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        The return journey to Berlin              
                                               
In Persia, Wilhelm Rieck fell ill with diabetes. He was probably already suffering from this illness, which was triggered by the stress and the fear of death in the attack from Afghanistan to Persia. The Persian doctors advised him to return to Germany because insulin was not available in Persia. So he flew from Tehran to Berlin. Unfortunately, I do not know the exact itinerary.
                                         
Teheran Persien Iran aus der Luft
  Tehran 1929 seen from the aircraft. "Better from the top than from the bottom"
         
From 1927, Iran Airlines had bought a number of Junkers F13. Thus, the probability is very large that my great-grandfather's journey home to Berlin in a F13 (as shown here) took.
Junkers F13 Teheran Persien Iran
                                                 
 

Unfortunately there are no dates in the photo albums. Only by known events, I could arrange about when my great-grandfather was in the appropriate places. Another source are the entries of the Berlin address books that can be accessed in the Central and Regional Library Berlin. It should be noted that Charlottenburg also ran its own address books as an independent district. When reviewing the address books, one must always consider a "offset" of one year, which was required until the next reprint of the address book. My great-grandparents lived from 1915 to 1934 in Nordhauserstr. 6 in Berlin Charlottenburg.
The information given here comes from the street directory of the Berlin address books. Here the inhabitants of each house were listed. Where not the street directories are available for all vintages. The reverse search makes "inhabitants" in the city of Berlin was unfortunately unsuccessful. This information was marked "kA".
What the entry "Ww" means is not known. On the basis of the data listed here I suspect the following, whereby always one year delay is to be considered:
1923 or 1924 Wilhelm Rieck traveled to Afghanistan since the entry 1925 Riek T. (Mathilde Theodora) reads. This entry was posted for 1926 in "Riek, M." changed.
Interesting here is the change of the surname from "Rieck" to "Riek". Probably in 1932 my great-grandfather came back from Persia, whereupon the entry again in "Riek, W., Ingen." was changed. The old spelling "Riek" was retained.
Since there was no entry for 1935, my great-grandparents probably left in 1934. Probably to Halle an der Saale, but these are guesses.
  year
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935 		entry
New building of the house Nordhauserstr. 6
Rieck, W., Ingen. brand New
Rieck, W., Ingen. (My grandmother is born on February 7th.)
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
Rieck, W., Ingen.
k. A.
Riek, T., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, M., Ww
Riek, W., Ingen.
Riek, W., Ingen.
Name no longer available - probably warped.
       
 
 
         
   
Here again the different routes Wilhelm Rieck has laid back between Berlin and Afghanistan.
 
 
 
 
 
 






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grabstein Afghanistan
                                 
In his possession was the (right) Hindenburgkreuz and the Turkish Order "Star of Gallipoli". These medals and the orders of my grandfather Heribert Heppekausen, who survived World War II as a fireman, were unfortunately stolen from me. Unfortunately, I do not know how Wilhelm Rieck came to this Order and whether he fought in Gallipoli.
After his return he works as a ingenieur for spinning machines in Berlin and lived with his wife at least until 1945 in Halle. From Afghanistan and Persia, he brought various utensils, which are still in use in our family today, and the photo albums published here. In addition, my grandmother often used the phrase, "Inshallah." In addition to these inheritances, I learned the chess game from my grandmother.

Wilhelm Rieck
   
Wilhelm Rieck died at the age of 66
in the year of starvation 1947 in Halle an der Saale.




         
  That was the story of my great-grandfather Wilhelm Rieck. Everything that my grandmother told me and what I found out through my own considerations, I have written down here. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but of course this story contains big gaps and mistakes. Many memories have been lost over time. The loss of his diary is a disaster! But we can be happy to own his photo albums. When looking at the pictures, I often wondered what was left of the buildings. I met the very nice family Grobba. But what happened to the other people? Do you have descendants (if "yes" where)? Where is z. B. the homestead in which the Germans were housed? Was it destroyed like so many things in Afghanistan? What has become of the eagle modeled by Mr. Maass for King Amanullah? Is he in a museum or is he at a private person on the shelf, is he buried somewhere or are his parts scattered somewhere in the rubble? The Darulaman Palace was built by German and French engineers and architects. Who were the French? Why do not they dive in the tales of Dr. Ing. Gerber still in the photos? Are there descendants? What happened to the daughter of Mr Maass? Does she have grandchildren like my grandmother? What were the relationships of the other people in this story? With whom did he still have contact after his return? Has he wondered what will become of his photo albums or his memories after his death?

Gretel Heppekausen Tochter von Wilhelm Rieck an ihrem Geburtstag am 3. Februar 2003I got closer to my great-grandfather by working on this site. So, once I visit Darulaman and Kabul, Afghanistan, it will be a very emotional journey for me. The thought or the feeling of being in the same place as he did decades ago when taking the corresponding photo goes very deep. The circle would close. The beginnings of the publication of this story on the side of the Armani Oberrealschule and the scanning of the photo albums has my grandmother yet. She was also very interested in the first pictures of the Darulaman Palace on the Internet. The idea and creation of this website unfortunately did not catch you any longer. Nine months before the release, my grandmother died. But I know that she has explicitly welcomed and encouraged this project. A few months before she died, I asked her what her father would have thought about seeing his story and photos on the (worldwide) Internet. My grandmother thought for a long time and then said: "He would like that, but if he saw today what has become of the country, he would be very sad!"