Franz and Franziska Mykura died in the 1960s. This section is about their adult children Walter Mykura, Helmut Mykura and Eleanor Mykura.
Walter Mykura’s 1976 publication
‘British Regional Geology Orkney and Shetland’ (1976 HMSO) was a government publication from the Institute of Geological Science.
This book was a completely new geological memoir published during the time Walter was President of the Edinburgh Geological Society. It was based on Walter’s extensive field work in the Orkney and Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland.
1977 Helmut Mykura living in Saarbrücken, Germany.
Helmut and his wife visited his aunt and uncle who had a flower business in Germany.
Helmut and his wife lived for one year in Dudweiler Germany, while Helmut worked at the university in Saarbrücken on new methods for studying the atomic structure and the energy of inter-crystalline interfaces. They took the opportunity to visit West Berlin. While travelling in Hesse in the border region (Zonengrenze im Harz,) the post card sent to the UK gives a flavour of the time of the ’cold war,’ when east and west Germany were divided by the border wall. Helmut’s brother Walter and his family met Helmut and his wife in Saarbrücken. The image below shows Helmut second left. Walter is on the right with his wife. Three of Walter’s children are in the photo while Walter’s fourth child took the photo.
1977 Walter Mykura in Czechoslovakia
With his wife and children, Walter visited his childhood home-town of Sokolov formerly Falkenau. The photo was taken by one of Walter’s children.
The post card from Walter in Germany to his brother Helmut also in Germany, describes seeing their old house and school in Sokolov (formerly Falkenau.)
Walter’s family met Walter’s Uncle Franz Bartl, who was the brother of Walter’s mother Franziska Mykura née Bartl. Walter’s grown up children continued to meet these and other relatives at times in the 1980s, 1990s, and in the twenty-first century.
Walter standing at back in green jumper, with his uncle Franz Bartl on his right. Walter’s daughter stands in front of Walter, with two of her bothers on her left. Walter’s fourth child is on the extreme left of the picture.
Franz Mykura’s niece in Germany keeps in touch
The 1983 post card to Helmut Mykura and family in the UK is from Minden, Westfalen. It is from Walter’s daughter who had visited Franz Mykura’s niece, the daughter of Josef Mykura in Minden, Westfalen in 1983.
The 1984 post-card is from Wasserburg am Inn in Germany. The daughter of Josef Mykura, who was Franz Mykura’s younger brother, was another link between the generations. She and her family exchanged visits and post-cards with the families of Walter and Helmut, both in the UK and in Germany, continuing in the 21st century.
1988 Death of Walter Mykura (7th Jan 1926 – 13th May 1988)
Obituary from Die Brücke, Dr Walter Mykura gestorben.
Walter Mykura died on 13th May 1988 and his obituary was published in Die Brücke, the newsletter of the Seliger Gemeinde, the post-war successor organisation of Franz and Franziska’s political party pre-war Czechoslovakia on 15th July 1988.
Dr. Walter Mykura gestorben
Translation:
“Walter Mykura has died at the age of 62 in Scotland. He was a well known geologist with a string of publications. Walter Mykura was the son of Franz Mykura from Falkenau, who emigrated to England in 1838 to live with his children in Birmingham. Franz Mykura was especially well known for his active part in the Workers’ Gymnastics and Sports Association.
Walter Mykura studied at the University of Birmingham and then worked in geological research in Edinburgh, particularly in the creation of geological maps. He spent nine summers in Shetland on his geological field work. He co-authored the Western Shetland Memoir. In 1972 he was awarded recognition by the Geological Society of London and in 1982 by the Geological Society of Edinburgh. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was the chairperson of the Edinburgh Geological Society from 1975-1977. These accolades had followed international recognition. Walter Mykura is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.”
Brücke 15.7.88 7 15 Walter Mykura.
1991 Death of Helmut Mykura (17th Jan 1927 – 15th Dec 1991)
Helmut was survived by two sons and a daughter. The fourth child of Helmut and his wife had died as a baby thirty years earlier.
Franz Pöpperl in Jachymov, Czech Republic, to Helmut Mykura
Franz Pöpperl had continued to write post-cards to his cousins Helmut and Walter during their adult years.
This 1990 card from Jachymov, Czech Republic was the last one received before Helmut’s death. Franz Pöpperl is first pictured in the archive in Falkenau (now Sokolov) in 1927 with his cousins Walter and Helmut Mykura. See 1920s page.
Visits to the Czech Republic by the Mykura family in the 21st century
In 2006, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2024 family members of Franz and Franziska’s grandchildren from the UK visited the Czech Republic.
The 2016 post card is from Walter Mykura’s son to his Mykura cousins in the UK. Walter’s adult children and Helmut’s adult children visited at different times Sokolov (known as Falkenau before World War Two,) Cheb (formerly Eger) and Kovarska (formerly Schmiedeberg) and other towns and villages in the north-west of the Czech Republic. These are the places associated with their grandparents Franz and Franziska Mykura who had lived in Falkeanu before leaving Czechoslovakia as refugees in 1938. See the locations in the ‘Maps and place names’ page.
2015 Bergarbeiterheim (Miners’ Institute) Sokolov tourist souvenir
The Czech Republic celebrated 90 years (1925-2015) of Sokolov’s impressive Hornickeho Domuj V Sokolove, formerly the Bergarbeiterheim.
The image shows the former Falkenau (now Sokolov) Bergarbeiterheim, which is now an important cultural centre for the town. It has a magnificent frontage with columns above the front entrance steps. The original 1925 long frieze above the entrance shows a day in the life of the miner.
The 2018 image above shows a grandson of Franz and Franziska Mykura admiring the grand Great Hall in the Sokolov Cultural Centre, which before World War Two was called the Falkenau Bergarbeiterheim. (Miners’ Institute) To see more about the 1925 Bergarbeiterheim see the 1920s section of this website. To see more about Franz Mykura working at the Bergarbeiterheim, see the Key Documents 1938 Cycling Festival in Falkenau.
2016 Sokolov Museum Transcripts
‘Frieden, Freiheit und Sozialismus’ (Peace, Freedom and Socialism.)
‘Kampf für eine neue, befreite Mutterschaft’ (Struggle for a new, liberated motherhood.)
The Mykura family were pleased in 2016 to receive transcripts of 1930s reports in the Czech social democrat newspaper ‘Volkswille.’ Thank you to Sokolov (formerly Falkenau) Museum in the Czech Republic. The museum sent transcripts of these newspaper reports detailing both Franziska and Franz’s anti-Nazi political work. This revealed the lost information about Franziska’s achievements as an anti-Nazi political activist. See Key Documents Three: Reports in a local Czech social-democrat newspaper ‘Volkswille’ in Workers sport and ATUS.
2017 Family history event at Birmingham University
The extended family (bottom left) stand in front of Birmingham University Tower, ‘Old Joe.’
Three of Helmut Mykura’s grandsons went to Birmingham University and the most recent student gave the extended family a tour of the campus. Eleanor Mykura and her adult daughter joined Walter Mykura’s adult children and grandchildren and Helmut Mykura’s adult children and grandchildren at a week-end event at Birmingham University to remember Walter and Helmut to celebrate their achievements. Relatives made a group visit to the former home of Eleanor Mykura and her parents in Birmingham to remember and celebrate Eleanor’s parents’ achievements. The photo shows the family group in the garden of that house in 2017.
New article published 04. February 2022 ‘Arbeiter Olympiade 1937.’
Franz Mykura’s role in organizing the 1937 Workers’ Winter Olympics held in Czechoslovakia is described in this article by Thomas Oellermann.
See also 1930s page.