Genealogy Is An Adventure

Category: Krings Family

  • Theodor Krings 1850-1909

    Theodor Krings, a beer brewer, was the son of the shoemaker, Andreas Daniel Krings and his wife Maria Agnes Götzen. He was born 19 May 1850 and married Anna Elisabeth Hoeche 10 April 1874 in Düsseldorf. Their marriage was announced in the newspaper.

    From this one line I found out that he was a “Bierbrauer” beer brewer. Theodor was also in the 1878 Düsseldorf directory. He lived on the Hohe Street 41.

    Census records in Germany are rare but they do exist. Theodor together with his parents and siblings were in the Düsseldorf census taken between 1854-1860. He is the once circled in the photo.

    Krings, Theodor, Son living in Pempelfort (part of Düsseldorf), born 19 March 1851. The census taker got the birth year wrong by one year. I do have Theodor’s birth certificate which is clearly from 1850. I circled the 50.

    Theodor was only 59 years old when he died in 1909.

    He did have an important job as beer brewer. Düsseldorf is still known as having the largest “Biertheke” beer counter in the world, meaning that die Altstadt (Old Town) to this date has over 250 restaurants, bars and hotels and they all offer different beers. I am so happy to know that my great granduncle, Theodor, was part of this.

    Theodor and Anna had five children together that I know of. I only have the birthdate for the first one, Heinrich Hubert Josef, who was born in 1876. The youngest sibling, Wilhelm, born in 1886, died in infancy.

    The second youngest, Anna Wilhelmina Maria, was born in 1882 in Düsseldorf and died 1937 in Endhoven, Netherlands. She married Peter Paul Overkamp and they had three children also all born in Düsseldorf. The first born Peter Paul born in 1906 and died in 2007 in Uden, Netherlands. He was married to Franziska Wilhelmine Hermsen from Kevelaer, Germany.

    Peter Paul’s brother, Heinrich was born in1908 and died 1984 in Durham, North Carolina. Heinrich (Henry) married Theresia Elisabeth Hermann born 1907 in Bochum, Germany, in 1931 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. She died in 2000 in North Carolina. They had four children. Two of them died in infancy in the Netherlands. Henry and Theresa eventually moved with their two surviving children to North Carolina, most likely after WW2 when so many families in Europe had been displaced.

    The third child of Theodor and Anna, was Theodor Karl Hubert Joseph Krings. He was born in 1883 in Düsseldorf. I found Theodor in the Bavaria, Germany, World War I Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918.

    From left to right it gives me the following information. His name, his birth date and town, his profession as a glazier in Vienna, Austria, his wife’s name Maria Smrz and that they had one child, and the last column had his parents names. A cross indicated that they were dead.

    In the Vienna, Austria catholic church registers I found a son, Erich Theodor Johann born in 1915, however sadly he died a year later. It’s interesting what you can find in original records.

    The baptism entry for the son gave me also both of the parents’ names and their birth towns and even the churches where they were baptized in. So I found out that Theodor’s wife was born in 1891 in and that they married in 1912 in Vienna.

    In the wedding register it was noted that Theodor died in 1943 in Vienna. I don’t know when his wife died or if they had other children.

    The fourth child of Theodor Krings and Elisabeth Hoeche was Elisabeth Hermine Maria Krings who was born circa 1885 in Düsseldorf. She was married to Johannes Theodorus Hubertus Eekhoudt from Nijmengen in the Netherlands. They had a son named Gerhard Kornelius Johann who was born in 1907 in Düsseldorf and died in 1945 in Avereest, Netherland. His Mother, Elisabeth Hoeche, had sadly died in Düsseldorf when he was only two years old in 1909. Gerhard married Reina Kampinga in 1931 in Amsterdam. Reina was born in Gronigen, Netherlands. They had one son, Johannes Gehardus Diederik who was born 1932 in Amsterdam. He immigrated to Canada in 1960. I found him on a ship’s manifest.

    I also found Johannes (John) and may be his wife Trudy and his son Gary in the Canadas Voters List in Winnipeg in 1972.

    John died in 1978 in Winnipeg. According to one family tree on ancestry, he had six children.

    My great great uncle Theodor Krings and his wife Anna Hoeche have descendants in five different countries, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, USA and Canada. I wonder if these families know of each other. Most Germany couples I have in my tree have children and grandchildren, however they stay close by. For me it’s always fascinating to see where everyone ends up.

    Do you have a similar story? Please leave a comment below!

  • Josef Richard Heinrich Krings 1914-1943

    My paternal uncle, Josef Krings, was born 18 May 1914 in Düsseldorf, Germany and was killed 5 July 1943 during WW2 at the battle of Korowina, Bjelgrod, Russia. His parents were Wilhelm Krings and Maria Becker. I recently was able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate, which is now in the public domain, from Düsseldorf City Archives.

      His birth certificate has two Randvermerke or side notes. One is for his marriage and the other one for the death certificate. I have copies of both.

    Josef grew up in a large family with seven brothers and sisters. At one point he moved to Berlin. I don’t know exactly when and why. There, he married Antonia Sotola, 24 July 1940. She was born in Stockerau near Vienna, Austria. They had a son in 1941, named Georg, my first cousin. I have never met him.

    Uncle Josef, probably with his wife Antonia and may be his mother in law. Location unknown, probably taken in Berlin, circa 1940.

    Uncle Josef and cousin Georg circa 1942, location may be in Berlin.

    Josef and Georg 1941 in Berlin

    Cousin Georg 14 months old probably in Berlin, 1942

    Josef was killed in Korowino, Russia in July 1943. The death certificate was issued a year later, in July 1944, in Berlin.

    Josef’s wife, Antonia, together with their son Georg, moved back to Austria.

    I gathered the information about Josef from several source.

    • 1. Birth and death dates I learnt from my Dad who passed away in 2006
    • 2. The pictures were given to me by his younger sister, Ursula, who also passed away in 2006.
    • 3. Berlin death certificates are online from 1874-1985 at Ancestry. I didn’t know that my uncle had lived in Berlin, until I saw the certificate. From the side notes I learnt where to order the marriage and birth certificate.
    • 4. His marriage certificate from 1940, which I did not post here, I ordered from the City Archives in Berlin .
    • 5. I tried to look for his grave, but there is none. His body was never recovered. You can search for graves here at the German War Graves Commission.

    A few tips when you search at the German War Graves Commission site. The spelling of the names have to be exact. I would start with just a last name. Birth dates also have to be exact as well. German dates are written differently. For example today’s date is 5-19-25. In Germany the date would be 19-05-25.

    Every time you search the site, they want you to enter your name, address, email and so on. If you do find your relative, you then have the option of getting updates by email and/or also make donations to the website. I have never received any junk mail, only an occasional email every few years if there is something new on the battle/grave site.

    You can order military records at the Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive) in Germany. The web site is in German and English. I ordered my Dad’s service record over 10 years ago. It took two years to get them. It might even take longer nowadays. If you are looking for WW1 service records, you will have no luck. They were destroyed during WW2. The only exception are the Bavarian WW1 Personnel Records 1914-1918 which are at ancestry.

    Here is a map of where Josef was born (Düsseldorf), lived (Berlin) and died (Russia)

    In a future post I will write about Josef’s brother who was also a soldier and died shortly after the war ended. I am still gathering facts and documents.

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  • Godefridus Crins 1708-1743

    My paternal 5th Great Grandfather, Godefridus Crins, was baptized 22 March 1708 in Birgelen, Germany. Birgelen is a part of Wassenberg. His parents were Nicolaus Creins and Sophia Greven. The last name Crins was also spelled Creins and later became Krings in my family line. The English name for Godefridus is Godfrey.

    Godefridus had 3 siblings, Anna Maria, Arnoldus and Joannes Wernerus. I have not been able to find marriages for them. The church books are not online yet.

    Godefridus was married to my 5th Great Grandmother, Agnetis Lennards or Leonards. They had 5 children together all born and baptized in Birgelen.

    • 1. Joannes Nicolaus Crins baptized 28 June 1731
    • 2. Nicoulaus Krings, my 4th Great Grandfather, baptized 15 January 1733, died 9 August 1781 in Düsseldorf. He was married to Maria Clara Schadens. They had 1 child, my third Great Grandfather, Joannes Winandus Josepfus Krings. Nicolaus was also married to Anna Catharina Fasbender. They had 3 children together.
    • 3. Winand Krings, baptized 14 August 1735.
    • 4. Anna Sophia Crins baptized 6 September 1737
    • 5. Winand Wilhelmus Creins baptized 14 December 1739, married to Maria Meuser or Müser. They had 5 children together

    Godefridus died 18 August 1743 in Birgelen, he was only 35 years old. My 5th Great Grandmother died two years later. She was also 35. The life expectancy in Germany in the 1750’s was 38 years.

    Godefridus son and my 4th Great Grandfather, Nicolaus, left Birgelen and settled in my home town, Düsseldorf. The distance is about 63 km or 40 miles.

    I don’t have a lot of sources for this article. Most the info I received from fellow researchers.