I am curious if anyone knows whether German & U.S. verigns kept contact in the mid-1800s to before WW II? I have a wonderful group picture of The Kreis Wittlager Vereign, of which my Great Grandfather was a member, taken at the Teutonia Assembly Rooms Nov. 5, 1916 (by "Schlesinger" New York). My Great Grandfather, August Obrock, was from Wehrendorf. Wehrendorf is near or in Kreis Wittlager, yes? Does this verign exist today in Germany? And is there a place where verigns may be accessed on the internet? Thanks in advance for your assistance!
Joy
Joy,
iy took me a while before I figured out what you meant by "vereign", the
proper word is VEREIN singular or VEREINE plural.
It appears to me that your grandfather belonged to a group of people who
had all immigrated from the Kreis Wittlager. This would have been a US
organization rather than a German one.
To find out if there is or was a German counterpart you should google for
Kreis Wittlager Verein, however, I doubt that there is such an organization
in Germany.
Ursula
Joy Moody wrote:
Joy,
You should contact the state archives in charge of the region,
Niedersaechsisches Staatsarchiv in Osnabrueck Schloss-Str. 29),
Osnabrueck (at) nla.niedersachsen.de
They will know
Greetings from
Falk Liebezeit
Diepholz
A short drive N of Wehrendorf and Wittlage
The place name in Kreis Wittlage is Wittlage,
It was made part of the Kreis Osnabrueck 30 years ago.
Joy,
Wehrendorf is part of Bad Essen today. There are a few "Vereine" you could
contact for further information:
The "Heimatbund Osnabruecker Land e. V." has got a contact mail address you
could use:
http://www.hbol.de/Kontakt/Kontakt.php
just fill in the yellow boxes with your name and email address and use the
white box underneath to put your inquiry. This Verein deals with local
history and I'm sure they'll be able to help you or at least know somebody
who can.
Wittlage has got a "Verschoenerungsverein" - again it deals with local
events and history. Ms Tanja Calmer at the Landkreis Osnabrueck might be
able to assist you here. This is her email address
tanja.calmer@Lkos.de <tanja.calmer@Lkos.de>
Another possibility is the local newspaper. The journalist Andreas Brinkmann
deals with anything of local interest in the former Kreis Wittlage and
should have access to the local newspaper archives. He also has an interest
in family history. This is his mail address
bkm@aol.com <bkm@aol.com>
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Renate Dry in Germany
I agree with Ursula. Such groups existed all over the country as
neighbors from the old country tried to stay in contact with each
other in their new homes. They moved near each other following earlier
emigrants and helped each other as they could through fraternal
societies.
Fred