Theodor Röckle (1896-1976) served in World War I and received the Iron Cross. He married Berta Doerr in 1923. Theo was a waiter by trade and worked on the German railway service. He went to the United States in 1928 seeking work since Germany was in difficult economic times. He ended up in Atlantic City, and soon sent for his wife and son Gerald. In 1931, Berthold was born, but mother Berta died in childbirth. Having no work, a 6 year old son and a newborn baby, no family, and no means to support them, Theo decided to return. He paid a courier to take the baby back to Germany to be raised by family members. Theo remarried in 1934 to Elfriede Gerth in Philadelphia, PA. Back in Germany, the young Berthold Roeckle became a Hitler Youth (despite his American citizenship) and served as a bicycle messenger during World War II. Berthold returned to the US in 1946 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Theo and Elfriede lived in NYC and Berlin after the war. Theo's hobby in film resulted in thousands and thousands of feet of film material, mostly of family events from the late 1940s to 1960s.
The Titania Palast theater was the only undestroyed large hall in Berlin after 1945 and was used as a venue for concerts, ceremonies, or film festivals after the war.
Four men operate a machine to demolish a city building. Men at work. 01:34:49 Train. Men at work again. Airplane lands. Rubble. 01:35:44 Street scene in Berlin with traffic, trams, and pedestrians. Max Kuehl sign. Couple walks towards camera, woman returns with flower bouquet. Outdoor market. Street scenes. EXT,"Ratskeller Steglit" and"Albrechtshof Lichtspiel" (a theatre)."Titania Palas" theatre. Red Cross vehicle passes by. More street scenes. Café tables. 01:38:40 Dog walks towards camera. Puppies. 01:38:53 Women with aprons. Older couple with hats. Man in back of pickup truck waves. The Dresdner Bank in Steglitz. Sideview of the"Albrechtshof Lichtspiel" and"Ratskeller Steglit". 01:40:07 Airplane taking off at airfield. HAS, train, arriving at station. 01:41:36 American flag, probably in the American zone of Berlin. Military trucks. #40 tram marked"Steglit". More street scenes. Airfield runway, smoke in distance. US Air Force airplanes landing,"7" on tail followed by"4","2", and"90. Building ruins. Group of Roeckle family members in park, and at outdoor market. 01:45:50 Good CU of Elfriede Roeckle. LS, housing with train passing by in FG.
Postwar Berlin; theaters in Steglitz; US Air Force planes landing