Page 13 - Willi Distel Diary

Chapter III opens: Willi back home in Villingen during the inflation - restless, quarrelling with parents, casual work, helping his godmother, and an offer to train as a ladies' hairdresser

Translated from Willi's German.

III. Journeyman at Home. Gaunt and weary, I returned home and was lovingly received by my parents; yet my spirit already wanted to be off again at the first firm hour, which at once caused a certain amount of friction. The inflation dragged on, business fell away, and so I had no choice but to stay on as an unemployed man in my parents' firm and help out as best I could. My brothers Theodor and Adolf and I went into the woods to grub out tree-stumps; my strength was so far gone that by the third day I fell ill. We also helped our once-wealthy baker aunt, our Goetti aunt (my godmother), to move into the almshouse, which she sought out only as a last refuge after long resistance. Afterwards I took a post with Herr Schiermeier, who was a painter; I liked it there very much. That was until Herr Erb promised my parents, and me, that he would train me in ladies' hairdressing. After much back and forth I made up my mind and started at the end of January. Franz Groeninger and I got on well and led an easy, cheerful life. My friends, and the girls I have already mentioned, welcomed me on my return...

People: Willi Distel, Theodor Distel, Adolf Distel, Goetti-Tante (godmother), Herr Schiermeier, Herr Erb, Franz Groeninger

Interesting facts

Villingen in the Black Forest. Willi's home town lies in the Baden region on the eastern edge of the Black Forest, an area long known for clock-making and small craft trades.
The almshouse. A 'Pfruendnerheim' was a charitable home for the elderly poor who could no longer support themselves. Entering one, as his once-wealthy aunt did only as a last resort, was a public sign of complete ruin.
The word 'Goetti'. In the Alemannic dialect of the Black Forest and neighbouring Switzerland, 'Goetti' means godfather and 'Gotte' godmother, so 'Goetti-Tante' is his godmother in the local speech.
Ladies' hairdressing rises. Short, fashionable women's haircuts became the height of style in the 1920s, and demand for skilled ladies' hairdressers grew fast, making it a promising trade for a young man to learn.