Alfred Wegener: Difference between revisions -

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For the next five years, Richard supported himself and his wife on the salary of an assistant pastor. Richard studied Greek, Latin and Hebrew and earned a PhD from the Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Berlin in 1873. In that same year, Richard and Anna took over the Schindler Orphanage<ref>The Schindler Orphanage (''Schindlersches Waisenhaus''), a privately endowed orphanage for sons of clergy, teachers, civil servants, landowners and merchants, was all but indistinguishable from a small, upper-class boarding school. The orphans were, after all, upper-class sons of professional and well-to-do landed families. The mission of the institution was to see that these boys should not lose their hereditary educational and social advantages by a mischance of fate. The orphans, after completing their primary schooling within the walls of the Schindler Orphanage, went on to the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, one of Berlin's oldest (1574) and most prestigious secondary schools. That is, those capable of meeting its standards did some. Meanwhile, those who had fared somewhat less well in primary school went on to a Realgymnasium, a six-year course with less emphasis on classics. Finally, those with no discernible academic ability were apprenticed out to craftsmen and left the orphanage altogether.</ref>. Richard began his parallel career teaching Greek and Latin at the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, the illustrious secondary school that the older orphans attended along with the children of Berlin's cultural elite. Richard also fed his other interest and commitments by teaching German literature at a nearby Mädchenschule (girl's school) and holding a chaplaincy at the criminal court in the nearby neighborhood of Moabit.

Alfred Lothar Wegener was born in Berlin, 1 November 1880. Alfred was the fifth and youngest child of Richard Wegener and Anna Schwarz. His birthplace was a converted Austrian embassy at 57 Friedrichsgracht, a scant few blocks from the Imperial Palace, facing the Spree Canal, on the southeastern side of the island. This structure was home to Schindler Orphanage. The spacious interior of the building was more than adequate to house the Wegener family, the thirty or so orphans in their charge, Richard Wegener's assistants in the teaching and daily supervision of the orphans, and the resident domestics under the direction of Anna Wegener.

Later, Alfred Lothar Wegener was born in Berlin, 1 November 1880. Alfred was the fifth and youngest child of Richard Wegener and Anna Schwarz. His birthplace was a converted Austrian embassy at 57 Friedrichsgracht, a scant few blocks from the Imperial Palace, facing the Spree Canal, on the southeastern side of the island. This structure was home to Schindler Orphanage. The spacious interior of the building was more than adequate to house the Wegener family, the thirty or so orphans in their charge, Richard Wegener's assistants in the teaching and daily supervision of the orphans, and the resident domestics under the direction of Anna Wegener.

By the time Alfred was born in 1880, Tony (seven) and Willi (six) were already in school. Alfred spent the day with Kurt and his sister Käte, supervised by Anna and the resident domestics. In 1884, when Alfred Wegener was not quite four years old, his sister Käte died quite suddenly after a brief illness. Alfred's mother said that it was likely the close spacing of her last three children (1878, 1879, 1880) that had rendered them less vigorous than the older Tony and Willi, born earlier in the marriage. Moreover, the metropolitan air had left the younger ones "pale and listless". Industrial growth in the last few decades of the 19th century brought great chemical works, paper mills, machine shops, textile and carpet factories to Berlin and its burgeoning suburbs. Much of this development occured just to the north and east of the Museum Insel and these factories were largely fueled by lignite, a poor-quality coal that produced huge quantities of fly ash.

== Note ==