Posts Tagged ‘ancestral town’
Osthofen, Germany: My Ancestral Town
The town of Osthofen, Germany, was the home of the Schott family from at least1717 to 1809. It is over 1,200 years old, and was first mentioned in 784 in the Lorscher Codex (a manuscript from the Lorsch Monastery). In 784 it was referred to as Ostova. Later names included Osthoven (1262), Osthouen (1268), Ostown…
Read MoreSchotten, Germany: Land of My People
The town of Schotten is said to be the place of origin of both the Schott family and the Schott name sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries. The official history for the town of Schotten, Germany, is that an early document mentions a church “ad scotis” or “of the Scots” that is one of…
Read MoreCooking in the Footsteps of My Ancestors
My mother was always blunt, or “direct” if you want to be polite. I learned to live with comments like, “Well, that hairstyle doesn’t look good on you,” or “You just have no sense of style,” (when I preferred my own tailored look to her more flamboyant, sequin-bedecked clothing suggestions). So it didn’t really surprise…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 6)
This is the final of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). Resettlement to Poland The areas of West Prussia and Posen/Warthegau in northern and western Poland had been directly annexed to Germany. By the first part of 1941, the SS had expelled close to 400,000 Poles from their…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 5)
This is part 5 of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). The beginning of the end … leaving Bessarabia The year 1940 was a major turning point in the history and life of the Bessarabian villages, including Hoffnungstal. As part of the Versailles Treaty after WWI, Bessarabia had…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 4)
This is part 4 of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). Celebrations Memories of life in Hoffnungstal include much hard agricultural work. But there are also many stories of dances in the fall on the empty threshing areas with the musicians playing “zippy” dance music, the young men…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 3)
This is part 3 of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). Education and the legendary teacher, Leopold Roßmann Until 1858, there was no schoolhouse or teacher in Hoffnungstal. Children attended school in a farmhouse and the teachers were those farmers who were knowledgeable in reading and writing. Once…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 2)
This is part 2 of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). Prospering through agriculture The land available for farming also expanded. The village was initially granted about 14,000 acres of land. In 1897, they purchased 675 acres, and in 1899, they purchased another 1,100 acres from Countess Tolstoi.…
Read MoreHoffnungstal, Bessarabia – History of a German Village (Part 1)
This is part 1 of 6 blog posts on my grandfather’s home village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia (now Ukraine). Founding of Hoffnungstal The village of Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia, (Nadezhdivka, Ukraine), was the last German mother colony created in Bessarabia. It was initially founded in 1842 by 25 families from the estate of Karlstal, part of the Freudental…
Read MoreA Letter to the Governor
Some family stories can be proven. Some can’t. But sometimes those stories leave a trail of clues. My dad was the first of his siblings to go to high school, although he was the sixth born of 10 children. In a farming family during the Depression, high school was unnecessary and a poor substitute for…
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