Translations:Johannes Eckart (Da VII 10)/2/en
Childhood in Emskirchen
Johannes was born on January 23, 1840, in Emskirchen. He attended elementary school. He had to learn to stand on his own feet from an early age, as the family continually experienced financial difficulties. When he was 13 years old, his father David Eckart died; and three years later his mother had to sell the family’s home. After elementary school, Johannes Eckart attended trade school in Nuremberg. His sister Christina looked back on that time: "Johannes was a family man and very attached to his hometown. Thus, whenever there was no Sunday school, he embarked upon the seven-hour walk from Nuremberg to Emskirchen at the beginning of the weekend to spend the Sunday with his family. He spent the holidays catching fish and crayfish, gathering charcoal, berries and mushrooms. He sold what he caught and gathered. He was often involved in pranks. And when he came home with torn and wet clothing, mother, who is said to have had a ›loose hand‹, slapped his face."[1] For generations the family have recounted how Johannes once came home in the middle of the week, as he was suffering from scarlet fever – as usual, he walked, and in a heavy thunderstorm at that. He then infected his sister Christine and his brother Max with scarlet fever.[2]