Encyclopedia Titanica

Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg

Third Class Passenger

Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg
Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg

Miss Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg was born 5 February 1890 in Västerhaninge, Stockholm, Sweden.

She was the daughter Karl Magnus Dahlberg, a police official, and Margareta Ulrika Persdotter (b. 1850) and was the sister of: Karl Otto (b. 1873), Maria Karolina (b. 1878), Erik Gustaf (b. 1883), Knut Albert (b. 1886), Signe Margaretta (b. 1892) and Katrina Lovisa (b. 1893). The family resided at Norrlöt, Tungelsta, Södertörn, Stockholm .

Gerda was travelling from her home to join one of her sisters, Signe Dahlberg at 1830 (?1838) Calumet Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. She boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a third-class passenger (ticket number 7552 which cost £10, 10s, 4d). She shared a cabin with Olga Lundin.

Whilst on board she became acquainted with fellow-Swede Carl Olof Jansson. During the sinking Carl later recognised Gerda as they both struggled in the water. Jansson was eventually picked up but Gerda died in the sinking and her body was not recovered.

According to newspaper articles, her sister Signe "had been haunting the White Star offices for the last three days, received word yesterday which crushed her last hope for the safety of her sister."

The Mansion House Fund paid 875:52 Kr (£48) to her parents, and a claim for damages of 911 Kr (£50) was also later paid on 30 June 1914.

Gerda's parents remained living in Stockholm. Her mother died in 1928 and her father in 1931. Her sister Signe continued to live in Chicago and was married in the 1920s to Martin Johnson (b. 1890), a fellow-Swede. The couple raised a family and later moved to Michigan. Signe is believed to have died in the 1980 at a nursing home in Lawton, MI.

References and Sources

Chicago Daily Tribune (Illinios), 20 April 1912, p. 3
Dagens Nyheter, 18 April 1912

Research Articles

Peter Engberg-Klarström Titanica! (2020) Titanic's Stockholm Connections

Newspaper Articles

Chicago Daily News (24 April 1912) TITANIC RESCUED HERE
Five Left of Party of Ten from Sweden Arrive on Way to Pacific Coast

Documents and Certificates

Mansion House Titanic Relief Fund Booklets and Minute Books, London Metropolitan Archives (COL/MH/AD/06/009)
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912, National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).
(1912) Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea, National Archives, London; BT334/52 & 334/53

Miscellaneous

Names and Descriptions of Alien Passengers Embarked at the Port of Southampton, 10 April 1912, National Archives, London; BT 27/780B)

Bibliography

Claes-Göran Wetterholm (1988) Titanic, Prisma, Stockholm. ISBN 91 518 3644 0

Comment and discuss

  1. Peyton

    Peyton

    What did Mrs. Gerda do for a living? What was she planning to do with her sister? Is she a women of kind? Does she want to have a child? Please anwser me.
  2. Anonomys

    Anonomys

    What is Payton's problem...? She died in the sinking and her body wasn't recovered... How would anyone know what she was doing with her sister and if she wanted kids?!
  3. Rich Johnson

    Rich Johnson

    Signe was my great-grandmother. She passed in the mid to late 80s at a nursing home in Lawton, MI. She had 2 sons, Arthur (my grandfather) who passed in 2000, and Carl (who passed in the 90s). My father has Gerda's ticket receipt somewhere.
  4. John Johnson

    John Johnson

    Actually, Gerda's sister, Signe, my grandmother had three son's. Uncle Art was the oldest, my father, Martin Leonard was her second son, died in April 1974, and her youngest son Uncle Carl Magnus. Both Art and Carl died in the same nursing home in Lawton, Michigan in the mid to late 1990's.
  5. John Johnson

    John Johnson

    Not sure why your father Richard hasn't told you about my father, Marty (Jr.). Your grandfather and his brother, my dad were very close and were both very diligent in taking care of Uncle Carl and grandma Signe. Just wanted to correct the record that Martin and Signe had three son's. Arthur, Martin Jr, and Carl.
  6. John Johnson

    John Johnson

    Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg was the sister of my grandmother, Signe Margaretta Dalberg. Grandma Signe Dahlberg (Johnson) had three children (not 2), Arthur, Martin L. Johnson Jr. my father, and Carl. Signe died at the Lawton, Michigan funeral home in 1985 as reported earlier. After moving from Chicago to Covert Michigan with Martin Sr. and family, the Johnson's eventually settled in South Haven Michigan. Signe, as an LPN, opened the first nursing home in town, caring for about 8-10 person's at a time. Her son's died in the same nursing home in Lawton, Art died in the late 90's, Carl died in the early 2000's and my father died in April 1974.
  7. Carolina Dahlberg

    Carolina Dahlberg

    Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg was the aunt of my grandfather Ernst Richard Dahlberg and sister of my great grandfather Karl Otto Dahlberg, oldest of all siblings. In the book by Claes-Göran Wetterholm "Svenskarna på Titanic" (The Swedes on Titanic) there is another picture of Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg (source: Paul Burns Titanic Museum Branson, Missouri) than what is displayed on this forum.
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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Miss Gerda Ulrika Dahlberg
Age: 22 years 2 months and 10 days (Female)
Nationality: Swedish
Marital Status: Single
Last Residence: at Nörrlot Västerhaninge, Södermanland, Sweden
Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 7552, £10 10s 4d
Died in the Titanic disaster (15th April 1912)
Body Not Identified

Linked Biography

Olga Elida Lundin

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