Pulsfort

oldenburg-l
1

I checked the baptisms of St Marien in Oythe for the years 1653 - 1746.
The names PULSFORT and GROTE do not appear.

I do have a Herman PULSFORT, 24 Jun 1845 - 04 Jan 1929, who was born in
Vechta, amt Vechta, Oldenburg and died in Green Creek, Douglas, Effingham,
Illinois, USA.

His Obituary: Teutopolis Press January 10, 1929

Mr PULSFORT DEAD

Herman Pulsfort died at the home of his son John at Green Creek, Friday
evening around 8 o'clock, January 4, 1929.

On account of illness in the family the remains were taken by B G Habing
and company to their undertaking parlors in Teutopolis and prepared for
burial. There they laid in state until Monday morning when they were removed
to Green Creek.

Funeral services were held in St Mary Church at 9:30 o'clock followed by
internment in parish Cemetery. Relatives and friends and neighbors attended
the obsequies. Rev Frederick Neveling, local pastor officiated.

Deceased was born at Vechta in Oldenburg and later on came to this country
settling at Green Creek. Age 83 years, 6 months and 11 days.

Mr Pulsfort is survived by three children: Herman of Watertown Wisconsin,
John at Home and Mrs Joseph Overbeck of Teutopolis, and eleven
grandchildren.

May his soul rest in peace.

Ronald J Repking
Flossmoor, Illinois

2

Ronald,
Thank you so much for the information and for checking the Oythe records! I
greatly appreciate you help!
Nancy

3

Ronald,

Thank you for the information.

My g-g-grandfather was Johann Pulsfort, born in 1800 in Oythe. He changed his last name to Grote and moved to Erlte/Visbek.

Johann's father was Hermann Pulsfort, born in 1747 in Oythe; he died in 1825. Johann's mother, Hermann's wife was Elizabeth Luttman (1759-1819).

Ronald, do you have baptism records for St. Marien in 1747 (only one year from when you checked!). I have a Hermann born in 1747 in Oythe, yours was born there 98 years later, so perhaps g-grandfather or g-father to yours?

If you could integrate my Hermann/Johann with your records, I'd be most appreciative!

Chris

4

Hello Chris,

the history book listed a Grote farm in Visbek-Erlte, about 1900 30 hectare.
First tax notice 1545 Joan Grote, 1568 Wilke de Grote.
1665 destroyed during the 30 war.
1735 tax 25 Schilling - 1766 tax 20 Schilling Gerd Heinrich Grote and wife Maria Siemermann, 1780 secound wife Maria Thesing tax 12 Schilling.
1798 Johan Heinrich Grote tax 20 Schilling.
1832 Anna Catharina Grote and husband Johann Pulsfort tax 25 Schilling.

Under Oythe-Holzhausen is listed a Luttmann farm, about 1900 34 hectare
First tax notice 1577, owner Frohne
Tax 1718 70 Schilling no name is given,
1765 Johan Hermann Luttmann and Anna Maria Dammann 52 Schilling
1798 Peter Bernhard Luttmann and Rebecca Bergmann 50 Schilling
1840 Peter Ludwig Luttmann and Franziska Bardelmann 50 Schilling

The status animarum (census) listed 1703 listed Pulsfort only in

Bakum-Carum:
- Heribert Pulsforth, farmer, 37, wife Catharina 31,
children: Theodorus 12 Henric 6, Anna 7 Joan 2
and a Gerard Pulsforth 24 as farm hand (maybe a brother Heribert)
- Jurgen Pulsforth 28, Margaretha Taphorn 32 and Joan 4 lived on the Backhaus farm
- Theodorus Pulsforth 25 and wife Catharina 22 lived on the Grote farm as tenant farmers, also Joan Pulsforth 28 as farm hand

Vechta:
- Johan Bernd Pulsforth and wife Catherina Margaretha Voeth
- Johan Pulsforth, farm owner, wife Anna Voet,
   farm hands: Johan and Margaretha

I hope it helps,
Werner Honkomp

5

Werner,

Thank you so much for this information! It's amazing how helpful and informed you are.

How did you put this together? You mention a history book?

I'm curious about life in Oldenburg during the wars, and saw a mention that the Grote farm was destroyed during the 30 year war in 1665. Are there any accounts of life or events during that war, or WWI or WWII?
My sense of things was there was relatively little fighting in Oldenburg-Munsterland during WWI and WWII, but am curious as to that. Not to stir up things, but I'm curious as to what was the attitude of folks in the area to Hitler, the Jews, etc, during WWII. My sense is that Oldenburg is a "Catholic island" in a Protestant region, and have heard that Hitler was anti-Catholic (but raised Catholic?) so didn't know if the locals in Oldenburg were any more or less in favor of Hitler than other regions/groups in Germany at that time.

The three things I can share, for what they're worth, regarding war time are:
-hearing a story that one of my ancestors who was plowing a field in Erte uncovered war helmets and weapons that dated to the time of the Romans
-that there was a POW camp near Erlte/Visbek in WWI for captured enemy soldiers. My grandfather's sister snuck vegetables to the POWs through the fence, and fell in love with one of them, a Belgian, who returned for her after the war and took her to Belgium where their descendants still live
-I have a letter written by my grandfather's brother who was fighting in the trenches for Germany at Verdun in WWI. He spoke of wanting to go home, that his unit was severely depleted, that his only solace was of Communion and of memories of his family. That letter arrived home a few days after a notice of his death the day after he wrote the letter. The story I was told that a mortar exploded near him and buried him alive and by the time he was dug out he was dead but his pocketwatch was still running; the pocketwatch is on my shelf now.

I appreciate everyone's help on this list, particularly in hearing of stories and getting the context. Far more interesting that names and years of birth/marriage/death!

Chris

6

HI Chris,
Your family stories are quite interesting. Thank you for sharing them. I
think the names/birth/death/marriage facts can provide a framework for
understanding the history that is so interesting to most of us, both in
terms of individuals and populations. For some interesting info about
Oldenburg during the Nazi era, try googling "Oldenburg crucifix rebellion".
It's probably not well promoted because the question then arises, "So if
they resisted Hitler here, why did they not also stand up for the Jews?" The
answer to that is, of course, way more complex than anyone today is willing
to delve into. One particular Oldenburger (Essen), Fr. Aurelius Arkenau,
reports being at a train station late one night enroute to Leipzig from
Berlin and was able to see first-hand how the Nazis were treating Jews: "far
worse than we had ever treated the animals on my father's farm, I knew that
I had the duty to help and save every Jew possible." Today, his memory is
honored among the righteous at Yad Vashem in Israel for his actions in
saving victims of Nazi persecution. Info. about him online is in German,
e.g., On-Tdh-line - Blog über die Religionen der Welt , but is easily
translatable for us non-German speakers, thanks to Babelfish!
Kind regards,
Suzanne Berger

7

Oldenburg during the Nazi era, try googling "Oldenburg crucifix rebellion".
It's probably not well promoted because the question then arises, "So if
they resisted Hitler here, why did they not also stand up for the Jews?"

The power of the state when it acts without check reaches into every
corner of society. It might not be PC to mention this here but we've
seen examples of this in our own society with Jim Crow laws and the
Patriot Act etc etc. In my army days back in the 50s I travelled back
and forth across the old South and it was a lesson of life I will
never forget. This was America? The land of the Free? The books I had
read never told me about this side of evil. The tears which had flowed
when the first saw the Statue of Liberty quickly dried up.

One gets the impression that Germans simply acted like most Americans
in the face of human injustice and they would be right. Yet, they were
the few rightous ones who sacrificed their lives in order to do what
was right - in both countries.

There are probably more such stories coming from the
Oldenburger-Münsterland then any other region of Germany. See:
Korupka, Joachim: Cloppenburg als Ort des Widerstandes gegen den
Nationalsozialismus, in; Ottenjann, Helmut (Hrsg.): Beiträge zur
Geschichte der Stadt Cloppenburg (Band II), Cloppenburg 1985

Much of Korupka's work is dedicated towards the struggle of the RC
church (and its members) against National Socialism in the O-M area.
I've read just about all of it. It interested me personally because I
tried to figure how my parents handled the situation back then. 'How
would I have acted?' is the basic question all of us need to face. To
resist was tantamount to being defined as a traitor to your own
country. It easily could result in your own demise.

The answer to that is, of course, way more complex than >anyone today is willing to delve into.

I chose to major in German history in order to find out as much as I
could. It is indeed a difficult story but it all goes back to human
greed and the power struggle among nations - all nations. The Jewish
question was basically an excuse for losing WW1 by the new and very
nationalistic leadership in Germany. The power of state propaganda
showed us that people will believe anything as long as they are told
often enough. See our own nation again where you hear certain
propaganda strains over and over again. People are like sheep no
matter what nationality.

Fred

8

Thanks Fred, how fortunate for us that you studied German history! To add to
this potentially non-PC discussion, aren't we just finding out this week in
our modern news that the New York Times and others, with the US government
standing by, kept back info. about the Nazi atrocities so they wouldn't be
perceived as "Jewish newspapers?"
My Mom was an American teenager during WWII, and said that when the initial
information about death camps was finally leaked to the public in America,
no-one could believe such atrocities were possible, that it surely had to be
war propaganda. Afterward, this is why so many people took such great pains
to document this horror of history - because good people have trouble
comprehending the depth of human evil until it overtakes them, and as Fred
illustrates, governments have a chilling knack for exploiting this. ~
Suzanne

9

Fred
I don't get a hit on "Oldenburg crucifix rebellion".
Do you have the exact internet adress of this information?
Paul

10

Sorry, try "Oldenburg Crucifix Resistance", "Oldenburg Crucifix Struggle" or
"Des Kreuzkampfes in Oldenburg".
Two links:

and

~spb