia (now Hamburg)

d 2 Nov 2000 in Adelaide and buried in Ceduna, South Australia

married to

Erna Agnes Margaretha Pfeiffenberger
b 27 Jul 1920 Hamburg
d Dec 1999 in Adelaide buried in Ceduna, South Australia


Pictured above: Erna and Rudolf Snr Oestmann with little Rudi Jr (1943)


Rudi Oestmann Sr was the son of Dora Oestmann & August Storm
August Storm was killed in the first world war (see first article on this blog) so his son, Rudi, took on his mother's maiden name "Oestmann"

Dora Oestmann
b 14 Jan 1895

d 1976 Hamburg

Dora Oestmann in later life (unknown date)

Dora Oestmann's parent were Hermann Oestmann & Wilhelmine Catharina Margaretha Maria Oestmann (nee Bergeest)

Hermann Oestmann
b 25 Oct 1863
Ship carpenter in Wilhelmsburg
d ? ? 1939 Wilhelmsburg (Hamburg)


Wilhelmine & Hermann Oestmann(1938) Most of the people are unknown in this photo except Erna Oestmann (nee Pfeiffenberger) who is the lady directly behind, with her arms over the unknown child


Hermann Oestmann's father was a Carsten Oestmann b 10 Mar 1838 Altenwerder, was a Ship carpenter in Neuhof and d 19 Nov 1909 Neuhof.


This is about as sure we can get of our family history - if you know more about this Oestmann family, you can email Tim Oestmann with any interesting/important information.
tim.oestmann@gmail.com

August Karl Heinrich Storm

Our Great Grandfather - August Karl Heinrich STORM died in the first world war 1914
We know next to nothing about him and nothing about his family, except that he was apparently a coppersmith before he went to war, though this is not verified yet.

We Oestmann's in Australia are directly related to the Storm family in Germany through our grandfather Rudi Oestmann (Senoir) who was August Storm's son. Rudi kept his mother's maiden name "Oestmann". Here is what we have - the rest is a mystery.

This is the only bit of information we have about our great-grandfather:

This is from Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg (Gedinkbuch) It says "Gedenkbuch
der im Weltkriege 1914-1918 aus Wilhelmsburg fürs Vaterland Gefallenen"

from the Denkmalprojekt website:

Weftarbeiter/
Füsilier
STORM
August Karl Heinrich
29.01.1891 Hollenbeck
20.08.1914 gef bei Dreibrunnen
Füs.-Regt. 40, 7. Komp.
ledig; ev; Adresse: HH-Wilhelmsburg, Kl. Kanal 5 a



Here is the last postcard that he sent to his partner Dora Oestmann. If you might know of any leads to find out more details - we would be interested.

Top picture is a the front of the postcard it says:
"Freiburg i. B." "Karlskaserne mit Siegesdenkmal u. Munster".

Below is August Storm's handwritten postcard to Dora Oestmann in 1914 - it says (in part)

"Muehlhausen 13.8.14 Dear Dora

...my address is fieldpostletter
...Storm. 14. Armycorps 28.Division. Regiment 40.
7 Company (Army) per Rastatt...
many greetings from your August"