GRAVE-WINTERBERG Franziska

Franziska GRAVE was born in 1868. The exact place and date is not known. She preferred to use the family name of WINTERBERG, rather than GRAVE. It is possible that her father carried the double name of GRAVE-WINTERBERG.
GRAVE was married to Johann Gerhard TERLINDEN, born in Sonsbeck (Prussia). The latter was a successful entrepreneur and became owner of a number of manufacturing sites for chairs. In 1901, however, his business collapsed in a fraudulent bankruptcy and he fled to the USA to escape the Prussian authorities. He was arrested in the USA and extradited to Prussia for trial (see this Addendum).
The couple TERLINDEN-GRAVE married around 1891 and had a son by the name Richard Wilhelm TERLINDEN.
The family probably came to Luxembourg around 1909 and settled in the Siechenhof-Mühle in Luxembourg-Pfaffenthal. The TERLINDENs established there a workshop for decorating wood panels. In 1910 they took part in the Brussels Exhibition under the name of “Mechanische Holzkunstbildnerei Terlinden“.
In January 1910 Franziska GRAVE applied for a Gebrauschmuster in Germany for protecting the method used in the Siechenhof workshop. Three years later she obtained corresponding patents in France and Luxembourg.
In July 1910 the Holzkunstbildnerei operation was transferred to Weimerskirch, and in 1912, Franziska’s son Richard Wilhelm TERLINDEN officially joined the management of her company Mechanische Holzkunstbildnerei, Kommanditgesellschaft, Frau J. G. Terlinden & Cie Eich-Weimerskirch:

Die Geschäftsführung der Gesellschaft wird durch Frau J. G. Terlinden besorgt, welche hierbei von ihrem Ehemann und ihrem Sohn unterstützt wird.

The publication “Hémecht” of October 1971 gives the following additional information on the industrial activities of the TERLINDENs:

Die Weimerskircher Mühle:Im Jahre 1912 wurde der Betrieb von Jean Gérard Terlinden übernommen. Er stellte Zigarrenkisten und während des Weltkrieges 1914-1918 Holzschuhe her.

Franziska GRAVE obtained a patent for a “Holzschuh” in Luxembourg in 1918. In the same year the TERLINDENs bought the Siechenhof-Mühle.

Johann Gerhard TERLINDEN died in October 1922 in Siechenhof. He is buried in the local cemetery.
In December 1922 Witwe Johann Gerhard TERLINDEN announced the closure of the Siechenhof workshop and put up the equipment and stocks for sale in an auction.
She stayed on the premises until her death in 1943.

She is buried in the Siechenhof cemetery under the name of Franziska WINTERBERG (1868 – 1943).

FamilySearch database (LJKH-PQH)