Dear Listers
I am looking for Johan Heinrich OTTERSTEDT born 1872 Germany moving to
England 1892-99 . I have come to a stop as I cant find him after 1901 in England
under this name.
I am trying to trace him in Germany. I have been told that many Germans
especially from rural districts did not have or use surnames until at least after
Unification in 1872 . They used their first names and then took the place
where they lived. I think he did come from Otterstedt area as he came to
England via Hannover. Can anyone confirm this and if so I am looking for an Johan
HEINRICH.
Also I have found Otterstedts ( no relation as yet ) coming from Denmark and
Sweden . Where would they have got their name from originally
Please help
Thank you in advance
Hi,
It's not true that the Germans before 1872 did not have surnames.
Rather, they may not have had a uniform spelling of the surname. In church
(and other) records it is more likely that the name was spelled according to
what the person heard. I could guess if you go back to pre-1500 where there
are few recorded documents, somewhere back there, they did not have
surnames (except royalty perhaps). However, sometime ago, I read about
villages in Bavaria that the Jews did not have surnames, until more recent
times. They were told to take a surname at some point.
If possible, you could look at the LDS records for the town of
Otterstedt:
Kirchenbuch, 1715-1852 Evangelische Kirche Otterstedt (Kr. Achim)
I know that doesn't hold the records for your ancestor because of the
date, but you would certainly know how many names there were with that name.
Barbara
Hi,
just a v e r y rough history of surnames in Germany. Developments differ between the regions.
Up to the Middle Ages people just had their given name. In the course of migration, developing trade etc. further discriminations became necessary. Some people were called by their profession, certain attributes, heritage etc. (eg. Johann (de)Zimmermann = John (the) Carpenter, Johann von Köln, Hinrich Kurze).
This development began in the bigger towns spreading slowly to the rural areas. The first surnames were recorded in Köln (Cologne) in the late 11th century. Bremen´s senate ruled that each citizen shall bear a surname in the 13th or 14th century.
In some areas (e.g. rural Ostfriesland, East Frisia) ist was a tradition to adopt the father´s given name as surname. Jan Simons´ (his fathers given name was Simon) son Jan was called Jan Jansen (Jan son of Jan), his son Piet would be called Piet Jansen, his son Hinrich Hinrich Peters (or Pieters etc.). Latest by the middle of the 19th century this was forbidden and the people were forced to adopt fixed surnames. Within the Jewish population there was a similar development.
In other rural areas (Grafschaften Diepholz and Hoya; north of Hannover) the groom inheriting into a farm took his wife´s surname.
It is true that in some rural areas surnames were not used in daily life. The persons were called by their farm´s name (e.g. Hinners Peter = Peter living on the Hinners farm; his real name may have been Peter Schmidt). But in official documents,in general, their surnames appeared.
Until the beginning of civil registration and developing education names were often spelled according to what the writer heard. Even within one and the same document the name could appear in different ways.
This was just a short glance into surname history, taking the northern regions into account. Maybe there are other traditions elsewhere in Germany.
Your ancestor Johan(n) Heinrich Otterstedt mzust not necessarily have derived from the town Otterstedt. Maybe his ancestors came from that place some centuries ago.
Sincerely,
Jürgen
"R&B Stewart" <raybarbara@comcast.net> schrieb:
Hello, Mister Meyer.
Which is the region or village from which your Meyers came? My Meyer and
Grassmann families lived near Suderburg, Hoesseringen, Oldendorf.
Edward H Meyer