In a cozy living room in South Austin, a small blond doll wearing a floral dress holds a significant place on the ornately decorated wall of Dagmar Grieder’s home. This doll, chosen by her mother just before they fled their home in Hindenburg, Germany—now known as Zabrze, Poland—during the turmoil of Hitler’s Third Reich, symbolizes a childhood rooted in resilience and escape.
Since moving to Austin in 1967, Dagmar has witnessed the city’s transformation but remains deeply connected to her European roots and experiences.
Born in 1937 to a businessman and a housewife in Germany, Dagmar’s early life was marked by the hardships of World War II.
“There were bombing raids day and night, and we had to go down to the basement where there was a bomb shelter,” Dagmar recalled, her memories vivid with fear and uncertainty.
She described nights when her family was abruptly roused from sleep to seek safety in the shelter, a reality that came with the tragic knowledge that her father was drafted and sent to the front lines.
With her mother, younger brother Michael, and Aunt Erna—who, though not blood-related, served as a guiding figure in their lives—Dagmar’s journey took them from town to town, often finding temporary refuge with strangers.
Food scarcity forced them to forage for berries and mushrooms in the woods to supplement their meager rations, revealing the stark realities of survival during wartime.
Following the war, Dagmar’s family journeyed to an American-occupied section of Germany, but first, they had to endure life in a former POW camp.
After a few months there, they were transported to Bavaria on a freight train and settled on a dairy farm in Enisried, where they remained for five years before eventually moving to Speyer with Aunt Erna.
Education became Dagmar’s pathway to a brighter future as she attended school and later enrolled at the University of Mainz, where she majored in English and Turkish.
This academic pursuit led her to Istanbul, where she worked as an assistant and met Paul Wilson, an American airman who later became her first husband.
“We started dating, got married, and had two babies… [when he got] orders to return to the United States, he came with a wife and two kids,” she said, recalling her life as ‘Mrs. Wilson’ with a light-hearted laugh.
When Dagmar arrived in the United States in 1961, she found herself in Charleston, S.C., a city deeply entrenched in segregation.
In her autobiography, “The Mushroom Girl,” published last year, she recounted how she advocated for equal rights, a stance that made her unpopular in those times.
“The few times when I had a chance to explore, I used the bus and made a point of sitting as far back as I could,” she reflected on her determination to defy societal norms.
In 1967, Dagmar moved to Austin after a brief stay in Myrtle Beach, taking on a part-time job at the Austin National Bank, where she earned just $1.50 an hour.
After three years, she divorced Paul, marking the beginning of her independent journey in a city that had its own challenges and opportunities.
Reflecting on her arrival in Austin, Dagmar described a city that was quaint by today’s standards, with a population of around 135,000.
“Ben White was pretty much the end of the city… and the Capitol was the tallest building Downtown,” she noted, showcasing the simplicity and charm of early Austin.
Dagmar later secured a full-time bookkeeping position at the Bergstrom Air Force Base branch, steadily climbing the corporate ladder until she transferred to the main headquarters on Congress Avenue.
She eventually retired in her early 60s as vice president, a culmination of hard work she humorously described as a “Cinderella story.”
Alongside her career, Dagmar met Dr. Terence Grieder, a UT art history professor, at a Unitarian church event designed for single parents.
They married in the early 1970s, blending their lives with four children, forming a family of six.
Terry’s specialization in pre-Columbian art often took him on fieldwork trips during the summers, and Dagmar joined him, turning these experiences into annual adventures.
Together, they traveled the globe, sharing a passion for exploring new cultures and landscapes until Terry’s passing in 2018.
At 87 years old, Dagmar has embraced life through her hobbies, including a newfound passion for building houses.
Since losing Terry, she has re-entered the dating world, meeting her current boyfriend Donald through Match.com.
“Dating in your 80s and 90s is different from dating in your 20s, but it’s still very nice to have a personal relationship with somebody,” she shared, describing the dynamics of their relationship.
Although they don’t live together, they make an effort to see each other every day and support one another’s busy work lives.
Donald has helped Dagmar edit her autobiography, and together, they enjoy walks and travel, continuing Dagmar’s lifelong passion for exploration.
Despite almost 60 years in Austin, Dagmar remains deeply connected to her love for travel and diverse cultures, often daydreaming about her next destination.
In her own words, she is always “looking for something to explore… I’m cultivating curiosity.”
image source from：austinchronicle
