Hacken & Galka Families

Marianne at a family reunion in St. Gilgen, Austria, in 2006.   

After fleeing from the advancing Russians in Transylvania, Marianne, an only child, and her mother Else Siegmund (and grandparents) settled as refugees in Austria.  They were joined four years later by her father, who had been released from prisoner-of-war camp in Estonia.

The rural setting was near rivers and forests.  Marianne still remembers the delicious wild strawberries that could be found in the forest.

In 1952 the Siegmund family emigrated to America.  At the wharf in Bremen Marianne is flanked by her father and mother.   

The Siegmunds were sponsored by her father's sister, who had settled in Oklahoma years before.  The ship was to dock in New Orleans.  

Not exactly a romantic name for a vessel to the New World, the "General Blatchford" was a military troop carrier with which the family traveled. 

The family and other immigrants were met in New Orleans by Marianne's aunt and her husband, Jens Rud Nielsen.  There were palm trees and humid air and fancy cars, and everybody was speaking English (sort of). 

Eventually the family settled within easy walking distance of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. 

In the mid-1960s Marianne went on a Fulbright scholarship for a year of study in Madrid, Spain.   

Marianne married Dick Hacken in 1991 and moved to Utah.  This picture was taken during a visit to the Salzkammergut Lake District area of Austria in 1995.

Following the lead of her mother, Marianne made Christmas and other holidays a magical and tasty time. 

Visiting Copenhagen, the home of Marianne's Uncle Jens Rud Nielsen, in 2002, the Little Mermaid sat on a rock for us to visit with her. 

Many times the clouds would part, sending sunshine into our lives... literally and figuratively.  Here in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming was one such time. 

Many other Siegmund-sired ex-Transylvanian Saxons and their offspring had moved from Hungary and Romania to Germany and Austria even before the fall of the Iron Curtain.  In 2006 we met in Weikersheim, Germany, and laughed and sang.

In 2014, as in other years earlier, we were able to meet with Marianne's cousin, Waltraud Raunig, and her family at her home in Klagenfurt, Austria. 

In 2014 we also visited with Bärbl Siegmund, a cousin who lives in Vienna.  Dick had a mock sword fight with her grandson, Maxi Siegmund (also the name of Marianne's late father). 

Here Marianne is taking orders from her Feline Overlord Master. 

We are so happy together.