The Same Steps

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. Dad took several shots of this spot.

Campus Steps

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad's classmates gather for a lunch break.

Translations

This is the Lithuanian-German dictionary my Dad used when he was a Displaced Person in Schweinfurt.

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It's in rough shape.

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Dad lived in the American-occupied zone of postwar Germany, and the U.S. Army authorized publication of this dictionary.

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The dictionary is pretty basic.

Young and Tired

Schweinfurt (or Stuttgart), Germany, about 1947. This is how my Dad looked at about the time he enrolled at Hohenheim University.

Still unsettled.

Schweinfurt, Germany, about 1946. Dad was still in transition when he sat for this portrait. The image is another photo from about the time Dad started his studies at Hohenheim University.

Tucked Away

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. Here's a touching scene from Dad's (pre-Mom) double date. It looks like it was a cloudy day, but the sun came out later.

Classes may have started, but it still feels like summer.

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad—on the far left—relaxes with campus friends. This photo likely was taken on the same day as the double date snapshots.

Lapels

Schweinfurt, Germany, about 1945. Here's my Dad as a Displaced Person. He sat for this photo at about the time he enrolled as a student at Hohenheim University.

A New Start

After my Parents settled in Suburban Chicago, Dad returned to school and earned his undergraduate degree. He had studied at Hohenheim University in post-war Germany, but he decided to change fields once he was in the States.

Dad joked about how the university required him to study a foreign language as part of the school's "breadth requirements" for the B.S. degree; Dad was already was fluent in five languages. When Dad dutifully enrolled in a German-language course, the professor pulled him aside and told him to drop the class. Dad's German was better than the professor's.

Chicago, Illinois, August 1958. Dad graduates from college.

Study Break

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad, on the left, and two classmates take a study break after classes.

Campus Memento

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad captures a photo of two classmates as they pose in front of the damaged campus building.

On Campus, After Classes

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad—on the far left, in the raincoat—again joins fellow DP students after classes on the campus of the bombed, post-war college.

Double Date

Here's my Dad, again on that double date for which I initially could not place the location.

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad, on the far left, is in his early twenties here. This rendezvous* occurred two years before Dad reconnected with my Mom.

*In our family, "rendezvous" is a term used to refer to an innocent passeggiata, picnic, or other platonic activity with someone of the opposite sex.

Mystery Location

Here's my Dad, on a double date, somewhere in post-war Germany. I am pretty sure that this photo was taken in Bavaria. Usually, it's difficult to differentiate one bombed-out German city from another. But this building is distinctive. I nonethess was unable to determine the location.

Do you know where Dad and his friends were when they gathered for this photo? My first guess is Stuttgart, followed by the areas around Würzburg and Schweinfurt. If you have an idea, please leave a comment.

Germany, 1946. My Dad, cigarette in hand, is on the far right. This photo dates from the period before he met my Mom.

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Germany, 1947. Here's another view of the building.

UPDATE: Mystery resolved. I found my Dad's negatives, and he wrote the location on each image's envelope. These are photos taken near Hohenheim University, in Stuttgart.

Every generation of college kids looks great.

These students resemble models ready for an all-American, tailored fashion shoot.

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad—the second of two coat-wearing men on the left—stands among friends on a brisk day.

Do you think we'll blend in if we wear lederhosen?

Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad, on the left, and his friend, fellow Displaced Person Casey, go native while touring the Bavarian countryside.

Lunch Break

Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, 1946. My Dad (standing in the foreground, on the left) and fellow university students step away from their classwork. He's not texting.