Let’s get the Biewers back together – Reunion of Werner & Gertrud Biewer

The Rocky Mountain Biewer Terrier Club and the Biewer Terrier Foundation have teamed up to bring Mr. & Mrs. Biewer back together again!
Mr. Biewer passed away in 1997, Mrs. Biewer had him buried in a cemetery with a grave marker. But when Mrs. Biewer herself passed away in 2012, she was alone and deeply in debt. She was cremated and her ashes placed in an unmarked lawn grave near the hospital where she passed away. She had no family that was able to pay for a gravestone or anyone to take her to the cemetery in Hirschfeld, Germany where Mr. Biewer was buried. The hospital contacted the nearest graveyard and the state paid for an anonymous lawn grave.After spending a lifetime together and developing our lovely Biewer Terriers, the couple has been separated for years. And it is time to change that!

According to her niece, Werner and Gertrud lived in their home in Hunsruk until the time of his death in 1997. After that, Gertrud struggled with the mundane tasks of life that Werner had always taken care of, such as paying bills, phone calls, managing the finances, and making arrangements. It was a huge adjustment for her as the couple often traveled and shopped in Paris and other European cities. Gertrud was eventually forced to sell the family home and some of her nicer possessions to pay debts. She moved in with her brother and then found a small apartment of her own. Her sister died in 2012 and Mrs. Biewer died just 3 months later. Her brother committed suicide in the same year. Gertrud was diagnosed with colon cancer and died in the hospital in 2012. Her niece visited her until the time of her death. The landlord of her apartment building sold a suitcase of her Biewer Terrier history and artifacts to the BTCA, and her niece inherited the remainder of her estate.

The location of Mrs. Biewer’s ashes is on record and we are working to recover them and relocate that capsule into Mr. Biewer’s coffin. By adding her name to his existing marker, the couple will be together once again. It is the least we can do for the couple who introduced and promoted our Biewer Terriers to the world.

If you are interested in assisting the RMBTC and the Foundation in making this happen, please donate. It is going to cost about $1000 USD. Please help us bring Werner and Gertrude Biewer back together again!

UPDATE:
I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all our awesome club members that helped raise the funds to get Mr. & Mrs. Biewer “back together”. It only took 10 hours and we had the $1000 in the Biewer Terrier Foundation Account. 🙌👊🎉
I also wanted to share a little bit more info about the project with you and how it happened that Gertrud Biewer has been buried just 20 miles away from her husband over 6 years ago because somebody said that they maybe did not want to be buried together… 🙄
Werner & Gertrud Biewer lived together in their house until Werner passed away in 1997. He was buried in Hirschfeld, Germany.
After that, Gertrud struggled with the many tasks of life that Werner had always taken care of, such as paying bills, managing the finances, and making arrangements. It was a huge adjustment for her as they lived a fancy lifestyle and often traveled and shopped in Paris and other European cities. The Biewers were self-employed and did not have any retirement.
Gertrud was eventually forced to sell the family home and some of her possessions to pay the debts. She moved in with her brother and then found a small apartment of her own later. Her sister passed away in 2012. Gertrud Biewer was diagnosed with colon cancer and went through chemotherapy. She died alone in the hospital just 3 months after her sister. At the end of the same year, her brother committed suicide. The hospital had no family contacts of Mrs. Biewer, so the pauper’s service cremated her and put her in an anonymous lawn grave at the nearest cemetery even though Werner Biewer was buried just 20 miles away in Hirschfeld.
Mrs. Biewer has no gravestone or marker. The government paid for her cremation and burial.
The landlord of her apartment sold a suitcase of her Biewer Terrier history and artifacts to the BTCA, and her niece inherited the remainder of her estate.
We contacted the German Graveyard Association and received photos of Werner Biewer’s grave and more photos from a friend in Germany. Mrs. Biewers ashes have been located and can be transferred to the cemetery in Hirschfeld. There is a lot of documents, fees, administrative work and time involved but we can get it done.
Her urn will be placed in Werner’s grave and everything will be good 🙂 💜