Roeckle family celebrations over the years
Creator(s)
- Keith Roeckle
- Theodore Roeckle (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Theodor Röckle (1896-1976) served in World War I and received the Iron Cross. He married Berta Doerr in 1923. Theo was a waiter by trade and worked on the German railway service. He went to the United States in 1928 seeking work since Germany was in difficult economic times. He ended up in Atlantic City, and soon sent for his wife and son Gerald. In 1931, Berthold was born, but mother Berta died in childbirth. Having no work, a 6 year old son and a newborn baby, no family, and no means to support them, Theo decided to return. He paid a courier to take the baby back to Germany to be raised by family members. Theo remarried in 1934 to Elfriede Gerth in Philadelphia, PA. Back in Germany, the young Berthold Roeckle became a Hitler Youth (despite his American citizenship) and served as a bicycle messenger during World War II. Berthold returned to the US in 1946 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Theo and Elfriede lived in NYC and Berlin after the war. Theo's hobby in film resulted in thousands and thousands of feet of film material, mostly of family events from the late 1940s to 1960s.
Scope and Content
INT, people eating and dining on Christmas. Gerald and Berthold play with a toy train set. MS, decorated Christmas tree, Elfriede lights the candles. Theo plugs in electrical lights and smokes a cigarette. 01:08:28 Several shots of men shoveling the snowy streets with a pharmacy and other shops or residences behind them. 01:09:06 The two boys set off a toy plane in a snowy park (Gerald was a model plane enthusiast his entire life). 01:09:18 Back inside the family residence, couples dance (camera on tripod). Family dines. 01:10:36 EXT, garden, child approaches camera "goose-stepping". Two women look at plants. INTs, elder woman cooking, others eating. 01:11:28 EXTs, formally dressed family members pose for the camera. 01:11:40 CU, man lights a cigar from the candelabra. The family celebrates, good CUs. CU, centerpiece with photographs, liquor bottles, and the number 50 (perhaps for Theo's birthday in 1946?). Pan to Theo, his wife, and boys. Another family celebration inside a home with an infant. CUs, baby. Adults toast. Man with cigarette looks closely at a photograph on display. 01:15:49 MS, woman and man. Another woman lounges. Christmas tree. The matriarch carries Traudie, a toddler girl adopted by cousins, followed by other family members, walking towards the camera. Pan, happy family, kissing. Toddler at play.
Subjects
- SNOW
- EATING
- FAMILIES
- CHILDREN
- HOUSES
- HOLIDAYS (CHRISTMAS)
Places
- Berlin, Germany
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film