Biography Elisabeth Hülsmann

Elisabeth was born as the daughter of Theo Hülsmann and Anna Puggé. Theo, who was born in Ippendorf, was the owner of a butchery in the Klemens-August-Street in Bonn-Poppelsdorf. Elisabeth worked in the store as a seller and also delivered the ware to the client's house on bicycle. She read a lot and loved to dance. She eagerly visited carnival balls.

When Elisabeth married Walter she only was 20 years old. She was required to have the written permission of her parents as she was not still of age. The marriage request had come by letter from Mexico, where Walter had emmigrated. When she arrived in the port of Veracruz by ship Walter was waiting for her to marry her by the civil. An officer from the ship accompanied them to the civil court to make sure no trade of women was taking place. The laws from then required this.

Life with Walter was in the beginning adventurous as they first moved to the land in the state of Guerrero where Walter managed a poultry farm. The amenities of the big city were far away. The young couple was invited to lunch by the owner of the hacienda. Elisabeth stared not bad when he rinsed his mouth after eating, spit the water on the clay floor and then cleaned his mouth with the tablecloth.

After life on the land turned out to be too difficult the couple moved on to Mexico City. There they operated a deli with the name of "Bavaria" in which also imported German food was sold. During World War II though no goods from Germany could be imported so local and American delicacies were sold.

When the four children got older Walter decided Elisabeth should care for them so the deli was sold. Several years later they separated and Elisabeth opened another deli with the name of "Elite" which she run until retiring. The Elite was well known among the German expatriates in Mexico as here Germann food could be bought such as black bread, Eisbein (pork knuckles) or Rollmöpse (pickeld herring). The goods were often prepared in the own kitchen with German recepies and therefore very popular.

A hard blow of destiny was the unexpected death of son Walter. Sorrow accompanied her until the end of her life. She spent her retirement days withdrawn in her house in Mexico City where she died after a workful life in 1991. After being cremated she was put to rest in son Walter's tomb at the German Cemetery in Mexico City.

Links Elisabeth Hülsmann

Internal links
• Obituary Walter Luyken, family bulletin 1970, page 320 (German)
• Obituary, family bulletin 1993, page 4 (German)