The following is taken from a newspaper article, probably published in
1954.  The article was originally in German.  It was sent to Dennis
Nicklaus by Bernie Browne (who also translated it) in 1996.  Pencilled
in on it is "Carola Tiedeken Servatius' Father at work.  John - 1955"

At the top of the article is a photo of Ferdinand Tiedeken at work in
his shop.

	  On What Used To Be a Beach, Boats are Being Built

	  A Bit of City History -- Master Craftsman Tiedeken
		    Between Oakwood and Paint Cans

Leer: Between Kamp street and the commercial harbor, is the stretched
out house that 80 years ago was a tavern and a gathering point for
the thirsty seamen and curious onlookers.  At the front of the house
beer and "hard drinks" were served, while in the back, on the water's
edge was the city of Leer's first bathing beach, which in those times,
if not exactly immoral, was considered somewhat questionable.  There were
always plenty of curiousity seekers around.

This was all a long time ago, and just came up in our conversation
during our visit with the couple who were celebrating their 50th
anniversary -- Ferdinand Tiedeken and his wife Elizabeth, nee Bette,
this Saturday.  As Elizabeth sat upstairs in their apartment having a
cup of tea with her daughters, the 78-year old master craftsman was
busy in the shop working on a boat in the middle of tools, oak, ash
and mahogany wood, paint cans and a cloud of sawdust flying around.

The old craftsman who has never found the work too hard for him, was
able to chat in an interesting and humorous way about the old days.
The seamen who earlier had come in and out of the tavern, later came
to the house as customers of the pump and block and tackle maker
Bernhard Tiedeken, the father of the golden-anniversary groom, who had
started the business in 1869 on Worde Street and ten years later moved
it to its present location.


The craft of pump and block-maker was of great importance in the days
of sailing ships.  Ferdinand in his youth enjoyed a bit of the romance
of the old sailing ships and stared in awe in his father's workshop at
the ship's officers (free translation) who came to get new and
repaired block and tackle for ships that were damaged during storms.

It almost seems as though there is a salty and tarry reminder of those
old days in the workshop on the harbor shore.  "In those days we
built masts 18 and more meters long" remembered Ferdinand Tiedeken.
There wasn't much you could do with machines in those days.  Hard
wood, mostly oak and ash, was worked by hand as one still has to do in
this business.

But the end of the sailing ship era practically meant the end of the
era of making block and tackle by hand. The last wooden blocks that
Ferdinand Tiedeken built was in 1933 for a Leer Logger.(Could be a
type of ship.)  For steamships only iron blocks are used. So the
business had to change.  His son Karl Tiedeken who now runs the
business, while his father helps out in the shop, builds small boats,
life-boats, etc. and also wooden accessories for ships such as masts,
loading booms, flagstaffs and other wooden equipment.

During our long talk in the workshop, Mr. Tiedeken developed an
appetite for a cup of tea.  While we had this, the golden anniversary
couple told about the big wedding reception fifty years ago in the
Tivoli gardens in Emden, which the people along the dike between Emden
and Leer still remember.  The wedding party rode in 50 coaches on the
old dike road from Emden to Leer. The grandchildren, who had gathered
for the celebration, listened to this with astonishment. Of the seven
children of the couple, four live in the USA, a daughter in Frankfurt
and two children in Leer. The German relatives were all assembled for
the celebration.