Family lives

Herman Falkenrath

August 15, 1868 – May 20, 1924

Ida’s brother, a Racine hardware merchant and civic businessman.

Children
Viola · Verna · Lydia · Harold

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.

Herman Falkenrath

Recorded birth and home locations for Herman FalkenrathAugust 15, 1868 · Birth — Remscheid area, Germany1Remscheid area

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  1. Profile explicitly says Herman was born in Remscheid; heading supplies date. Marker precision: city area.

    Source for this place

Herman’s Racine business and early-1920s correspondence are described, but the reviewed profile does not provide an independently dated household address for that period.

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Growing up in Racine

Born in Remscheid, Herman came to America as a boy and completed his education in Racine’s public schools. He married Helen Sauer; the 2010 history dates their marriage to July 9, 1896. Their children were Viola, Verna, Lydia and Harold.

A business and community life

His transcribed obituary records that he and Paul Wolff established a hardware company on Douglas Avenue in 1899. Herman also held positions in local civic and business organizations, including building-and-loan and real-estate companies. The family remembered the hardware store as a major Racine business.

Connections across the ocean

Letters preserved in the 2010 history show relatives in Germany writing to Herman’s household during the hardships of the early 1920s. They describe rising prices, uncertainty and a desire for news from the American family. Herman died in Racine in 1924.

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.

  • The Falkenrath Family: Germany to America — Compiled by Dawn Kelm, September 7, 2010, including genealogical notes, photographs and family recollections. Her husband, Wayne Kelm, is a grandson of Ernest (Ernst) Falkenrath, Ida’s brother.
  • Descendants of Carl F. “Charles” Falkenrath — Family genealogy, scans RB046–RB053; includes census summaries and transcribed obituaries.
  • Family tree supplied by the family — Relationship chart provided by the owner in October 2026. Used alongside the written histories.