I was telling a story the other night and my poor middle-aged brain seized up on me, and I cannot remember a word. Perhaps you all can help.

My father used to talk about his mother's brother, Uncle Ernst. Ernst was a famous hunter around his home town, somewhere in the Black Forest. He had a special title, that as I remember meant something like "Hunting Gentleman" or some such thing. He was responsible for overseeing all the hunting that went on in the district.

I went to tell a story about Dad hunting with Uncle Ernst the other night, and I just could not remember the title he had. It was "Jag - something."

Please help if you can.

Jägermeister

No. Jägermeister was not it. At least I am pretty sure it wasn't. This was a sinecure from the government.

What period of time are you referring to?

For professional hunters there are titles like Jagdmeister, Oberjäger, Wildmeister...but I'm not sure that this is what you mean.

This would have been in the 30's thru 50's. Dad last went to visit him in the mid-50's.

Well, I'm learning a little more German today.

Jägerlatein = hunting stories

Jägerin = woman hunter/huntress - an uber cool name for someone's bitch.

Jägerschnitzel = ambrosia

Jagdaufseher?

game warden

That comes close. I seem to remember my father telling me it meant something like "hunting gentleman", but it carried official weight.

His tenure in this office carried through WWII. As a result, the boys from Berlin, (Goering, et al) used to engage him. Ernst was supposedly Goering's favorite, but I take it the same could not be said with Uncle's feelings towards them.

The other thing I remember was that he had two jobs. His other job was that of a public accountant. The hunting gig was a side job.

Dang!

Mention Goering and the thread goes silent for 24hours. It just shows you what a bastard he was. After 70-some years, he's still the turd in the punchbowl. Sorry I brought it up.

I never knew Ernst. He was dead before I came on the scene, but he sent his sister, my grandmother, a bunch of stuff he'd collected. It all wound up at the family's house in Miami Beach. There were antlers, heads-- all kinds of trophies scattered through the house along with a big grandfather clock, and the like. The family used to all migrate to Florida and build houses in the winter months, moving the whole operation from Cincinnati and the house was kind of the base of operation. I started going down in the early 60's.

The house was this weird mix of Black Forest hunting lodge and Florida villa, on Biscayne bay. For a little kid, rattan furniture and cuckoo clocks didn't seem out of place. The family sold the house in the mid 60's. I saw it last in the mid-2000's. Someone had gutted it and was in the process of ripping out the huge stone fireplace that grandpa used to use to smoke sausage in the winter.