The Mystery of 1825

Herman Kiefer was born on 19 November 1825 in Sulzburg, a small town at the edge of the Black Forest in the Grand Duchy of Baden.

The Saga says he was the only child of Dr. Conrad Kiefer and Christine Friederika Schweykert, and his 1911 death certificate names a Schweickert as his mother too. But the Sulzburg church register tells a different story. It records the baptism of a boy named Johann Ludwig Grether, son of an unmarried woman named Rosina Sophie Grether — a child later recognized by Dr. Conrad Kiefer.

Two records, two mothers. We don't know the whole story yet, and we aren't going to guess. It is one of the open questions on this site, and if anyone in the family knows more, we would love to hear it.

What is certain is the education. Herman attended secondary schools in Freiburg, Mannheim and Karlsruhe, then studied medicine at Freiburg, Heidelberg, Prague and Vienna between 1844 and 1849. He joined the student corps Suevia at Heidelberg, fought the fencing duels that went with it, and helped found the Corps Alberta at Freiburg.

The Saga adds one more story. On a dare from his fellow students, it says, young Herman became the first person at Heidelberg to be put under chloroform.