Schenck Christmas Letter - December 1937

Sep 15, 2026

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Typed Christmas correspondence from Carl Alwin Schenck, a German forester and former Biltmore Forest School forest director, to friends in America. The letter opens with holiday wishes, recounts family losses and personal worries in 1937, and then summarizes travel through Rome and Florence, plus a major journey to the Canadian Labrador. It describes renewed forestry contacts, excursions in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, cultural music and opera experiences in Europe, and the year’s professional forestry activities and meetings. The closing includes a pointed reflection on politics and forestry policy under Hitler’s regime.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Schenck Christmas Letter

Greetings and reflections

1937 travels in Europe

Canadian Labrador expedition

Music, opera, and cultural visits

Forestry work and meetings

Alfred Cunningham Papers, 1910, 1931-1937, n.d. (Correspondence Series) Schenck Christmas Letter, December 1937 Transcription [Transcription of a three-page typed Christmas letter from German forester and former Biltmore Forest School forest director Carl Alwin Schenck (1868-1955) to "Dear friends anywhere and notably in America" penned in Lindenfels and Darmstadt, Germany. In the letter, Schenck sends his friends wishes for a happy Christmas and new year and discusses such topics as: his and Mrs. Schenck's European travels during 1937; a trip he took to the Canadian Labrador which enabled him to renew forestry acquaintances made years before in Canada and the United States; and European forestry association meetings he attended and forestry lectures he gave during the year. The letter includes one paragraph on politics, concluding that "Hitler's regime has done, however and undeniably, more for good forestry and more for good game laws than what was done by all imperial and democratic governments before him." [p. 3, middle paragraph] The original spelling and formatting of the letter has been maintained in the transcription below without any editorial correction. Digital scans of each page of the letter are included at the end of this document. The letter is part of the Alfred Cunningham Papers held by the Library and Archives of the Forest History Society in Durham, North Carolina.] From C . A . Schenck, Lindenfels and Darmstadt, Germany, at Christmas 1937. Dear friends anywhere and notably in America: Here are my best wishes for a merry Christmas and for a happy New year, for you and for your loved ones! And right here I might close: But I am anxious to say more, I am solicitous for your continued attachment, ---and how on earth can I expect you to continue attached unless you know what I have been experiencing during the year about to end? Now is the time to lighten old friendships anew as if they were that many candles on the Christmas tree! It was not easy in 1937 for me to preserve all the time a full measure of philosophic serenity and aloofness: We (Mrs. Schenck and I) lost a brother and a sister when the year began, and a beloved and neighborly sister-in-law in the fall. And we had terrible worries among our nearest and dearest, so terrible that I am trying to forget them. So much for the troubles, and now to the other side of life: March and April were spent in Rome and in Florence . Glorious Rome with St . Peters and Vatican and Forum and Pantheon and Villas Farnese, Borghese, Medici and d’Este! Glorious Florence, when itrains with its Palazzo Uffizi and Pitti, when it shines with its witchery of countrysideshows! I have been in Italy four times, and the fourth was the best: From the days of the Goths and the Longobards to the days of Hitler, the German soul seems to be infatuated by the sense of Italy. The chief event of the year was not Italy however but was my trip (without Mrs . Schenck, unfortunately) to the wild woods of Canadian Labrador, in June and July. The trip was a sort of a wild goose chase: A Dutch banking concern had offered, to some German friends of mine, all the stumpage on a huge and blue-blooded Canadian Seignory, the price to be paid in German marks. I was sent, with some others, to investigate. We found the Seignory, but we did not find the stumpage. But I found some other good things: A renewed contact with old friends, a knowledge of the good and pious fisher-folks living on the north shore of the gulf, and a revival of my long-neglected connection with Quebec combined with some glorious excursions guided by Ellwood Wilson, Jack Gilmour, Henry Roy and Fernand Boutin. On my way back, I “discovered” the Province of New Brunswick, with its University (J. M . Gibson and R . E . Balch), its Acadian Forest Experiment Station (B. W . Fleiger) and its capital harbor of St . John . Passing thru Boston, I snatched four hours to renew my old acquaintance with the Arnold Arbor

FAQs

Who wrote the Christmas letter and who was it addressed to?

Carl Alwin Schenck wrote the letter to “Dear friends anywhere and notably in America.”

What personal events does Schenck mention at the start of 1937?

He describes losing a brother and a sister at the year’s beginning and later losing a beloved sister-in-law, along with other serious worries among close family and friends.

What was the focus of Schenck’s main trip during 1937?

He emphasizes a trip to the wild woods of Canadian Labrador in June and July, including efforts related to a Canadian seignory and renewed professional contacts.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper