Gift of Bessarabian Cross-Stitch Apron of Erika Böttcher

Dr. Elvire Necker-Eberhardt, Medicine Hat, Alberta, kindly presented the gift of the apron to the clothing and textiles archives of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection.

Dr. Necker-Eberhardt writes the following: "I am sending you here the apron from Erika Wölfle Böttcher, Magdeburg, Germany. It was her mother's apron which Erika is wearing on the little photograph. I am also including a picture of four girls wearing the Bessarabian German costume so you can see it was a part of that tradition. The lady whose apron this one was, is Else Tiede Wölfle, who was born in Kulm, Bessarabia, in 1920. Else wore the apron there before the 'Umsiedlung (Resettlement)' in 1940, therefore it must be about 60 years old. Viel Freude mit der Schürze (Enjoy the apron)."

Dr. Eberhardt is the author of the book, "Sofiewka = Sofievka: ein bessarabiendeutsches Dorf in Moldawien, 1892 - 1992," published in 1992. For her research in preparing the book, she extensively used microfilm of "Dakota Freie Presse," a Germans from Russia newspaper. Following Dr. Eberhardt's research, she donated many rolls of microfilm to the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection. Dr. Eberhardt is a retired professor of German at Medicine Hat College, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. She was born in the village of Sofiewka, Bessarabia.

We are grateful to Dr. Eberhardt for the donation of this important newspaper. Also, our appreciation is to her for locating a historic Bessarabian apron in Germany which she brought to Canada now donated to the textiles and clothing archives for preservation. Textiles and clothing, which are donated to GRHC, are housed and preserved in cooperation with the Emily P. Reynolds Historic Costume Collection, College of Human Development and Education, North Dakota State University, Fargo.

The apron design of Else Tiede Wölfle, Kulm, Bessarabia, is shown upside down to view abstraction better.	Four women and man wearing Bessarabian German costume.