A new book tracing the history of the Hochstadt/Kleinstadt communities northeast of Altona is due to be released this month.
The 250-page volume titled “Hochstadt Village, Kleinstadt School District: Memories and Histories,” co-authored by Altona residents Joe and Lois Braun, contains memoirs, interesting factoids, research, genealogies and lots of photographs.
“Hochstadt was the name of the village that was established in 1880,” explained Lois. “Later on, that area became a school district and had to be called Kleinstadt because there already was a Hochstadt school on the East Reserve.”
Readers may know Lois for her four acclaimed collections of short fiction. Her most recent offering, Peculiar Lessons, is part memoir, part social history. This collection of ten essays explores the various physical and natural elements that form the backdrop to Braun’s memories of growing up mid-20th century on a farm in southern Manitoba.
Joe, her husband, is a market gardener who sells his produce at a local farmers market on weekends.
The couple made their home in the Kleinstadt district for some 30 years.
Having grown up in Hochstadt, Joe says their project is rooted in his involvement with two well-known Mennonite historians: Adolf Ens who grew up in Rhineland, and Lawrence Klippenstein, who grew up in Altbergthal just west of Altona.
“Adolfe would have been my biggest influencer. We used to run the History Seekers here in [Altona], which was a history related project. We would have different speakers coming out and at every session we had, he would always encourage people to research and write something about the district where they grew up. In 2007 I thought I’d start the process. I interviewed four former residents of Kleinstadt and two other people who have been involved with our village. These tapes lay in the cupboard upstairs in our house for 15 years.”
Those recordings form the basis of the couple’s research for the book, with many of the stories told coming from writings of former residents. It even contains an element of mystery.
“A lot of people talked about there having been some kind of tower in the community. It was even referred to way back in the day as the Tower District. These were little rumors and stories we heard. But many people said that there was never any tower there. We have to thank Dave Harms, who finally found some old Echo [newspaper] articles that cleared that mystery up. I’m not going to say what it was so people can buy the book if they’re more interested in why it was called the Tower District.”
The authors also learned that it was common in the late 1880s and early 1900s for families to have formal portraits taken by professional photographers.
“A lot of those portraits were available to us through internet searches or previously written articles. That was pretty neat.”
Lois notes that in the mid-20th century there were four extended families that dominated the community – the Brauns, the Kehlers, the Hamms and the Kruegers – with many of their descendants still living in southern Manitoba.
“We found it very gratifying that the memoirs and photographs have created such an amazing panorama of the culture of rural life in Manitoba back in the 20th century, especially the mid-1900s. We believe these stories will be a very important resource for anyone who researches that era of history. The person who has lived in Kleinstadt the longest, continually, is Wes Martens. He’s been there since 1956. He’s been a farmer all his life; created a successful seed company on the site of the original Hochstadt village.”
The person who probably has the deepest roots still living in Kleinstadt is Tammy Braun Isaac, a descendant of one of the first settlers said Braun.
The book covers the period from 1880 when the village was established till 1967 when the school was closed.
“We have profiles of all the original 20 village families and photos of most of them; we have profiles of a large number of twentieth century families who lived in the community for a significant number of years; we have articles that have already been written by local historians such as William Kehler, who was known as Bill; some very interesting memoirs written by past residents; hundreds of photographs and then of course profiles of some rather famous people who lived in our district such as the Funk brothers, the Hochstadt quartet and [classical guitarist] Ben Kehler.”
Kehler’s granddaughter – also a guitarist – is scheduled to perform at the book launch later this month.
The book is not intended to be the ultimate history on the communities, but one additional piece for the archives
“We really want people to continue contributing to the archives. They can go to the Altona archives and bring any pictures or articles or memoirs that are not in the book, because we couldn’t find everybody that we had hoped to find. Perhaps those people will show up sometime.
The Braun’s relied on many others to compile this history book. The organizing committee was made up of Lois and Joe, along with Ray Friesen, Stan Funk and Wallace Hamn, all former residents of the school district and very strong supporters.
“A lot of it was former residents who were interested in history and had written articles already, like William (Bill) Kehler, Frank Kehler, and Joe’s brother Ken Braun. Then of course, Mennonite historians who wrote articles that didn’t apply specifically to Hochstadt/Kleinstadt but to the settlement.”
Joe outlines the book launch scheduled for Sunday, June 23 at 2:30 pm at Neubergthal Commons Barn.
“There’ll be a couple of songs by local musician songwriter Paul Bergman. Reeve Don Wiebe and councilor Jake Heppner will give short talks. There will be a special feature involving three former Kleinstadt teachers. We’ll also hear some voices from beyond the grave. And of course, the books will be distributed.”
Books are also available by contacting the Brauns, by phone, at 204-324-6259.
