Jutta Wrieden
Jutta Brüssel is born as the second child in the small Silesian town of Günthersdorf, located in present-day Poland. The family owns the successful brewery Günthersdorf, a grocery store, a gas station, a banquet hall, a tavern, and operates a farm. With the onset of World War II, the lives of the Brüssel family change fundamentally. Parts of the family estate, such as the brewery, are shut down during this time. From 1939 onward, the operation is partially taken over by mother Martha, as father Erwin is conscripted into the war. In February 1945, Martha decides to flee west with her two children and the housemaid Frieda Winter. Martha is a very independent woman and drives during the war in the family car, a DKW special model. Thus, she learns that the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous and decides to leave her homeland under the pretext of a medical trip. At this time, Jutta is four years old. The escape first takes them to Cottbus. There, the four are trapped in their accommodation at the train station hotel by a heavy bombing raid and are only rescued from the rubble two days later. Jutta will have a lifelong fear of tight spaces due to this event. The escape continues through the Czech Republic until they reach Bavaria. At night, Jutta’s brother Manfred organizes food and fuel for the car. When they arrive in Bavaria, their car is confiscated, and they are instructed to go to the refugee camp Tietz in Bamberg – they will stay there for half a year. Father Erwin ends up in British captivity after the German capitulation and comes to Bremerhaven through a work offer. Through an acquaintance, the rest of the Brüssel family learns of father’s survival. Erwin travels to Bamberg and is reunited with his family here in October 1945. Together, they travel by open freight wagon to Bremerhaven, their new home. Initially, Jutta and her family live as subtenants in Leher Goethestraße. The family shares a room together. Father Erwin gets a job as a brewmaster at the Bremerhaven brewery Karlsburg. Mother Martha does sewing jobs for clients. The start in the new homeland is difficult. Jutta is often referred to as a refugee child, and she is also urged to always behave quietly and unobtrusively. Nevertheless, Jutta will remember her childhood in Lehe as “the happiest time of her life.” Jutta is an inquisitive child who particularly loves geography and school theater performances. She attends Marktschule and later Theodor-Storm-Schule in Lehe. Jutta was an “absolute outdoor child,” and when brother Manfred, the leader of the children’s gang, yelled “ATTACK!”, it was always Jutta who ran off first. Between 1955 and 1957, Jutta attends business school and learns the profession of a bookkeeper. After successfully completing her training, she is employed as a clerk at the wire rope factory in Bremerhaven. However, the cosmopolitan and curious Jutta is eager to work abroad. So, she seizes her chance and works for a year in the Scottish Inverkeilor as a table maid in a castle. After her return to Bremerhaven, she is employed as a bookkeeper at the company H. Baumgarten. When Jutta gets her driver’s license in 1960, she takes a trip to nearby Loxstedt as one of her first drives. Here, Jutta celebrates May Day in the tavern “Meinecke” and meets Klaus-Dieter Wrieden. Jutta approaches the reserved, intelligent young man, and the two are “shockingly in love.” In 1963, Jutta unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Jutta and Klaus-Dieter receive substantial support from their families. Klaus-Dieter is to continue studying mechanical engineering in Wolfenbüttel. Thus, the couple decides to live together with Jutta’s parents in Ringstraße in Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf. In June 1963, Jutta and Klaus-Dieter marry, and in November of the same year, their daughter Dagmar is born. In 1965, Jutta joins the family business “Transport Company Fa. Erwin Brüssel” (now “Spedition Brüssel & Maass Logistik GmbH”), founded by her father Erwin in 1948, and continues to work in her profession. In 1965, daughter Maike is born. As a family, the Wriedens always have a lot of fun together. They often go camping by the Weser and travel around the world together. Jutta always advocates for her daughters, and so both grow up very protected. Jutta enjoys working, is always independent, and after another 20 years as a bookkeeper at the Bremerhaven cutter fisher association, she eventually retires. Even in retirement, the lively Jutta remains very active. She and her husband Klaus-Dieter acquire a house in Mallorca in 1994 and share a passion for art. Jutta loves sculpture in particular. She designs many artworks and organizes art exhibitions with her husband. In 1998, Jutta’s grandson Finn is born. Jutta Wrieden passes away in 2015. She was “a Bremerhaven native with body and soul, loved the sea and the wind in her face.”
A portrait of Jutta Wrieden is one of the faces that has been visible on the facade of the new German Emigration Center since June 2021. Before the opening of the extension building with its artistically designed facade, the Nordsee-Zeitung introduced the individuals behind the faces. You can see the corresponding film portrait of Jutta Wrieden here.