*The Gebenslebens of Braunschweig**
**The Gebenslebens of Braunschweig** Friedrich Karl Gebensleben was the City Planning Officer in Braunschweig, Germany. Born in 1871, Karl had trained as an engineer and worked for the German railway system in Berlin before taking up his post in 1915. He was obviously a man of integrity who was trusted by his colleagues, and by the early 1930s he was combining his administrative post with the office of deputy mayor of the city. His wife Elisabeth, born in 1883, came from a prosperous farming background, as did her husband. The couple were pillars of Braunschweig society, frequented concerts and patronized the theater, and were to be seen together at all major public celebrations, receptions and similar events. Their daughter Irmgard, born in 1906, had married a Dutchman, and her presence in Holland was the occasion for most of the family's letter writing. Their son Eberhard, born in 1910m studied law at a series of universities, as was normal at the time, including Berlin and Heide...