From Lake Constance to the USA
Manfred Schnetzer is born on July 21, 1935, as the eldest of four siblings in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. In 1946, the family moves to Kempten in Bavaria, where the father, who is actually an aerospace engineer, takes a position at a machinery factory and soon after starts a small engineering office. In 1949, Manfred Schnetzer begins an apprenticeship as a technical draftsman and wants to become an engineer like his father. That same year, he joins the St. Georg Scouts in Kempten (Allgäu). From this time, he also has the scout hat depicted below, which he takes with him as a memento of his old homeland on his journey overseas. Three years later, his father decides to emigrate to work again as an aerospace engineer in the USA, while the family initially stays in Germany. Less than a year later, his mother follows him with the three children. Until 1958, Manfred Schnetzer works as a technical draftsman and then serves in the military for two years. He attends evening school and passes his Abitur in 1961, subsequently beginning a mechanical engineering degree. That same year, he marries his wife Regina. After graduating from university, Manfred Schnetzer is hired by an aircraft manufacturing company as an engineer, where he works until his retirement in 2000.
Excerpt from Oral History Interview, Cincinnati (USA), 2018
On November 3, 1952, it finally happens: 17-year-old Manfred Schnetzer, his mother, and his three siblings embark on their journey from Bremerhaven to New York. Manfred carries his belongings in a small suitcase. Only seven years after the end of World War II, there are still isolated instances of anti-German sentiment in the USA. A fact that also affects Manfred’s little 11-year-old sister during her school lessons.