Germany Trip Diary #2

The following is a diary entry from August 9, 2017 that I have lightly edited and added material in brackets.

Trip preparation post.
Previous day's post.

Königheim Emigration History

2017.08.09, Mittwoch, Hochhausen and Königheim

Stefan Lindtner, Königheim genealogist and author

Stefan Lindtner arrived a bit before nine, fully equipped with laptop and printed Ahnentafel of the Stephan Familie, as well as of Anna Maria Stephan's three other grandparents!

Notes from the meeting with Stefan Lindtner

• 730 Königheimer emigrated nach den USA, some to Dayton OH.
• Die Gemeinde Königheim hatte ein Schiff 1852 geliefert, und 84 Einwohner sind auf diesem Schiff "Jane Anderson" dem Atlantik übergequert. [The Königheim community had purchased a ship in 1852, and 84 residents crossed the Atlantic on the ship "Jane Anderson."]
• The reasons [for the emigration] included that the town had grown too large for the land to support its population. The village bought the ship, and the mayor went along with the Auswanderer as far as Liverpool and then returned to Königheim.
• Other Einwanderungsörte included
• Saint Louis MO
• Cincinatti OH
• Rochester NY
• Washington DC
• New York City NY
• Dayton OH
• Cleveland OH
• The Vater Jakob war Landwirt; das heißt das er den Land gewirkt ohne ihnen zu behalten. [Maria Anna's father Jakob was a farmer, although he did not own the land that he worked.]
• Maria Anna Stephan and her sister sind auf dem Schiff Algeria öberquert. [M.A.Stephan and her sister crossed the Atlantic in the ship "Algeria."]
• Stefan hat JPGs of all Steffan- und Rauch-Taufe, -Heirate, und -Begrabung früher zu 1678 gemacht. [Lindtner has images of all the baptism, marriage, and burials of all the Steffan and Rauch family members through as early as 1678.]
• Village civil records exist from about 1810 through 1870. From then are the Preußische records, which end with the kaiserliches Reich in 1918.
• Le Havre - NYC; Hamburg/Km - Liverpool 1870 [I'm now unsure of what this note means, other than that it lists two possible routes for ship travel.]
• Tauber v Franken Bote [I believe we discussed the uniquely shaped bottles used for Franken and Tauber wines.]
• Grundbücher [No additional information for this single note in red: [Real estate deed books]; perhaps it was a note to ask Stephan about this possible resource later.]

In some cases, Stefan's Stammtafeln [family tree charts] go five generations back—and only a few [families] have possible living remnants. The most salient facts for the Deneke family are that Maria Stephan was one of more than 700 Königheimer who emigrated. She emigrated with another family member, traveling on the Algeria to America. In that, she was fairly unique, as many emigrated in groups of more than one family unit. The town bought a ship in 1852 to enable the group migration of 84 Einwohner. The mayor of the town escorted them along the way to the port city (Bremen? Antwerp?), boarded the Schiff along with them, and sailed as far as Liverpool.

By that period, Stefan asserts, the town's population had grown too large to be supported by the surrounding land. In this period before the Industrial Revolution, it was only the Landschaft that could provide livelihood, and over-population would bring overall poverty to the town. Therefore, the city fathers saw a need to encourage emigration.

Stefan pointed to many family members who emigrated, many to form small communities of emigrés in a few cities: Cleveland, Dayton, St. Louis, Washington DC, New York, and Rochester were the most likely to hold former Königheimer.

Königheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Königheim, in Main-Tauber-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Stefan drove us to Königheim. We walked up Kirchberg among vineyards. [From there, Stefan pointed out the neue Siedlung (new settlement) to the west of the original town. He pointed out the cemetery and its chapel, which were originally on the western edge of the original town. He pointed out the train station, now unused, which had been built before the first World War. He pointed out vineyards on the southern hills, which are not considered to be part of the Königheim growing area.]

Then we walked down to St Martin Kirche, a modestly beautiful, baroque architecture built in the 17th C from the richesse of the vineyard and wine produce of the town.

Placed into the masonry of the façade were two dedication plates, which read:

Anno 1635 den XI Septbris ward die Kirch durch das Feuer verbrand. Ano 1642 und 43 wider auferbauet und erweitert Got 3v lob und Ehr der den Friden genad. und die ewige Seligkeit all engv thetern verliehen wolle. Amen.

Dedication tablets, St. Martin Church

[In 1635 on the 11th September the church was burned by fire. In 1642 and 43 rebuilt and expanded. To the triune God be praise and honor, and may their blessings be upon all prayers. Amen.]

Im Jahre 1752/6 wurde diese Kirche unter Pfr. Severus nach den Plänen Balthassar Neumanns erbaut, 1757/8 durch Tiepoloschüler G. Anton Urlaub im venezieanischen Stil bemalt, 1766 konsekriert. Innenrestauration: unter Dekanen Eckert u. Kieser i. J. 1872, 1894, 1914. Aussenrestauration unter Dekan Rothermel i. J. 1936.

[In the years 1952-6 this church was built under Pastor Severus after the plans of Balthassar Neuman, in 1757-8 painted in Venetian style by G. Anton Urlaub of the school of Tiepolo, and in 1766 consecrated. Interior restoration: under the deacons Eckert and Kieser in the years 1872, 1894. and 1914. Exterior restoration under deacon Rothermel in the year 1936.]

Rathaus, under the tower of St. Martin's

[From the commanding view of the porch of St. Martin's, we walked into the town square, which was defined on the east side by the Rathaus. Stefan was not encouraging that detailed records of the family could be found there, and I determined that I should make my own inquiries later.

We walked along the Brehmbach, and crossed it to walk through the town cemetery and view its chapel that was built in the early 17th C. He spoke of a 1984 flood (a 500-year event, with no known antecedents for the whole town history) that reached to the first floor of homes that lined Brehmbach. Many houses were torn down and rebuilt anew, although a good number were renovated to their original appearance at great cost.

[On the way back from the cemetery, we wandered through several streets. About 70% of the houses were modern, with full stucco exteriors and very sqare corners. The remainder were half-timbered like the Rathaus, but of varying perfection. A very small number were highly decorated on the wooden corners and primary timbers.] He could not identify the home of Maria Stephan, which might have been torn down and replaced due to the flood.

Stefan gave me —in addition to the Ahnentafeln— two books: one lists and follows the history of some 80% of the Königheimer who auswandered into the USA, and the other amasses hundreds of old photos of Königheim.

Von Königheim im Großherzogtum Baden
in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika

One that Stefan wrote is Von Königheim im Großherzogtum Baden in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika: Auswanderer im 19. Jahrhundert. [From Königheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden into the United States of America: Emigrants in the 19th Century.] 2nd edition, 2014; 232 pages in German with illustrations from old postcards, maps, city directories, census pages, naturalization papers, newspaper reports, tombstones, marriage certificates, family pictures, county plat maps, and funeral cards. Most source documents were contributed by living family members.

The book includes a table of all known emigrées from 1834 through 1900 and a list of known marriages in the U.S. between two emigrées from Königheim.

The book is not available on Amazon, but it is available direct from Lindtner. The first edition is available for search on Google books. (The book cannot be printed or saved from this source.)

The city society Heimatverein Brehmbachtal prepared the book Königheim in alten Bildern [Königheim in old pictures] and published it in 1999 to celebrate the town's ninth centenary. 128 pages, 297 photos. The earliest photos come from the last two decades of the 1800s, and most photos come from before World War Two. The book is available for €12.50 by postal order with their order page.

We returned to his home [a two-story building on the Hauptstraße that has a Keller stocked with wine barrels and vintner tools and machinery], and drove to Gissigheim to buy lunch supplies— brötchen and würstchen—and return to his home for Mittagessen and Kaffee. And much conversation about emigration, about his family (Beate, two daughters, and his in-laws).

Back at my hotel by 3 p.m., I went to 2-Rad Esser and rented a road bike, had SPD pedals attached, and took off for a ride to Hochhausen, return to Königheim, and back.

In the evening, I walked to Esser about 4 km and then drove into Tauberbischofsheim [TBB from here on] for dinner at a Greek restau.