NORKA
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People > Personal Histories > ​​​​​​Conrad Hölzer

​​​​Conrad Hölzer

​​​​Conrad Hölzer was born July 8, 1860 in Norka, the son of Heinrich Hölzer (1826) and Anna Katharina Brill (1827).

Conrad married Katharina Margaretha Glanz on June 8, 1882. Katharina Margaretha was born on December 6, 1862 in the colony of Bettinger, the daughter of Heinrich Gottlieb Glanz (1835) and Maria Charlotte Müller (1840).

Conrad was known by the Spitznamen (nickname) Dicker Hölzer which means he was rotund. Conrad's son-in-law, Conrad Brill shares more about him in Memories of Norka. 
Many of our neighbors, as well as my father in law, Dicker Helzer, sold their dusch (land allotment) when departing the area, but in the case of my father-in-law, who died in Minsk, his family returned to Norka, and the Bolsheviks made the buyer get off the property and return it to them.  They insisted that only people actually living in the household were entitled to land, another reason was because the buyer had paid in Czar’s moneys, which the new regime didn't recognize. 
Different families would use their houses for harvest celebration ceremonies (Kerb) which lasted from three days and nights to a week.  In our neighborhood it was usually held at Dicker (portly) Helzer’s home.  He would take the windows out of the house and put them into the barn for safe keeping, lay in a supply of liquor and hire a band.  The participants would pay so much for a set of music which paid the musicians, who collected from dancers after each set.  Helzer sold the drinks and kept order with a scale stock about the size of a baseball bat, which he actually used if things got out of hand.  Different villages went to different extremes.  I have heard of non-alcoholic Kerb celebrations, but in Unterdorf they were rough and rowdy, as well as long remembered.  The celebration usually started after church on Sunday, with street singing and marches to the place of celebration.

Sources

Brill, Conrad. Memories of Norka.

​Norka database. 

If you have additional information or questions about this family, please Contact Us.
Last updated September 3, 2020. 
Copyright © 2002-2025 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About
    • Reviews
    • Contact
  • People
    • Founders
    • Personal Histories
    • Notable Norkans
    • Stories
    • Photo Identification
    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johann Baptist Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Baptism
      • Confirmation
      • Weddings
      • Communion
      • Prayers
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
      • Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribune
    • Related Links