Kurt Albert Matthia
1902-1987

Kurt Albert Matthia was born 3 December 1902 in Mareese, Kreis (District) Marienwerder, Westpreußen (West Prussia). He died 19 August 1987, in Pleasant Grove, Utah County, Utah.

This history was transcribed from his oral histories on audio and video cassette and edited by his son Kurt Albert John Matthia.

• Click to read Kurt's Youth in Germany (1902-1926)

• Click to read Kurt Discovers America (1926-1929)

• The house in Mareese where Kurt was born. This photo was taken in 1984, so the house probably looked somewhat different in Kurt's time. This house is below the Marienwerder Cathedral, across the Liebe river, and the road follows the route of the former Marienwerder Kleinbahn (small-guage railroad).
   
• The house on Lazarettstraße in Marienwerder where Kurt grew up. The family moved here between 1906 and 1909. This photo was taken in the mid-1930s, shortly after the house received a new stucco finish. Kurt's parents are at the top of the steps in the right-hand frame.
   
• Photo of Kurt with his brother and sisters taken in Marienwerder about 1917 or 1918. Left to right, they are Herta, Erwin, Charlotte, Kurt and Hildegard.
   
• Photo of Martha Hedwig Kobitz Matthia with her children taken on the occasion of Albert and Martha Matthia's 20th Wedding Anniversary on 6 November 1918  in Marienwerder, Westpreußen. From left to right, Hildegard, Martha, Kurt, Herta, Charlotte, and Erwin.
   
• Photo of Albert and Martha Matthia with their children taken about 1926. Left to right in the front row are Hildegard, Martha, Albert, and Herta. Kurt, Charlotte and Erwin are across the back.