:
I have been researching my family history which is the most fascinating
hobby. Many of my ancestors came from Germany,
Prussia and France . Other came from Wales , Scotland and Ireland .
I am having great difficulty tracing the Maraun family who came to
Australia from Prussia (Koeningsberg) in 1850.
Ludwig was 29 years. He was a coach builder. I search on the internet
for
a genealogist in the Koeningsberg area who might
be able to help me, but not being able to read German? and not having a
clue what towns are in that region, I have not been
able to contact anyone to undertake a search for me. May I ask a great
flavor? Could you please have a look on the internet
and see if you can find a Genealogist in that area who searches family
histories as a business? I can then send all the information
that I have, and maybe they will find Ludwig Maraun?s story. I know
Ludwig
left Prussia because they had taken up the Huguenot
faith, and the followers were being persecuted in the mid 1800s. They
first fled to Poland but later departed to Australia from
Hamburg .
I have found some beautiful sketched that Ludwig did on the long voyage?
many are of the crew on the ship which is a very
interesting record of those times. He was a wonderful artist as was his
daughter, my Great grandmother, also my Grandmother
and my mother? so his artistic genes lived on. During his sea voyage 7
women, 8 men and 16 children died? and 2 babies were
born. The death toll seems horrible to us now, but on the voyage of
another relative 50 years earlier, 126 people died. Ludwig survived
the voyage but by the time he was 54 he had lost 3 wives and 6 children.
I
can?t think how he found the courage to go on? but he
did, and he became a very highly respected coach building business man
in
Adelaide .
Dear Charmaine,
accidentally i found your message in a special mailing-list. Maybe i can
help you with resurching your East Prussian ancestors.
But i should introduce myself first: all my ancestors are from East
Prussia, a country which belongs partially to Russia and to Poland since 1945.
Many of my family member did not survive. In 1945 the German people of East
Prussia were killed, deported to Siberia or use as forced laborers. All
females were raped by soviet soldiers. My parents were children at that time.
Somehow they managed to survive and somehow they came to West Germany. They
tried hard to forget the horrible past and started a "normal" life. I was
born in 1959 in West Germany. My parents avoid to talk about the past. Family
history began at about 1950. When i grow older i wanted to know more.
Now i live in Berlin and i became a specialist in East Prussian history and
family resurch. Here i Berlin there are the major archives and libraries.
During the past 15 years i have traced back my ancestors as far as about
500 years. And from time to time i help others in resurching their East
Prussian ancestors although i do not work as a professional genealogist. It is
still a hobby but i do it on a kind of professional level.
See: _http://allrelatives.geneanet.org/contact/viktorh/Viktor-H-Haupt_
(http://allrelatives.geneanet.org/contact/viktorh/Viktor-H-Haupt) or
_http://gw5.geneanet.org/index.php3?b=viktorh_
(Arbre généalogique de Viktor Haupt (viktorh) - Geneanet)
Although i have collected a lot of data of people living in the Koenigsberg
area i cannot connect your Ludwig MARAUN to my MARAUNs. But ... at
about 1500 there were wealthy merchants in Koenigsberg named MARAUN or MAHRAUN.
A former part of the city Koenigsberg was called Maraunenhof (Hof =
court/estate). About 1800 there were quite a few MARAUNs who served in the
administration. For somebody who knows East Prussian history or especially the
history of Koenigsberg the name MARAUN sounds familiar. I guess the name
MARAUN could belong to the former East Prussian native people.
The first step i would do finding your Ludwig MARAUN: i would check the
Koenigsberg church registers around 1820 for him. I guess he is born in
Koenigsberg. Then i should find him easily and then i´ll know his parents.