Chapter 8
The Younger Heiberg Family
Carl and Asta Heiberg had one daughter, Nanny (5) and three sons.
Nanny, as was said in Chapter 5, married my grandfather Carl Friedrichs (4). (Nanny’s grandfather, father, brother,
and husband were all named Carl, her son was named Karl-MNF)
The oldest of the three sons, Carl was a merchant in Hong Kong and died there. The youngest son Julius, it is said,
wanted to be an actor, but found actors too immoral; so, he studied law and became a prosecuting district attorney.
Later on he became the mayor of the city of Schleswig for two terms, each term being twelve years. He had a very
captivating way of dealing with people. His specialty was Kaiser’s birthday speeches once every year. His - extremely
tall - son, Ulrich, became an army officer. I have talked with Ulrich’s daughter, the wife of a physician, when I was in
East Germany. She was very unhappy there.
The third son of Carl and Asta Heiberg, Hermann was the one who had introduced my grandfather to the Heibergs in
Schleswig, Hermann became a writer. He was highly regarded at his time; perhaps he was the first German novelist to
employ a quick and fluent way of writing novels. He was a great charmer. That was described by other writers and it
was also told me by my mother.
Hermann applied his charm also in dealing with his creditors. So, when he died, he left great debts. Since I was one of
his godsons, this negative inheritance was also offered to me; but my father rejected it in my name. I was 8 years old
then. Finally, his brother Julius, the mayor of Schleswig, accepted the negative inheritance, most admirably. He slowly
and perhaps painfully paid off the debt. Hermann’s children were not able to do that at that time.
Hermann’ s wife Ines Voilmer had come from Venezuela. Her father, a German, was very rich, but drowned with all his
wealth while travelling on a boat between Hamburg and Caracas. His wife had come from a leading Spanish family; her
mother was a first cousin of Simon Bolivar, the leader of the movement to make Spanish South America independent of
Spain. Tante Ines sometimes told us about her childhood in Venezuela; that was fascinating.
Among the many children of Hermann and Ines Heiberg I mention only Felix and Asta. The adopted daughter of Felix is
my brother’s wife, Eva. Asta’s Jewish husband, Alfred Brandt, was a Prussian government official (Regierungsrat) in
Berlin. Years ago we had close contact with their daughter Irene and her husband Heinrich (now Henry) Jordan, a
diplomat, when they lived in New York. Later on, in 1951, Asta’s and Alfred’s son Klaus, his wife Hanna, and their
daughters Sabine and Cornelia moved to New York and soon became an important part of our family circle.
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