Biography of Erika Schmidt 18.03.2023

Erika Erna Schmidt, née Krüger, was born on June 11, 1937 in Bernau near Berlin. Her father Willi Bernhard Karl Krüger (*02/08/1911 - † 02/05/1946) was a blacksmith and later a haulier. During the Second World War he was a driver for the photo reporters and was taken prisoner by the French, from which he was soon released. However, the Russians kidnapped him after the end of the war and he died in Brest-Litovsk. Her mother, Erna Irene Meta Krüger, née Weiß, was a seamstress and worked at "Horn und Heine" on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, where she also made her own designs. Erika Schmidt was baptized on September 19, 1937 in the Evangelical Church in Bernau.

St. Marien-Kirche Bernau

In 1942 she started school in Bernau and went through the school up to the 10th grade in 1952. She was denied the Abitur because her father was in the SA.

Erika Schmidt als Schulkind

On April 22, 1951 she was confirmed in the St. Mary's Church in Bernau by the Oberkirchenrat Pastor Kintzel. Her confirmation verse was: "But we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose." (Romans 8:28).

Konfirmationsurkunde

She had to leave school after the 10th grade and in 1954 began an apprenticeship as a wholesale merchant at the Deutsche Handelszentrale in Bernau, which she successfully completed in 1957. After working for a year as a wholesaler, Erika Schmidt took up a position as a clerk in the hospital pharmacy in Berlin-Buch in 1958. From 1959 - 1961 she was able to take part-time training as a pharmaceutical technical assistant (PTA) and worked in the Berlin-Buch hospital pharmacy for five years. She liked to play table tennis and was also in a table tennis club, to which the locksmith at the Deutsche Reichsbahn, Alfred Schmidt, from West Berlin, also belonged. He lived in Berlin Wedding and was Catholic. On May 4th, 1961 she married Alfred Schmidt, who was born on May 25th, 1926, in the Catholic Church of St. Sebastian in Berlin and moved in with him in Wedding. Archpriest Dr. auditor before.

Erika und Alfred Schmidt in St. Sebastian in Berlin

24.05.1961

When the GDR erected a wall between East Berlin and West Berlin on August 13, 1961, she could no longer return to Berlin-Buch and looked for a new job in West Berlin. Many people from the East who had worked in West Berlin before the Wall was built were no longer able to get their jobs because of the border, and the hospital pharmacies in West Berlin were desperately looking for employees. So it was completely unproblematic to get a new job in the hospital pharmacy in Moabit, where she worked for 12 years and also had to supply the prisons with medicines. As of 05/06/1966 her son Christian Alexander Schmidt was born, she wanted to work part-time, but that was not possible in the Moabit hospital pharmacy. In 1971 she therefore went to the administration academy of the Berlin Senate on Kurfürstendamm and began part-time training to become an administrative clerk. She led a work team in the Office for Educational Support and was also able to work part-time here. Her organizational talent had always served her well in her professional life and so Erika Schmidt worked for the Senate when she reached her retirement age at the age of 60. Her husband stayed with the Deutsche Reichsbahn in his job, even though he was offered other lucrative career opportunities. With her husband she continued to work in the sports club and also traveled a lot. In 1987 she had her picture taken with a Roman soldier in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas 1987

Her motto in life is: "Don't give up! Keep going!" She was allowed to celebrate her diamond wedding (60 years) with her husband on May 4th, 2021. Her husband, who rarely complained about illnesses, died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 9th, 2021 at the age of 95, if one can say so at this age. After many accidents and operations, Erika Schmidt moved to Rathenow in May 1922 because she wanted to be closer to her son. On January 28, 2023 she joined the support group for the reconstruction of the Sankt-Marien-Andreas-Kirche in Rathenow e. V. because she wanted to support the reconstruction of the church.

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