Emilie Hilger Langeder

Emilie (Emmy) Hilger, my mother, was born 13 August 1914 in the little village of Gisshübl, near Vienna, Austria to Wilhelm Hilger and Walpurga Redl just at the outbreak of WW I. During the war life was quite difficult for the family and the parents had to work very hard to survive. Emmy’s father was a Master Glazier by profession and had opened his own store in Vienna when Emmy was little. The family had only 2 daughters and so Emmy who was the oldest had to carry on the family’s business and learn the trade. She became the first woman Master Glazier in Austria. This was a very hard job for a woman and Emmy did not like this work at all. Her father died in 1940 and Emmy had to take over the store. She did not do too well but kept it going till about 1950, when she gave it up.
The story has it that Emmy was in love with a young man by the name of Joseph Kaiser. The couple had a disagreement and Emmy went out with his best friend Kurt Langeder, whom she later married on 5 September 1939 in Vienna. Emmy and Kurt had 3 daughters, Karin, Helga and Heidi.
Right after the wedding, Kurt was drafted and had to serve in the military until his death in August 1944. She became a widow at the age of 31, was responsible for a glazier store and 3 little children. Just after the birth of her last child the apartment building she was living in, was bombed at the very end of WW II and she lost everything she possessed. She raised her children the best she could by herself and the help of her mother and mother in law. The total time the couple spent together was about 60 days, when he was home on furlough during WW II.
After she had closed the glazier store she worked for the actress Annie Rosar for a few years, cooking for her and keeping house. During that time she discovered what a great cook she really was. She indeed was an excellent cook and her cooking was appreciated by her family and friends. There are 2 cookbooks in my possession with her best recipes written in her own beautiful handwriting.
Emmy was well read, she checked out almost every book they had in the library where she lived, she also loved to knit and would make beautiful Norwegian sweaters.
She also had a gift of listening, often relatives would come to visit and just talk for hours and she would listen patiently as they poured out their heart to her.
The last years of her life Emilie spent in Fischamend, right next to the airport of Vienna, taking care of her mother and going on long walks along the Danube. She passed away on 17 July 1989 in Fischamend.