Hi
I've found many of my ancestors from Visbek. What exactly is Visbek? A village? A group of villages? How is it related to Visbek - Wostendollen, -Varnhorn, -Norddollen, -Erlte, -Hogenbogen, -Rechterfeld, -Siedenbogen, -Endel. Are Vestrup and Astrup also villages? Does Oldenburg encompass all of these? Thanks
Annette
Hi,
Visbek is a village, and this village is also the seat of the Gemeinde ("parish") Visbek, which encompasses, a.o. the villages Wostendöllen, -Varnhorn, -Norddöllen,...
Astrup also is a village in Gemeinde Visbek, Vestrup is in Gemeinde Bakum.
They all were part of the State/Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (not of the city of O.).
Regards
Heiko
"Annette Sweetman" <bubs@nc.rr.com> schrieb:
As a follow up to that, does the word "Gemeinde" refer to a governmental division?
In the U.S., with the exception of the state of Louisiana, I believe, the only time I've heard the word "parish" used is in regards to the Catholic Church, in which case it is a geographic division of the Church's organization, and is completely independent of the the state's internal divisions that are usually referred to as a "county".
In Louisiana, it's use is a governmental division, the same as what other states call "county".
The county "seat" refers to the seat of government of the county and the place where legal records would be filed and held, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, land deeds, etc.
Is that what a "Gemeinde" is? I suppose back before the government took over all that record keeping, the church, be it Lutheran or Catholic, would be that "seat", and therefore a parish and county would be the same thing. I assume there would be some overlap between the Lutheran and Catholic "parishes" in Germany. Or maybe not - back in those days citizens were required to follow the religion of their lord, were they not? So in any geographic region, there was only one church, and therefore only one seat of the parish?
Heiko Ahlers wrote:
Hi,
umhh, I had forgotten about the Louisiana parishes, I used the word in the British meaning where they know church parish and civil parish like they do here.
The US county roughly tranlates into the German Landkreis - a subdivision of the state, responsible e.g. for hospitals, higher education, ... A Landkreis is subdivided into Gemeinden, something like townships. Different from townships *every* Gemeinde is incorporated like a town, being responsible for lower eduation, fire fighting ...
And yes, as said aboove we have the civil Gemeinde and the church Gemeinde. Today of course each denomination has their own parish, while until in the 19th century each town/village only had one church (the one the count/duke/king adhered to). These church parishes were also the record keeping offices. Thus e.g. the first Baptists around here had to have their marriages recorded by the Lutheran pastor, I supposse they even had to have their children recorded by him although they had them baptized years later. A civil Gemeinde did not really exist back then.
Heiko
"David Harfst" <Genealogy@HarfstFamily.org> schrieb:
David,
Just so you know, in the U.S. the Episcopal Church refers to each of it's
congregations as a parish.
Bobbi
My ancestors are from Visbek, Rechterfeld, Oythe and possibly Varnhorn.
Hellmann from Visbek, Oythe, and Rechterfeld.
Varnhorn from Oythe and Lutten.
Would someone help see if any Hellmann and Varnhorn still live in Visbek,
Rechterfeld, Oythe and Varnhorn?
Annette Sweetman any chance we could be related. Your ancestors married my
ancestors?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Thanks
Steve Hellmann from Edgewood, KY
Steve,
If you google "Germany telephone book" or like terms you'll get some hits
that allow you to type in the name of a German town and a last name.
That's how I found my long lost relatives in Visbek/Erlte.
Good luck,
Chris
Chicago (originally Cincinnati)
Hi
I don't have a Hellmann or Varnhorn in my database yet. I just received the Visbek church records from 1810 to 1875 at our LDS Family Center - it will probably give me a few more of my people for that year range and possibly a connection - I'll let you know! I've only had a moment to look at the records so far and I'm almost sure I saw a Varnhorn in the records - how far back have you gone? I remembered it because Varnhorn is also a place.
Annette
Steve Hellmann wrote:
Hello Annette,
Cheryl Bruns in the States search for the marriage of the parents of his ancestor Heinrich Joseph Bruns.
We assume, that
Johann Bernd Bruns married between 1810 - 1814 in Visbek to Anna Marie Bruns.
but Cheryl could not find it at the LDS films, maybe Johann Bernd have changed the name to Bruns.
Please keep your eyes for this marriage record.
Thank you,
Werner
No problem, I'll look next time I go.
Was Heinrich Joseph Bruns birth in Visbek?
Annette
Werner Honkomp wrote:
Check this phone directory:
Good luck,
Werner Honkomp
Annette
My great grand mother Anna Katharina (nee Varnhorn) Hellmann born 01/08/1870
in Oythe.
Anna's father Friedrich August Varnhorn born 01/11/1834 in Lutten
Anna's mother Maria Elisabeth (nee Themann) Varnhorn born 07/03/1833 in
Lutten
So far I have 4 children
Maria Elisabeth Varnhorn born 06/14/1862 in Oythe, Germany
Josephine Elisabeth Varnhorn born 12/25/1866 in Oythe, Germany
Anna Katharina Varnhorn born 01/08/1870 in Oythe, Germany
Maria Bernhardine Varnhorn born 08/12/1873 in Oythe, Germany
Anna married Johann Josef Hellmann
Josephine married Arnold Joseph Hellmann
Johann and Arnold were 1st cousins.
Thanks
Steve Hellmann of Edgewood, KY