Hermann Paul Emil Thiel

The family moved back to Pretoria in 1906 where this photo was taken of Hermann with his father and grandfather. 

Hermann Paul Emil Thiel was the fourth child of seven children born to Hermann Gustav Thiel and his wife Cornelia van Ameyde. The eldest, Martha Philomina Johanna, passed away as an infant during the AngloBoer War in Lydenburg in 1900 while her mother was assisting British soldiers as a trained nurse and her husband was in the field fighting the British as a member of the State Artillery of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek. The second child, Cornelia Pauline Philomina was born in 1901 in Pretoria before her father returned from Bermuda where he was a prisoner of war. The third, fourth and fifth siblings were born in Pretoria, Petronella Ernstina in 1904, Hermann Paul Emil in 1905 and Leonora Johanna in 1907. The family moved to Maraisburg where two boys arrived, Gustav Otto Theodor in 1908 and Ernst Pieter in 1910. Gustav Otto Theodor sadly passed away at only 5 months leaving 5 siblings who reached adulthood.

In December 1910 when Hermann was only 5 years old the family moved to Messina in the northern Transvaal where his father took up the position as Resident Engineer on the Messina Copper Mine.

Not long after this photo was taken a terrible accident occurred when children were playing with sticks in a campfire. Hermann suffered severe damage to his left eye when a burning stick was accidentally pushed into it. He eventually lost the sight in the eye completely even after travelling all by himself from Messina to Pretoria and from there to Cape Town for special medical care. After this traumatic event in his life Hermann had the strength of character never to allow this disability to keep him from being an active member of his community or from becoming an active sportsman and a successful and respected lawyer.

The Thiel siblings attended primary school in Messina and later Hermann went to the Pretoria Boys High school while Corrie, Nellie and Nora went to the Dioscesan School for Girls in Pretoria when these two photos were taken around 1916.

Hermann Thiel boarded in Rissik House at Pretoria Boys High School and from the beginning took an active part in social and sport activities as was evident from the numerous mementoes and photos he saved and cherished all his life.

Shortly after he arrived at Pretoria Boys High School this photo of the staff and pupils was taken on the steps of Rissik House with Hermann third from the left in the second row from the front.

In late 1927 Hermann qualified as an attorney, notary, and conveyancer. Positions for young attorneys were scarce at the time in Pretoria and Hermann was asked to assist in the firm of Dempers and De Greef in Wolmaransstad where he started early in 1928.

He joined the Wolmaransstad rugby football club and was immediately included in the Western Transvaal team and played against the visiting 1928 All Blacks team from New Zealand on 22 June 1928.

No documents or photos of this event were found in Hermann Thiel’s memorabilia except for the official menu and details of the Banquet given by the Municipal Council of Potchefstroom for the visiting All Black Rugby team. His name is incorrectly given as M Thiel instead of H Thiel.

Soon after he arrived in Wolmaransstad he met his future wife Martha van der Walt who was teaching at the local Primary School. In early 1929 they decided to get married and sent out invitations to the wedding which was to take place on 18 December 1929 in the little hamlet of Burgerville in the northern part of the Cape Province near De Aar.

The wedding was held in the home of the eldest sister of Martha, Hester van den Hever, who inherited the house from her husband John van den Hever, the founder of the little village. The wedding brought together an interesting group of people including the van der Walt, van den Hever and van Rensburg families from the bride’s side as well as the bridegroom’s mother from Tanganyika, his brother Pieter from Kenya and his sister Nellie who was then farming in the Northern Transvaal. Although only family attended the ceremony the couple received and preserved numerous telegrams and letters from friends and family. One of the most precious of these was a letter in German from Hermann Thiel’s oldest uncle Gustav Thiel, the oldest surviving child from the patriarch Gustav Thiel’s first marriage.

The married couple travelled to Cape Town on their honeymoon where they had their marriage portrait taken in Ludik’s Studios at 80 Adderley Street Cape Town.

The couple’s two children Leonora and Pieter Gustav were both born in Wolmaransstad in 1932 and 1935 respectively.

Both Hermann’s parents visited them separately from Tanganyika during their stay in Wolmaransstad. His mother stayed for almost 6 months during 1936 while his father had a short visit in 1937.

Hermann associated enthusiastically with the Afrikaner population and one of the highlights of their stay in Wolmaransstad was the centenary of the Great Trek from the Cape Province to the north. Our family attended the laying of the corner stone of the Voortrekker Monument outside Pretoria in December 1938.

Times were difficult for a lawyer in Wolmaransstad and in 1940 Hermann took up a position in the Law firm of Erasmus Jooste in Klerksdorp where he would stay until 1942. During his whole career as a lawyer Hermann never liked handling court cases where opposing parties were arguing against each other. Especially in later years he passed such cases on to one of his partners. During his short time in Klerksdorp, in the middle of the Second World War, he was however persuaded by the two members of parliament, the Wilkens brothers, Jan from Klerksdorp and Jacob from Ventersdorp, to represent them in a high-profile case brought against them and several other accused by the then Minister of Justice, Harry Lawrence. They were accused with their supporters of breaking up a Town Hall meeting held by Minister Lawrence in Klerksdorp during which the minister was injured. Hermann Thiel only represented the two members of parliament. This was Hermann Thiel’s only high-profile court case in his career.

In 1942 Hermann took up a position with the Meyer and Meyer law firm in Potchefstroom. A major motivation for the move was to enable his children to be able to go to good schools and to attend the Potchefstroom University from home. After the end of World War 2 Hermann started his own law firm and was later joined by Schalk Theron and eventually also by Louis le Grange.

When our mother, Martha Thiel passed away in 1974 our father entered a lonely period during which time he often visited us even when my wife and I with our four sons moved to live in Somerset West. He kept on working although he was already in his seventies. After about eight years as a widower his life fortunately changed positively when he got married to Hantie Rissieuw, a woman 25 years younger whom he knew as she worked for his law firm some time before.

He finally retired shortly after they got married and they enjoyed some good years travelling together to places such as the lowveld of the Eastern Transvaal. She cared for him extremely well especially during his last years when his health deteriorated. With her tender care and the assistance of a professional male nurse he was able to spend his last years in his own home as he always wished it to be. He always joked that it will only be the Sherrif or the Undertaker who would take him away from his home. He passed away on 27 August 1992 five days after his 87^th birthday.