Genealogy Is An Adventure

Tag: Friesenheim

  • What Happened To Franz Beiersdörfer (1859-?)

    Franz Beiersdörfer was my husband’s maternal 2nd Great Grandfather. He was the son of the soldier, Johann Heinrich Beiersdörfer (1829-1891) and his wife Margaretha Johann (1830-1876). Franz was baptized 21 July 1859 in the catholic church in Albersweiler, a famous wine region in Germany.

    Baptism of Franz Beiersdörfer in Alberweiler.

    Town of Albersweiler Circa 1910

    In 1884 Franz lived in Friesenheim, which is now part of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. That year he married my husband’s 2nd Great Grandmother, Elisabeth Höcker (1864-1928). Elisabeth was the daughter of Johannes Höcker (1836-1874) and his wife Wilhelmine Katharina Bauswein (1839-1907).

    This marriage certificate has a lot more information that just the groom and bride and their parents. On the second page it stated that Franz and Elisabeth had a son, named Karl, together in 1881. It has been my experience with quite a few of my husband’s Bavarian ancestors that the women had children before they even got married. Children that were born before the wedding, will always be mentioned in the marriage certificate.

    On the top page there is a side note in the upper left corner which states that Franz and Elisabeth got a divorce in 1900. We know that Elisabeth died 1928 in Ludwigshafen. What happened to Franz? Franz and Elisabeth only had one son. Two other children died in infancy.

    Their son, Karl, married in 1908 in Ludwigshafen. In his marriage certificate it said the location of his Father, Franz, is unknown. Karl fought in WW1 (1914-1918). In the WW1 Peronnel Roster it stated that Karl’s Father lived in America, location unknown.

    A long time ago my husband’s maternal Grandmother talked about her Grandfather, Franz. She had heard that he had left for America and that the ship sank.

    Searching for Franz is becoming like finding a needle in a haystack. America could have been the USA or Canada or even Central America. How about South America? Many Germans immigrated to Brazil for example.

    I searched the following websites for Franz hoping to find emigration or immigration records.

    I even contacted the city archives in Ludwigshafen to see if they had any emigration information about Franz. It’s possible that Franz used a different name when he left the country. He was a butcher by trade, so it would have been easy for him to find work. I found the 1896 directory for Friesenheim in google books.

    His wife Elisabeth was in it, but he was not. My guess is that Franz was already gone by then and it took a couple more years for her to get a divorce in 1900.

    Here is Franz’s timeline:

    • 21 July 1859 Birth in Albersweiler
    • 24 July 1859 Baptism at the catholic church in Albersweiler
    • 16 November 1881 Son Karl is born in Friesenheim
    • 11 October 1884 Marriage to Elisabeth Hoecker in Friesenheim
    • 28 December 1884 Birth of daughter Susanna
    • 10 February 1885 Death of daughter Susanna
    • 18 April 1887 Birth of son Adam
    • 29 March 1900 Divorce
    • Death date and location unknown

    I will contact the city archives in Ludwigshafen again to see if I can obtain a copy of the divorce record. I do not know if they even kept it. May be I can find a clue in that record.

    As always I like to include a map. Friesenheim is north of Albersweiler, about 60 km or 37 miles.

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  • Elisabeth Bauswein Höcker Beiersdörfer Steiner1864-1928

    Elisabeth was my husband’s maternal second Great Grandmother. She was born and baptized 20 February 1964 in Friesenheim now part of Ludgwigshafen am Rhein in Germany. Elisabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine Katharina Bauswein. Below is the baptismal entry from the catholic church, Sankt Gallus.

    Elisabeth’s Mother, Wilhelmine Katharina Bauswein, married her Father, Johannes Höcker The Fifth, 1 June 1865 in the same church. On the marriage certificate Johannes stated that Elisabeth and two of her other siblings were his children.

    Elisabeth married the butcher, Franz Beiersdörfer, 11 Octbober 1884 in Friesenheim. Front and back page of the marriage certificate is below.

    On the first page there is a side note that says that Elisabeth got divorced from Franz in 1900. From one of his children’s military records I know that Franz lived in America. As far as I know Elisabeth and Franz had only three children, one of them, Karl Beiersdörfer, my husband’s Great Grandfather, was born in 1881 in Friesenheim. The two other children were Susanna and Adam. Susanna died in infancy and I have no more information about Adam.

    Elisabeth got married to her second husband, the bricklayer, Peter Steiner, 23 September 1901 in Ludwigshafen. The marriage certificate is below.

    As far as I know the couple did not have any children together. Peter Steiner died 1914 in France during WW1. His death certificate from Ludwigshafen is below.

    Elisabeth died 3 November 1928 in Ludwigshafen. It was reported and signed by her Granddaughter, Erna Beiersdörfer, who was also my husband’s Grandmother. The death certificate is below.

    Elisabeth had a hard life. She was born out of wedlock, her first husband seemed to have left her and she had to get a divorce. Her second husband died in WW1. She seemed to only have one son that survived her.

  • Karl Beiersdörfer 1881-1951

    Karl Beiersdörfer was my husband’s maternal Great Grandfather. Karl was born 16 November 1881 in Friesenheim and died 15 March 1951 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. His parents were the butcher, Franz Beiersdörfer and his wife Elisabeth Höcker.

    Karl married Margarete Senck 20 June 1908 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.

    The marriage certificate states the names of the bride and groom and their parents. It states that the location of Karl’s Father Franz is unknown and that his Mother had married a second time and her last name is now Steiner. We also learn that Karl is a mason. It also says that the bride, Margarete Senck is a magazine worker and that she was born in Oggersheim. Her parents are Christoph Senck and Margarete Weinacht. The marriage certificate has several side notes (Randvermerke in German) These side notes can be of utmost importance for further research. On the right side of the first page it is written that Karl died 18 Mar 1951 in Ludwigshafen and the number of the death certificate is number 370/1951. There is a second side note that states that his wife Margarete died 5 May 1953 and that the number of the death certificate is 6061/1953. On the second page is another side note which mentions the birth of one of the children, Oscar Beiersdörfer, born 24 Sep 1924 and his marriage on 30 September 1950. Per German privacy laws I would not be able to order the Oscar’s birth or marriage certificate yet. You can order birth certificates after 110 years, marriage after 80 years and death after 30 years.

    Karl fought in WW1 in the Alsace Lorrain region an area the Germans and French have fought over for hundreds of years.

    In the Bavarian personal roster we we learn that Karl is catholic, when and where he was born, that he was a mason, that he was married and had three children at the time. We also learn that his Father, Franz, apparently lived in America, however the location is unknown and his Mother lived in Friesenheim.

    Last month I travelled for the very first time to the Alsace Lorraine region on our way to Switzerland. We spent a few hours in the beautiful town of Colmar. The German spelling would have been Kolmar. Here are few of my pictures I took.

    If you have the chance, go and visit the Alsace Lorraine region. It’s very beautiful. I hope to go there again on my next trip to Europe.

    My Mother In Law said that Karl her Grandfather was a very kind person. He had a garden where he grew rhubarb, chamomile and peppermint. He also had a cherry tree and would get upset when the grandchildren came and picked the cherries too early. Karl also had rabbits, chicken and a goat.

    Oggersheim and Friesenheim are all part of Ludwigshafen am Rhein.