Ronald Hamilton Bates and his sister Jean

Jean Marion Loneragan nee Bates

A wonderful Person & Pianist – Rest in Peace

Ron and Jean’s mother was Lola May Bates.

We knew that all three of them had Urn places at the cemetery near Sutherland Station. We had gone to the chapel of that cemetery for Ron’s funeral service. We had talked Gaby into coming with us for the funeral. She reluctantly agreed. She apparently did not want to be reminded of anyone dying. This was in May 1997. Jean was at Ron’s funeral of course. She already lived in a Nursing Home at the time and looked very frail. We thought she would not live much longer. However she lived quite a few more years. We only heard about her death after her funeral in 2002. I think Gaby was able to tell us eventually about Jean having died, for Gaby had contact with people who had contact with Jean. So then we decided to have a look to find their urn places at the cemetery. In the cemetery’s office we were advised about the exact location. It turned out there were memorial stones of all three of them in the rose garden.

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=957554

These records are at the State Library of NSW. It says in the records amongst other things the following:


				“Jean Marion Bates was a granddaughter of Daisy Bates”
				“Includes birth and marriage certificates for Lola May Bates, nee Davidson, her daughter Jean Marion Bates, 1916, and a certificate of an entry in Register of Marriages, Arnold Hamilton Bates to Lola May Davidson, 1913. A newscutting announces the marriage of Jean Bates to Frank Loneragan. A letter from Lola May Bates to Ronald Bates, 1966”

I remember Ron telling us that he once went to Adelaide when his grandmother, Daisy, was in her eighties. He tried to talk to her, but he got the impression that she was not quite aware who he really was. He said he felt he could not communicate with her properly. Apparently he left it too late to see her.

Here is something about the Bates family that I must have copied from a newspaper article many years ago. Sorry, I have no idea which newspaper it might have been in:

Peter recently published in his blog some of the drawings that Ron Bates liked to do on little cards:

Ron Bates

I found in the meantime quite a few more of these cards that Ron had given to Gaby. We kept all these cards after Gaby’s death. Peter reckons they belong to us now. He says if we publish them we have to say that we copy-rights.

But here I publish one card that Jean and Ron gave us on the 5th of April 1986 at Sydney Airport on the occasion of our departure for a trip to Germany.

Uta’s Diary, October 2015 (cont.)

October is rapidly coming to an end. The last day of October is going to be in nine days. This is when grandson Ryan is getting married to Ebony. The whole family will be present for the wedding in Wollongong. Hopefully I will be able to take a few pictures. I do have a new camera now. Yesterday I took the first pictures with it. I quite like this new camera and I believe that eventually I will be able to get used to it. It is very similar to my old camera. However some things are a bit different, for instance how to transfer the pictures.

This is a trial picture from the first day when I had the camera.

We had to go to Sydney yesterday. This is when I tried to take some pictures on the train.

Peter occupying himself with Suduko. — Peter occupying himself with Sudoku.

Both Peter and I went for some more treatment by the Dental Hygienist at Sydney Holistic Dental Centre. Before we went back home on the train we had a bit of food at the food-hall in the Pitt Street Mall. We also bought some beautiful fresh rye bread and cake from the Lüneburger Baker in the Queen Victoria Building.

These steps lead down into the food-hall where we were sitting.

End of September 2015 continued

There is still some cake left from little Alexander's Birthday. — There is still some cake left from little Alexander’s Birthday.

On Monday, the 28th, one week after my birthday, I had our monthly women's meeting at my place. — On Monday, the 28th, one week after my birthday, I had our monthly women’s meeting at my place.

The women always bring a plate along. Naturally, never everything gets eaten. Peter took this picture of us after we had already more or less finished with our afternoon snacks. We women love to meet on the last Monday of each month. Two women moved away, but still live not too far away, six of us still live in the complex, as well as some other women who go to work and meet with the neighbours only once a year for our general body cooperative meeting. Last year we also had a lovely Christmas party with all the neighbours here in our complex. We are mostly women in this complex. Only three men, all of them married, live here.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I am going to be at my gentle Exercise Class from about 12,15 pm to 1,30 pm. On Friday our Rummy Cub game and Scrabble is going to be at Irene’s place from 2 pm onwards. One week after another goes very quickly. On Saturday, the 31st of October, our grandson Ryan and Ebony are getting married in Wollongong. We are all invited. And of course, their two little ones, Lucas and Alexander, are going to be there. I am so much looking forward to it!

Bowral Tulip Festival 1982 and 1983

We have some pictures to prove that we were at Bowral in 1982 and also in 1983. In 1982 we were in Bowral with our friends and their daughter Ellen who was a good companion for our daughter Caroline who was four at the time. I remember that in 1982 we were not only at Corbett Gardens in Bowral, but we had also tickets to visit a number of private display garden. We enjoyed very much looking at all the gardens.

Caroline and Ellen with Dutch Girls at the Bowral Tulip Festival in 1982

Bowral 1982: Ellen with her parents and Caroline with us, her parents. — Bowral 1982:
Caroline with us, her parents, also Ellen with her parents

For the following pictures it says in our album “Bowral Oct.83” During that visit Caroline was not quite five yet. The Tulip Festival was on again in the Corbett Gardens, the same as every year. Since Caroline is to be seen in the picture with some Dutch girls from the Festival, I think that the Tulip Festival must still have been on, even though it was already October.

Before and after the Fall of the Wall (Memories)

Sunday, the 16th of September, 2012.

On that day we were travelling by public transport to Borgsdorf visiting Ingrid and Erhard at their summer place. Ingrid is related to Peter’s family. Over the years we were always happy to visit Ingrid and Erhard whenever we happened to be in Berlin. On the phone Ingrid wanted to make sure we would come on Sunday. When I mentioned I still had a bit of a cold she said, not to worry, it was going to be a lovely, sunny day. I could just sit outside in the sun and this would do me good. I didn’t have to do anything. She was going to cook lunch for us, she said.

She did serve us a wonderful lunch. She loves to cook with healthy ingredients and lots of herbs and vegetables from her garden. I really felt all right sitting in the autumn sun for hours and hours, being served a lovely meal and later on coffee and cakes. Before the coffee break we all went for a walk to the close by river. Borgsdorf is a very secluded little village. In people’s gardens we could see fruit trees with hundreds of red apples on them.

This is an extract from a blog I wrote after our visit to Berlin in 2012:

Visiting People’s Gardens on the Fringes of Berlin

My brother Peter Uwe had dropped us off at Berlin Tegel Airport. It was already afternoon, so he wanted to drive back straight away to his place in Mecklenburg/Vorpommern, where we had stayed with him and Astrid for the last few days of our holiday.

We checked in and then had plenty of time to have a drink with the six family members who had come to see us off:
Peter’s cousin Ingrid, Peter’s nephew Daniel, Peter’s sister Ilse, and all their partners, all had come to farewell us.

It turned out, the flight to Amsterdam was delayed. Because of this, we got into trouble with our connecting flight in Amsterdam. We had in Amsterdam actually less than one hour to get to our connecting flight. When I pointed this out to a cabin crew member he inquired about my age and whether I could walk all right. I told him I couldn’t walk as fast as younger people. Voila, a drive on a buggy was arranged for Peter and me.

Being driven through the immense airport with passengers roaming about and making way for the buggy, we felt like in a movie. It was a long, long drive to the departure point for our connecting flight. I doubt I could have made it in time by walking. We were extremely grateful for the lift and were able to board on time on the long stretch to Kuala Lumpur.

At Kuala Lumpur Airport we had a seven hour rest. From there we took off on a seven hour flight to Sydney. The longest non-stop stretch was from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, namely eleven hours! During this long flight Peter got sick. After that he had hardly anything to eat anymore.

I got distracted again. Searching for some pictures of Ingrid and Erhard, I finally found the departure pictures that Peter took at Berlin Tegel Airport. You can look at them here:

Resting at Kuala Lumpur Airport

All the above happened in 2012. The wall had come down already in 1989. We were still thinking about it and all the changes it had brought. Berlin was an undivided city again, East- and West-Germany were one country. But we could still remember what it was like before the Fall of the Wall.

BACK IN AUSTRALIA

I wrote the following on the 19th of November 2012:

Peter and I landed safely back in Australia. Yesterday morning our daughter Caroline picked us up from Sydney airport and drove us to our home (100 km south of Sydney). So we’ve been back home now for nearly thirty hours and are gradually getting rid of our jet legs. Everything is fine at our place. Our lovely daughter is going to stay with us till tomorrow (Tuesday).

Six people had come to Berlin Tegel airport on Friday to see us off. We found the perfect place to have a drink with them. This was very relaxing for us. We knew already that our plane to Amsterdam was going to leave somewhat later than originally planned. My brother had driven us to the airport from his place in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He had only dropped us off, for he wanted to be back home before it got too dark.

In Amsterdam we had scarce time to catch the connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. We made sure we’d get some help by the airport people. Just as well! It turned out we had to go right to the other end of the airport. This would have meant a tremendous walk for us. We were very grateful for being driven to our departure point. I doubt that we could have made it on time by walking.

In Kuala Lumpur we had close to seven hours to catch our Malaysian connecting flight to Sydney. This meant we had no problem with being on time for boarding at the departure gate. It also gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs a bit and then take a break in a beautifully furnished cafe with French songs playing in the background. The toilet facilities were also very welcome. We couldn’t take a walk through the airport’s beautiful open air jungle walk since it was closed for renovations. What a pity!

Near our departure gate we found some stretch-out chairs. To be able to stretch out on these chairs we welcomed very much.

Some pictures of these stretch out chairs you can actually find in this blog:

Resting at Kuala Lumpur Airport

I wrote in this blog further on:

We were grateful for the long break at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It gave us ample time to recover a bit from the previous eleven hour non-stop flight. In Kuala Lumpur Peter even enjoyed the coffee and cake we had at one of the airport’s coffee-shops. At some other establishment we had a large glass of iced Chi tea. This tasted very good and was very refreshing. On the next seven hour stretch to Sydney Peter refused food again. However he had lots of drinks all the time: Mainly water, but also some juice and coffee. He just didn’t feel like eating.

My main purpose of looking up all these posts was actually that I wanted to be reminded what experiences we had on previous visits to Berlin when the city was divided by that Wall. There was a lot of confusion going on about currencies in East and West, lifestyle changes dividing East and West, crippling shortages in the East. a lot of spying going on in the East, West-Berliners making nasty remarks about the “poor” East-Berliners and so on.

And after the Fall of the Wall? To this day these parts of Germany that had previously been GDR territory are still a bit less prosperous than their cousins in the other parts of Germany. Yes, it is one country again, but you do find differences. People in the East seem to be somewhat different from people in the West. The unemployment rate is much higher in the eastern parts of Germany. West-German companies seem to prefer to go to a neighbouring Eastern country where they can pay lower wages.

For some time low cost housing was available in East-Germany. In areas where there is work or tourism, housing prices are on the up. In some remote areas, where there is no work, low cost housing is of no use to the people. It is unbelievable, but people who cannot afford any more to pay for housing and live on the streets for most of the year, these people are on the increase, while other people gentrify their places, and they invest in places they can let for more and more rent. How about this attitude that “the Market” regulates all?

UTA’S DIARY

When I start getting a cold I immediately increase the amount of Vitamin C. I also take some Olive Leaf Extract. And I try to rest as much as possible. As far as I remember I still felt all right on Wednesday, the 6th of May when I went for a walk in the morning. Towards evening that day I started to shiver, the throat felt sore and all my limbs felt very heavy. I also sneezed a lot. So I started with the above treatment and retired to my nice warm bed. Still, I worried a bit, whether I would feel well enough to go to Wollongong early the following morning to keep the appointment with my specialist.

On Thursday Peter drove me to Wollongong for the 9 am appointment. I told the receptionist that I had a cold and weather it was still all right to see the doctor. It turned out, I was able to see the doctor who asked me in and then did all the required tests. I felt lucky that my nose had dried up, for some of the tests involved some stuff that went through my nose. The doctor happily told me that there was nothing wrong with me: I was free of any signs of cancer. He said it was close to four years now since I had my operation on the tongue. So in one year’s time I should come back for another examination. But this would be the last time that I had to come for check-ups. He said, that it was very unlikely that any lesions would come back five years after surgery.

Thereafter Peter drove me straight back home. Thursdays I usually go to a one hour Gentle Exercise Class. But on that Thursday I preferred to stay home to have a good rest. The following day I also cancelled the games afternoon with my lady friends. The following days I took great care to dress extra warmly. I saw to it that a small electric heater always stood close by to keep me warm. I was thinking that under no circumstances would I want to go anywhere where there was air-conditioning blowing on me!

By Monday, the 11th of May, I was well enough to go with Peter on the train to Sydney for the court hearing about the circumstances of Gaby’s death. On Tuesday, the 12th, there was another court hearing. Both days we were able to catch an early afternoon train back home. The people who talked to us in Sydney were all very friendly. We thought that as far as we were concerned this inquiry by the coroner went very well. The coroner as well as the assistant coroner, who talked to us a lot. were both woman. Also one of the testifying doctors was a woman.

The following Thursday Ayleen and I turned up for the Exercise Class. To my surprise there was no class that day. Somehow I had totally forgotten that on that day the Seniors Citizen Group had a late Mother’s Day luncheon at the club. So the previous Sunday had been Mother’s Day, that’s right. I felt actually well enough on that day to go with Peter to our daughter Monika’s place for afternoon coffee and cake. The place was full with all of Monika’s children as well as her partner Mark’s daughter and Mark’s mother and the mother of Mark’s deceased wife.

Apparently Mark had a hectic working week last week, and he ended up with a cold. Still he managed to come to the big birthday celebration at the German Club on Saturday, the 16th of May. That night he warned me several times not to get too close to him for he had a bit of a cold. I said to him not to worry, I already did have a cold the other week, and I was sure I would not get it again.

Our son Martin had booked a flight from Melbourne to Sydney to stay with us for 48 hours to celebrate his Dad’s 80th Birthday. He nearly missed his flight back to Melbourne on Sunday. But this is another story.

On Saturday most of the family came to our place in the afternoon for coffee and cake before we went to the German Club for dinner. Peter and Caroline made a few pictures on that occasion which I have in my computer now, and I can show some of them here:

Everyone could order what they felt like. For entrees there was Rollmops, or baked Camembert cheese or soup.
Most people got German beer from the tap. Ebony left soon after dinner with the two little darlings, our great-grandsons. There were later on 12 people left for the welcome drink, a nice sweet bubbly.

The “Pioneer Family”

Today I was looking for some more pictures from the past. I came up with two pictures from 1958 and another two pictures from 1960

This pictures was taken in Düsseldorf, Germany, in a park called ‘Hofgarten’, on 17th June 1958. Gaby was not quite nine months yet at the time.

This pictures was taken by Uta’s Mum on her balcony in Berlin in August 1958. Gaby was nearly one year old. We were for a visit in Berlin at the time.

Uta with Baby Martin, two months, Monika, eighteen months, and Gaby thirty-three months.

This pictures was taken near Fairy Meadow Beach, New South Wales, Australia, in June 1960.

Uta and Peter (25) with all three children

This is where the pioneer family ended up in Oak Flats, NSW, Australia, which was ‘the sticks’ at the time. This picture was taken on the 28th August 1960 which was Gaby’s birthday. We were building a garage at the time. One year later the children were stricken by polio; as it turned out, Gaby very severely.

I wrote the above in January 2013. I was looking for a photo from our Berlin visit in August 1958 and found one in this blog. I was pregnant at the time. In December our daughter Monika was born in Düsseldorf where we had one room in my father’s apartment. We thought being given the opportunity to go to Australia as migrants was the best thing that could have happened to us.

11 Responses to “The “Pioneer Family””

berlioz1935
January 23, 2013 at 4:47 pm Edit #
The beginning in Australia was tough and sometimes we felt like a “pioneer family”.. On the beach picture you can clearly see the Fairy Meadow Hostel were we lived for a while.

auntyuta
January 23, 2013 at 5:18 pm Edit #
You’re right, Peter, the beach was only a few steps away from the hostel. I thought it was great to have the beach so close. The picture you refer to was taken in June, in the middle of the Australian winter!

Robert M. WeissR
January 25, 2013 at 8:41 am Edit #
Great archival type photos, which reminds me it’s time to straighten up our family photos.

auntyuta
January 25, 2013 at 11:12 am Edit #
Thanks for commenting, Robert. I read your profile, which is very interesting. Do you do any writing? You seem to be a very contemplative person. If you’re writing, I’d like to hear more about it.
Cheerio, Uta.

backonmyown
January 26, 2013 at 12:00 pm Edit #
I love the old photos. Your family was beautiful. My youngest sister Gerry had polio when she was two years old. Fortunately she had no lingering effects, and recovered completely. I was ten at the time. I remember how scared we all were.

auntyuta
January 26, 2013 at 6:01 pm Edit #
Hi, Pam. We always love to look at all our old photos. Gaby was severely effected, She became a quadriplegic and needed an iron lung.
Monika had some lingering effects in one of her legs and Martin recovered completely. It was a very scary time for us when all three children suffered from the disease.

backonmyown
January 27, 2013 at 2:44 am Edit #
I can’t even imagine how terrified you and Peter must have been with all three children seriously ill at the same. My middle daughter is a public health lawyer. She has asked me lots of questions about the polio epidemics. I’ll tell her about your family’s story. Thanks for sharing it. Pat

Three Well Beings
January 26, 2013 at 4:56 pm Edit #
I really enjoyed seeing family photos, Uta. From what you’re sharing, the children were very young when they contracted polio. I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been! I do remember when that disease frightened families and changed lives forever!

auntyuta
January 26, 2013 at 6:07 pm Edit #
That’s right, Debra, they all contracted polio. Martin was 1, Monika 2 and Gaby was struck down with the disease on her fourth birthday. No vaccinations were available at the time. A bit later oral vaccinations were introduced. I think this stopped the spread of polio in Australia.

Three Well Beings
January 26, 2013 at 6:50 pm Edit #
I really can’t imagine, Uta! As a mom, this must have been devastating. They were just babies. I’m a little awed you can even talk about it. oxo

auntyuta
January 26, 2013 at 8:45 pm Edit #
It was a very emotional time for Peter too. All three children were admitted to Wollongong Hospital. Gaby went on to Intensive Care at Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney where she was in a coma. According to the specialist there was not much chance of her surviving. We had gone in the ambulance with her and stayed with her through the night. Early in the morning we went back to Wollongong on the milk-train. That morning after a lot of weeping we went to see Monika and Martin in Wollongong Hospital. Martin Baby soon became the darling of the nurses. He looked so cute. When we saw him he started throwing all the toys out of his cot the nurses had put in there for him. Monika was more sick than Martin and absolutely quiet. A few days later Martin was allowed to go back home. We were overwhelmed when we had him back home. Monika had to stay in hospital a bit longer. Once she was home she was referred to a specialist who treated her leg. Some muscles were weakened because of polio. She had to wear special boots and a splint on her left leg which she hated!

Reflections on Travel

Recently I reflected a lot on our past two overseas travels. One trip to Berlin we did five years ago and another one two and a half years ago. When we travel we always try to economise, meaning we are not out to stay in expensive hotels or visit restaurants that are well above our budget. The greatest extra expense we consider to be the air-travel ticket plus insurance. Since both Peter and I are going to be past eighty when we travel next time the insurance is going to be sky high! We usually book a flight well in advance and look for special offers. The last two times we did fly with Malaysian Airline from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur and from there we had connecting flights with KLM. We thought these flights via Kuala Lumpur were pretty good. Soon we want to find out what’s on offer for next year.

2016 is going to be a huge family reunion in Berlin. Our Australian family is already planning for all this. Some members in our family have never been to Berlin yet and are very keen to get to know a bit about the city and the German family members who live there. Especially Peter’s sister Ilse is very hopeful that a large family meeting can take place next year in Berlin. She and Finn are already thinking about all the arrangements that can be made. One of our grandsons is busy making plans about all the destinations where he and his family intend to travel to. He worked out that a nine day stay in Berlin could be included. They also want to stay for a few days in London and maybe some days in Switzerland, and I think there was also talk about Paris.

When Peter heard that they plan on staying for nine days in Berlin, he soon thought about a number of places he could show them in Berlin. Peter knows Berlin very well, partly from personal experience but a lot he knows because he keeps himself always up to date on the internet about what is going on in Berlin. When it come to history, he can tell you a thing or two about Berlin’s history as well. The past few days he published memories about the last days in Berlin before the end of World War Two. You can look it up under:

https://berlioz1935.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/tuesday-24-april-1945/

The memories start already here:

https://berlioz1935.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/berlin-the-last-battle-in-europe-during-world-war-2/

There are diary entries of Peter’s mother which he translated. Also, Peter’s own comments about these eventful days continue for several days.

It is amazing how much Peter remembers about this time seventy years ago. This was just a few days before he turned ten! He also likes to read up on official records about the last days in Berlin before the end of the war, and he is also always looking for relevant pictures from that time.

Our Five Weeks Holiday in 2010

From Sydney we did fly with Malaysian Airline to Kuala Lumpur. Our connecting flight was with KLM to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. From there we had another connecting flight with KLM to Tegel Airport in Berlin.

Gaby, Caroline and Matthew had come to Sydney Airport to farewell us.

Peter took a few photos in Kuala Lumpur at the airport.

We enjoyed the Tropical Garden in the midst of Kuala Lumpur Airport.

When we arrived at Tegel Airport there were Daniel, Ilse and Ingrid waiting for us.

They took us first of all to Scharnweber Strasse, where Ilse lives. It was Spargel (Asparagus) time in Berlin. Ilse served us a sumptuous Spargel lunch. Soon after lunch, Ilse’s son Daniel drove us to our holiday unit in Bastian Strasse. We stayed in this unit for fifteen nights. On the morning of Tuesday, the 15th of June we were picked up by Peter Uwe, my brother, and his partner Astrid. They took us to their home in Neu Canow in Mecklenburg Vorpommern where we stayed for nine nights. On Thursday, 24th of June, they drove us back to Berlin. Peter’s sister Ilse accommodated us for the rest of our stay in Berlin

On Friday, 2nd of July, Klaudia, my brother’s ex-wife, drove us to Tegel Airport for our departure back to Australia. Several family members farewelled us at Tegel Airport.

For Saturday, the 26th of June, our last Saturday before our departure, Ilse had organised a family meeting. One cousin came from England, another one with his daughter came from Frankfurt and Peter’s sister Eva came with husband Harald from Windischgarsten in Austria. And of course Ilse’s sons and family, who live in Berlin came also as well as Eva’s daughter and granddaughter. Ilse’s partner Finn made a great video of the occasion. A copy of it he sent to us to Australia. There were also some photos taken of this family gathering. I show some of them here:

We met at this restaurant in Scharnweber Strasse.

Peter with his sister Eva who came from Austria.

Ilse and Finn invited us for another farewell meal at the same restaurant a few days later.

Here Ilse talks to Daniel, the manager of the restaurant.

Berlin-Wedding and Travel to Scharnweberstrasse

I copied the following from the Wikipedia. Five years ago Peter and I lived for four weeks in this area. I must say we felt quite at home there. People were all very friendly. We liked the diversity of people and the many different shops and eating places. And it was also very much to our liking that everything seemed to be very affordable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_(Berlin)

“Today, Wedding is one of the poorest areas of Berlin, with a high unemployment rate (almost 26%). Almost 17% of the population live on social welfare; 27% live below the poverty line.[1] Foreigners make up 30% of the population.[2] Low rents accompany the poverty in Wedding so, like many inexpensive areas in large cities, it is home to a vibrant artists’ community. Many galleries have been founded by artists to provide a space for themselves and their peers to show their work.
Wedding has so far not experienced the boom and gentrification of the 1990s in Berlin. Unlike many other 19th-century working class districts like Prenzlauer Berg, the original character of Wedding has been mostly preserved. However, more recently more and more students and artists move to Wedding due to still lower rents as mentioned above and fairly high level of life quality. As a result some new, more bohemian cafés and clubs opened, organic food stores and markets are established, an urban gardening project has successfully started and high-brow galleries discover that area.[3][4][5][6] It is still said though to be a place to find the Schnauze mit Herz (big mouth and big heart) of the Berlin working class.

Along with Kreuzberg, Wedding is one of the most ethnically diverse localities of Berlin. The multicultural atmosphere is visible in the bilingual shop signs (predominantly German and Turkish or German and Arabic).
In recent years Wedding has seen a significant influx of African people. Wedding is also home to an East Asian community, mostly from China, which is reflected in many Asian and African stores and restaurants. As of 2011, the ethnic make-up of Wedding was 52% of German origin, 18% Turks, 6% Sub-Saharan Africa, 6% Arabs, 6% Polish, 5% former Yugoslavia, and 4.5% Asian.”

In 2010 we lived in Bastianstrasse that is near Pankstrasse. The nearest U-Bahnhof (underground station) was PANKSTRASSE.

At this underground station we had to change when we went to Scharnweberstrasse.

This is the U-Bahn station near where Ilse lives.

This way to Scharnweberstrasse where Ilse lives.

From Wikipedia:

“Scharnweberstraße is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U6. It was constructed by B. Grimmek in 1958. Due to the extension of the U6, the trains had to go above ground after Kurt-Schumacher-Platz station. Soil for the embankment on which the line is built came from excavations for the U9, which was being built in parallel. As the trains had to go above ground, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), who operate the Berlin U-Bahn, had to install windscreen wipers on the trains.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharnweberstra%C3%9Fe_%28Berlin_U-Bahn%29