any german mumsnetters, berlin in particular.....

[queenrollo]

thought i may get a better response in this topic than elsewhere.

it is a little complicated, but i need some help. My real dad lives in Berlin (or says he does, bear with me) and i only have e-mail contact and a mobile number for him. I haven't heard from him for several weeks now, and his mobile isn't working. We met last year for the first time, and so it is possible that he has decided to cut ties with the family again (though we got on very well,and it would be unlike him not to be blunt and tell me so), but he has also been very ill and i am worried that he has taken a turn for the worst or that even possibly he has died.

Has anybody got any advice on where i begin to make enquiries about him?

[MmeLindt]

You could try the local police, they might be able to trace him, but without an address I don't know if that would be possible.

Not sure really, but I will link your thread to the German chat one, there might be someone there who could help you.

[queenrollo]

many thanks MmeLindt but after trying everyone in the family and going back through lots of e-mails from him i finally managed to track someone down who had a different number for him. He has been ill and so couldn't make it to a computer, but is on the mend now. I've got a number for his girlfriend too so that i can give her my contact details in case anything happens.

[MmeLindt]

Glad to hear that he is ok, Queenrollo. Must be a difficult situation.

[queenrollo]

it is, because i can't always trust things he says and after a 30 year absence from the family he is also a little guarded about what information he does give out.

[ZZZen]

hi queenrollo, saw the link on the German thread but don't have much time online atm.

I wouldn't know if the police would give you his address as his dc or not. Do you know which district of Berlin he lives in? If so, you could try contacting the Einwohnermeldeamt because in Germany everyone has to have their address registered with the police. I don't know if they would give it out though and I don't know if they would be very helpful.

If your dad is a British national, maybe you could get some advice from the British Embassy in Berlin but also there, I don't know for sure what they could do.

If he belongs to a church, possibly Caritas (Catholic) or the evangelische Familienberatung (protestant) might have some advice.

Would you consider going to Berlin to meet him on a visit, staying in a hotel or something. That way you could meet some people in his life and find out where he lives without it being a heavy duty thing. Or is even that not on the cards right now?