Lucky Lindbergh, or Lover Lindbergh? (more on previous story)

International Herald Tribune ^ | 8/2/2003 | Mark Landler (NYT)

[sjersey]

Charles Lindbergh’s sympathy for the Nazi regime in prewar Germany has long been a stain on his gilded legacy — a puzzling detour in a life of heroic adventure.

Now, a prominent German newspaper claims that Lindbergh had more personal ties to Germany long after World War II, through a relationship with a woman in Munich, with whom he had three children, the paper says.

In an article to be published Saturday, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that on a visit to Germany in 1957, Lindbergh, then 55, met and fell in love with Brigitte Hesshaimer, a hat-maker 24 years his junior.

For the next 17 years, the paper says, Hesshaimer was an intimate companion to Lindbergh, giving birth to three children, who range in age from 36 to 45. They discovered their father’s identity only after his death in 1974.

Lindbergh, who visited the family frequently during his restless travels in the 1960’s, used a pseudonym, according to the article. His double life remained a secret from his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, as well as neighbors of the Hesshaimers in the Schwabing district of Munich. Hesshaimer died in 1999, having sworn her children to an oath that they not disclose their father’s identity while she was alive.

The second child, a daughter named Astrid Bouteuil, contacted Süddeutsche Zeitung eight months ago and presented what she said were more than 100 letters written by Lindbergh to her mother in the course of his travels.

‘‘She showed me these letters, and she told me she was the daughter of Charles Lindbergh,’’ said Gerd Kröncke, the Paris correspondent of Süddeutsche Zeitung, who reported the article. ‘‘Seeing her, and having in mind what Charles Lindbergh looked like, I strangely didn't doubt her.’’

Mindful of the ‘‘Hitler Diaries,’’ a notorious publishing hoax that originated in Germany, the editors of the paper submitted one of the letters to Bavaria’s criminal investigation bureau for handwriting analysis. The bureau concluded it was likely that Lindbergh had written the letter.

Lindbergh’s biographer, A. Scott Berg, said that he believed the letters could be genuine, given the dates, a description of their contents, and Lindbergh’s penchant for prolific correspondence.

‘‘I could easily see that these are Charles Lindbergh’s letters,’’ Berg said in a telephone interview. ‘‘I can’t tell you how many letters he wrote. The fact is, he often glommed on to people.’’

But Berg said the letters did not prove that Lindbergh had conducted an affair or fathered children with Hesshaimer.

‘‘Is it chronologically and geographically possible? Yes.’’ Berg said. ‘‘Does it sound true to his character? No. It seems unlikely that he would keep going back to her and have three children with her.’’ Kröncke said Bouteuil, who is married and lives in a suburb of Paris, also produced faded snapshots that purportedly depict Lindbergh with her and her older brother, Dyrk, as well as their mother.

The paper planned to publish the photographs on Saturday. It posted the text of the article on its Web site Friday afternoon. Astrid and Dyrk, who are quoted in the article, recall magical visits from the tall American who went by the name Careu Kent. He whipped up omelets, regaled them with stories of exotic animals he had seen in Africa and allowed Astrid to hide her dolls in his capacious shoes.

But according to the article, Lindbergh was scrupulous about keeping his family a secret. He signed his letters with a ‘‘C’’ and kept revealing details out of them. In only one letter did he refer to ‘‘our children.’’

Why, after so many years, have these children come forward? Kröncke said Bouteuil wanted her own children to know who their grandfather was. And she talked Dyrk and her younger brother, David, into going along.

The New York Times

[leadhead]

And that's why he was called "Lucky Lindy"?