Max Karl Leo
Kleinen
20 October 1885 — 21 May 1954
Siblings
Kurt Oskar Kleinen
Children
Wolf Dietrich Eberhardt Kleinen
Inge Maria Manuela Kleinen
Biography
Max Karl Leo Kleinen was born on 20 October 1885 in Bittkowen, East Prussia (now Bitkowo Poland) to Max Karl Gustav Klein, a landowner, and his wife Clara Tzschabran. The family changed their name from Klein to Kleinen in 1918 for unknown reasons.
On 10 May 1919, Max married Margarete Seydler, a widowed daughter of his parents’ neighbours. The marriage was recorded in in Bad Reinerz, Germany (now Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland). The couple’s first child, Wolf Dietrich, was born on 16 April 1920, and their daughter Inge Maria was born the following year.
The family owned a villa on the Baltic Sea, where they would spend summers. In 1924, the family moved to a 5,000-acre farm in a small village called Kessel (now Kociołek Szlachecki, Poland). The farm had poor soil for farming, so they raised cattle and horses. Margarete did most of the work, while Max worked overseas as the First Officer of the Ostpreussen cargo ship – he was home only once a year for holidays while the children were growing up.
Even though the family owned their land, the Nazis took more and more of it against their will, and by 1934 the family had to let their property go and moved to a smaller farm at the foot of the Gatlgarben mountain in Saamland. This land was better than their previous property, but still not suitable for farming so the family continued to keep horses.
Max’s son Wolf was Lance Corporal for 2nd Panserjäger batallion of the Pansergrenadier Division Brandenburg during the Second World War, and wrote to his family in March 1945 telling the family his troop was on the way to Erfurt. It was the last communication Max ever had from his son. The family tried everything they could to find out what happened to Wolf over the following years, but no trace of him was ever found and the boy was declared to be dead as of 31 December 1945.
Max was away at sea when tragedy struck again later that year. His wife, mother and daughter were taken prisoner by the Russians on their family estate. Margarete and Clara passed away during this time and Max’s daughter Inge spent seven years as a prisoner of the Russians. By that time, Max had married again to a woman named Luise Sophia Hertha Schuchardt.
After his second marriage, Max bought his own ship and named it the Galtgarben after his former home. His daughter Inge, after recovering her health from the long journey back to Germany, spent some time traveling on the ship as a Stewardess and the following year, immigrated to Canada.
Max passed away on 21 May 1954 of cancer in Rottach Egern, Germany, leaving what little he had left to his wife Luise.
Gallery
Sources
Photograph of 1st Officer Kleinen, onboard the Ostpreussen cargo ship in New York. Taken in January 1935. Original in possession of the Pytlik family.
Max Kleinen in Ostpreussen passenger & crew lists; Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. (accessed 6 May, 2020). Original source: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C. Year: 1935; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 5598; Line: 2; Page Number: 176. Digital image.
Max Kleinen, Letter to Inge Kleinen, 23 June 1952. [The original handwritten letter is in the possession of the Pytlik family. Max was Captain of the M/S “Galtgarben” and based in Helsinki, Finland, when the letter was written. He was 66 years old.]
Death Certificate for Max Karl Leo Kleinen, 22 May 1954, File No. 28/1954, Bayern Registry Office Rottach-Egern. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family.
Will of the Captain and shipowner Max Karl Leo Kleinen, 3 August 1954 (filed 3 April 1952), Bremen local court office, Germany. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family.
Death Certificate for Margarete Maria Seydler Kleinen, 31 March 1947, File No. 1298/1947, Berlin Civil Registry Office I. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family.
Application letter for the declaration of the death of Wolf Dietrich Kleinen, 7 March 1957, File No. 57/28, Bremen, Germany. [Letter filed by the Law Office of Schackow, Hobelmann, Willner and Schottelius on behalf of Luise Kleinen, second wife of Max Kleinen, after his death.] Original document in possession of the Pytlik family.
Marriage Certificate for Max Kleinen and Luise Schuchardt, 31 March 1947, File No. 1298/1947, Berlin Civil Registry Office I. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family.
Family genealogy notes of Inge Kleinen; in possession of the Pytlik family. [Handwritten notes.]
Signed declaration by Max Kleinen, 8 July 1952. [The letter, written while at sea, states the nationality and genealogy of Inge Maria Kleinen. The original typed letter is in the possession of the Pytlik family.]
Inge Kleinen Pytlik. Oral interview, 2000, recorded by Inge’s son at her home in Abbotsford, Canada. Video file in the possession of the Pytlik family.
Certificate of Inheritance, 16 August 1949, File No. 51/49, Nordenham. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family. [This document names the two sons of Clara Tzschabran Kleinen as her inheritors.]
Birth Certificate for Karl Leo Max Klein, 22 October 1885, File No. 116, Mierunsken. Certified copy in possession of the Pytlik family. [This record includes a note in the margin signed by the registrar at Mierunsken on 13 July 1918 stating that Karl Leo Max has permission to change his surname to Kleinen.]