Aabenraa's in South Jutland about 300 kms south west of Copenhagen and 30kms north of the German border. It's at the mouth of the Aabenraa Fjord with a good harbour for shipping and ship building. A bit of trivia - alphabetically, it's the first city or town in the world! Some claim to fame when there's a population of only 16,000!
My 2nd great-grandfather, Peter Benson Lutge, was born there on 15 March 1837. He was the oldest of the 8 children of Johann Frederich Lutge and Marie Cathrina Jensen. Peter was a mariner and came to Sydney when he was 25. Two years later, he married Mary Bonner, a young Irish lass, at St Mary's Cathedral and they had 10 children. The family moved to Military Road Mosman in the mid 1880s. Peter had a stevedoring business until his death in 1890. He and Mary are buried at Gore Hill Cemetery. My Mum's maiden name was Lutge and I've always known about my Danish ancestors but here was my opportunity to visit.....
Press HERE to link to "The Lutge's in Australian" blog.
I knew that Peter was living with his family at Vægterplads, Aabenraa from the 1855 Denmark Census. So that was my first stop...
A quite square about 200m from the main pedestrian mall in the old part of town with 6 old houses shown in this photo - 4 together, the yellow one at the right and the white one tucked in behind it. I still can't tell which one the Lutge's lived in as the "tourist information office" is fully automated - which explains why I didn't get any response to my emails!
I did meet Sidser, the receptionist at Hotel Europa. She grew up in the grey house with the flagpole in front! We're not related but we practiced my pronunciation of the town's name. The locals all told me that Lutge was more a Germanic than Danish family name but I was redeemed with the Jensen...pity it wasn't Georg! The area has been both Danish and Prussian/German since Peter left.
My next stop was the church about 150m from the family home - Sct. Nicolai Kirke. It's the only church in the area but again hard (read impossible) to find anyone to speak with. Peter was baptised the Sunday after his birth - only 6 days old! I imagined Johann and Marie walking proudly to the church with their first born. Then when I saw the large ship hanging from the ceiling, I felt their sadness when Peter sailed away never to return...followed a few years later by their second son, Hans, who settled in the US.
Finally to Aabenraa Cemetery about 800m from the church. While it's the original cemetery in the area, most of the grave sites have been reused. There are very few memorials from the 18th and 19th century in situ...rather they are placed around the perimeter or clumped together in the main areas. Spent ages searching for a familiar name but no success and, of course, no one to speak to. Thought I'd entered some Scandi Noir thriller when the gates were locked when I went to leave! Just had to walk an extra kilometre in the blazing sun to find freedom in a local cafe..... This shows the general layout of the cemetery which is well cared for....
Aabenraa Cemetery is the site of a Commonwealth War Grave.....always need to visit them! 153 men are buried here - 2 from the First World War and 151 from the Second World War. All 12 Australians are casualties from the Second World War ranging in age from 19 to 31.
In the absence of any of my own relatives, I "adopted a digger" to research and think about when I retuned to the hotel. I chose Arthur Hartley Sawtell - the youngest at 19. He was a mid upper gunner in the 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF. There were 7 men on the plane when it went missing on 24 February 1944. Arthur was the only Australian along with 2 from the RNZAF and 4 from the RAF. Arthur's body was the only one recovered. He was the son of John Hartley and Ida Marie Sawtell from Unley, South Australia. The inscription on his grave reads "His duty fearlessly and nobly done. Ever remembered". A quick search has shown that his father was born in England, migrated to Australia and married Ida Marie Lucas after he'd served for Australia in the First World War. From what I can see, Arthur was their only child. John died in 1944 after the death of his son and Ida lived on until 1971 and did not remarry. Another very sad story...poor Ida - 25 years without her husband or son!
You can see how dry the grass at the cemetery is! There's been a lot of discussion about these photos of a farming area in southern Denmark taken a year apart - July 2017 and July 2018!
Apart from potted plants, these dahlias were the only flowers I saw planted in the ground in Aabenraa that have survived - well only just.! And they took me back to my Lutge's again...
My grandfather, Kel Lutge, grew dahlias and named them after all of us! Here's my Mum, Beryl, amongst the dahlias at 82 Gerard Street about 1932.
His father John Henry Lutge - the oldest child of Peter Benson - grew dahlias! Here's a photo I was given last year by cousin Lindy showing John Henry with his wife, Matilda, and youngest child, Lee, in the backyard of 84 Gerard Street with the dahlias. It was taken about 1914 - maybe when their sons, Kel and Cliff, went to Europe in the First World War....
Abanraa's coat of arms is displayed everywhere in the town and may appear on a house in Mosman soon!
So I boarded the fast train back to Copenhagen this morning listening to Beethoven and very pleased with my "field trip"...and these gentle giants seemed to be conducting all the way.....
