The patriarch Gustav Thiel (1825 – 1907) came to South Africa alone in 1878, shortly after his 19^th and youngest child, my grandfather, Hermann Gustav Thiel (1878 – 1947), was born. His second wife Maria Rausch and the rest of the family joined him in 1882 in Kimberley except for her eldest son Peter Johannes Thiel (1864 – 1942) who stayed in Germany. The family stayed in Kimberley for a time but several members, including the patriarch and his wife, moved to Pretoria and the vicinity of Johannesburg. The only exceptions were Samuel Gustav Thiel (1852 – 1921), who stayed on in the Kimberley area, and Otto Thiel (1874 – 1943), who settled in Cape Town. This is reflected in the 1896 photo, which forms the signature image of this website.

Nine years later in February 1905 two photos were taken at a similar event of mostly the same people but included spouses and children who were added to the Thiel clan during the intervening years. The event which brought the people together was the christening of Wilhelm Gustav Thiel (1905 – 1953), the youngest child of Karl Wilhelm Thiel (1867 – 1947) and Cecilie Magdalena Siemssen (1896 -1960)

Within two years, life changed considerably for the Thiel family in Pretoria. On 25 June 1906, Maria Rausch (1838 – 1906) passed away, followed by her second son Paul Ferdinand Thiel (1865 -1907) on 5 September 1907 and then only three weeks later by her husband Gustav Thiel (1825 -1907) on 26 September 1907. All three were buried in the Thiel plot in the cemetery in Pretoria West, as described elsewhere.

Shortly after his mother, Maria (Rausch) Thiel passed away in 1906, her third son Karl Wilhelm Thiel (1867 -1947) decided to return to Germany. He was staying in Germany with his brother, Peter Johannes Thiel (1864 -1942), when his father and brother passed away in Pretoria. His wife and family were on their way to join him and had to interrupt their journey to attend the funeral of his father. They never joined him in Germany as Karl Thiel and his whole family emigrated to what was then called South-West Africa (Namibia).

My own grandfather Hermann Gustav Thiel left Pretoria with his family in December 1907 for a short stay in Maraisburg, Johannesburg, before they moved to Messina for 12 years before their final move to Tanganyika in 1923. Although the children attended school in Pretoria, their real home was never in Pretoria again.

The only family remaining in Pretoria was the widow of Paul Ferdinand Thiel, Philomena Tausend (Tante Mina), and her children Otto Gustav, Johanna Hermine Katharina (Hanchen), Max Gottlob, Albert Carl Heinrich, and Frieda Cornelia Luise.

Later several grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Gustav Thiel from other branches of the family later spent time in Pretoria, including my father Herman Paul Emil Thiel from 1913 to 1929 and myself from 1958 to 1975 but after 1905, Pretoria was never a meeting point for the Thiel family again.

I can with great confidence identify at least 8 individuals on both photos but would appreciate any assistance in further identification or better quality copies of the 2 photos.

The following individuals can be positively identified:

• 1 – Gustav Thiel (1825 – 1907)
• 3 – Hermann Gustav Thiel (1878–1944)
• 4 – Cornelia van Ameyde Thiel (1870–1944)
• 9 – Johanna Maria Thiel (1873–1968)
• 12 – Johanna Hermine Katarina Thiel (1893–1973)
• 14 – Cecilie Magdalene Siemssen Thiel (1969 – 1960)
• 25 – Wilhelm Gustav Thiel (1905 – 1953)
• 27 – Gustav Thiel (1905–1953)