- Title: GERMANY: Posh Spice is a descendant of Marx comrade
- Date: 7th August 2008
- Summary: HEILBRONN, GERMANY (AUGUST 6, 2008) (REUTERS) HANS MUELLER, HISTORIAN WALKING INTO THE CITY ARCHIVE CENTER SIGN FOR THE HEILBRONN CITY ARCHIVE CENTER MINIATURE MODEL VILLAGE OF HEILBRONN IN 19TH CENTURY MUELLER WALKING PAST MODEL HOUSES MUELLER WALKING INTO ROOM AND GREETING PETER WANNER, HISTORIAN AT CITY ARCHIVE AND TAKING DOCUMENTS OUT OF BRIEFCASE VARIOUS OF MUELLER HOLDING PHOTOGRAPH OF CARL PFAENDER, RELATIVE OF VICTORIA BECKHAM WANNER LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS VARIOUS OF CARL PFAENDER'S NAME ON DOCUMENTS
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Entertainment,History
- Reuters ID: LVA6B8Y914YP2HEXLKWWTLMBPJWR
- Story Text: Pop singer Victoria Beckham is a descendant of a 19th century German communist who was close to Karl Marx, said a German historian on Wednesday (August 6.) Beckham, born Victoria Adams and now wife of soccer player David Beckham, is the great-great-great-granddaughter of revolutionary and artist Carl Heinrich Pfaender, said Hans Mueller, a historian from the southwestern city of Heilbronn.
Mueller told Reuters he had researched the life of Heilbronn native Pfaender, who lived from 1819 to 1876 and was a close associate of Marx and Friedrich Engels. Pfaender took part in the failed revolution of 1848 and was forced to flee to London where he worked as a miniaturist and painter to makemeet, he added.
For a while Pfaender worked teaching art in London Soho's above the "The Red Lion" pub where an association of workers' movement kept rooms.
Mueller said that initially his research was into Pfaender's brother Wilhelm but he changed tact after finding out Carl did a lot of political work in London.
"I didn't originally think about Carl Pfaender and Victoria Beckham, rather about Wilhelm Pfaender, the younger brother. Wilhelm helped to found the association that I am still a member of today, Heilbronn gymnastics club. And when I was looking into Wilhelm, I came across Carl, who had a very interesting life," he said.
Pfaender's brother Wilhelm was a choral singer who was also active in the revolution and emigrated to America in 1848, later becoming state treasurer in Minnesota.
The historian explained that after he made the the link between Carl Pfaender and the pop star, he contacted Beckham's mother Jacqueline who said she was aware of having some family roots in Heilbronn. She sent Mueller a list of their genealogy to help his research further and promised the historian she would tell Victoria, who came to fame as "Posh Spice"
in the Spice Girls, about his findings.
Mueller's extensive research had a strong impact on the historian and while he may not have been familiar with the Spice Girls' music he said he now feels a close bond with Posh Spice,
"Through doing a lot of research about the Pfaenders, up and down the whole family tree, I sometimes felt that I belong in some way to the family. And Victoria would also belong to it - and that's where the circle ends," he told Reuters.
Sadly for Beckham and her family, should she want to retrace her family past to the Pfaender family home in Heilbronn, Mueller said the building no longer stands but is now replaced with a parking lot. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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