Family lives

Paul George Dortzbach

November 10, 1861 – 1926

Peter’s older brother, a cabinetmaker whose family’s story connects Schleswig and the United States.

Children
Frederick · Christine · Carrie · Catherine · Peter · Karl; two daughters died in infancy.

Places in a Life

Follow recorded birthplaces and homes through the years. Numbers connect the map to dated records; gold marks a birthplace. Markers show approximate towns or regions, not exact houses. A recorded year does not establish an uninterrupted stay.

Paul George Dortzbach

No place can yet be plotted with a sufficiently supported date and location. Places will appear here as those details are confirmed.

The heading gives November 10, 1861–1926 but no birthplace. Schleswig household, early-twentieth-century migration to America and later return are described, but the profile explicitly says their sequence and years disagree. Leave dated map empty rather than invent a year or U.S. town.

Present-day coastline: Natural Earth. Historical place names are retained in the records. The map and dated list also remain available without JavaScript.

A cabinetmaker’s training

Paul learned carpentry and cabinetmaking through a three-year apprenticeship and traveled in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Clara Dortzbach’s history recounts an elaborate inlaid chest that won a prize in Vienna and was acquired for the imperial household. This is preserved as a family account rather than independently verified here.

A family and business in Schleswig

Paul married Kristiana Marie Holm and established a furniture-making business in Schleswig. Clara’s account describes apprentices working under him and explains that adapting from handmade to machine production was difficult. She names six children who lived beyond infancy—Frederick, Christine, Carrie, Catherine, Peter and Karl—and records two daughters who died as infants.

Across the Atlantic

The histories describe Paul and then his children and wife coming to America in stages during the early twentieth century. Family members found work in farming, domestic service and nursing. Paul later returned to Schleswig in connection with his property. Peter’s account says he died in 1926 and that his sister Ane tried to care for him during his last illness.

A note on the records

Clara’s history and Peter’s recollections disagree on the marriage year, migration sequence and timing of Paul’s return to Europe. Those events remain approximate here.

Sources for this biography

Based on the family’s written histories. Recollections and compiled records are identified here so they can be revisited as the archive grows.

  • Peter P. Dortzbach’s biography — Peter’s recollections, recorded by his granddaughter Eileen Townsend; Word transcript and scanned versions RB010–RB015 and RB022–RB025B.
  • Personal History of the Dortzbach Family — Clara Dortzbach, October 25, 1984; scans HS001–HS011, incorporating material supplied by Jen Peter.
  • Family tree supplied by the family — Relationship chart provided by the owner in October 2026. Used alongside the written histories.