Notes for Otto Emil Oskar Schelle
[MargrafJM.FTW]
Otto owned a lumberyard and lived in Germany with his family. He was a member of a gymnastics team. In 1901 he was on a field trip with the gymnastics team to a sawmill. He was on the log scaffolding when a log suddenly broke loose and came down the chute. He sustained serious injuries from either jumping from the chute or by being hit by the log. He died in 1902, and injuries from the accident probably led to his death. The organization that took him on the field trip to the sawmill was called the Turners. After his death, they paid for his son Kurt Otto Willie to go to private school.
From the family records of Kurt Otto Shelle, Jr:
Most of what we know about Otto is from the memore of my father Kurt, who was only 8 years old when his father died, plus comments from our family in Germany, who were found in the 1970s. Otto was an active member of the Turnverein (Turners) and an outstanding gymnast. The turnverein was an athletic lodge and he was a member of the gymnastics team that competed against other lodges and teams. He was a champion at some level, in his particular events. He also was a small businessman (lumberyard). He went into the forest, selected the logs he wanted, floated them downt he Spree River to Cottbus, where he processed them into lumber and sold the lumber. We do not know if he also was involved in building houses, etc. Dad (Kurt Otto Willy) said Otto didn't do carpenter work. About August of 1901 he was on a buying trip into the forest when a log he was inspecting jumped out of the chute and either struck him a glancing blow or he dove headfirst off of the scaffold he was on to avoid being hit. He received very severe injuries and was hospitalized in the Irrenanstalt Zu Sorau where he died from his injuries the following May.
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