Genealogie Bos

This is my English-language Genealogy & Ancestry Blog.
(Mijn Nederlandstalige blog is genealogiebos.blogspot.nl).

12 Dec 2017

Bigamist Franz W.J.H.P. Sturm got caught in 1924

Franz Wilhelm Joseph Heinrich Paul Sturm, a 34-year-old engineer of German ancestry, was in 1924 convicted of bigamy by the court in The Hague in The Netherlands.

De Tribune, 19-4-1914

Franz Sturm had first been married, at the age of 22, in 1912 in Germany. With his first wife he fathered 3 children. In World War I, Franz fought in the German army. During the crisis after the war, Franz could not find work, and returned to the Netherlands.
In Dordrecht, he found a job at the office of a shipyard. There Franz met a 22-year-old Dutch girl, whom he married in 1922 in The Hague. With his bigamous wife, Franz had an additional child.
Franz’ Dutch wife was Adriane Johanne Georgine Muller who was born on 12 January 1901 in Rotterdam as daughter of Leendert Muller and Neeltje Maartje van Stigt who both originated in Puttershoek. They were married on 1 March 1922 in The Hague. Their only child was Heinrich Paul Sturm, born on 14 June 1922 in Tiengen.

Franz's first wife, however, couldn’t forget Franz, and tried to find him. The family of his second wife tried to find out more about Franz, too. Both requests for information ended up with the same official who thus noticed the bigamy. That's why Franz was arrested.
Franz confessed to having committed bigamy, and was locked up in a house of detention. At the court a witness testified that Franz' first marriage had been unhappy. His first wife was 10 years his senior, and the spouses had different religions and different social positions. Despite those differencea, his first wife refused a divorce.
On 8 July 1924, Franz Sturm was sentenced to 1 year in prison with deduction of pre-trial detention. His second wife returned to her parents, and her marriage was dissolved.

Newspaper clip
Algemeen Handelsblad voor Nederlandsch-Indiƫ, 9 July 1924

Franz Sturm was born on April 3, 1890, around 2:00 a.m. at the Voorstraat 543 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. His parents were Franz Wilhelm Joseph Heinrich Sturm (35) and his wife Johanna Maria Amalia Louise Kunde. They also had a daughter Amalia Maria Johanna Louisa Victoria who was born in The Netherlands.

Sources: WieWasWie.nlDelpher.nlHaagsGemeenteArchief.nl, Het Utrechts Archief.

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