Last month I wrote about St. Martin’s Day, which we celebrated as children in Germany. Today I will be writing about the holidays season and St. Nikolaus.
The first of advent which is always on a Sunday starts the official Christmas season in Germany. At home everyone had an Aventskranz (advent wreath).
We would light the first candle on the first day of advent and the rest of the candles the following three Sundays. Children received an Advendskalender (advent calendar) on December 1st. The calendar had 24 little doors with hidden chocolates. Each day you had to find the door with the corresponding number and open it.
The calendar would have different characters from Christmas or from fairy tales. My Mother would take me to the store and I could choose one.
On of the most exciting days in December for us children was St. Nikolaus Day which is always on December 6th.
The night before, on December 5th, we put our slippers outside of our room and the next morning they were filled with chocolates, nuts and mandarins and small toys. If we had not behaved, St. Nikolaus would leave behind only twigs. In school we would recite poems and sing songs.
When I grew up I believed in the Christkind, roughly translated the christ child, which has nothing to with Jesus. She was more like an imaginary angel which would bring the gifts on Christmas.
When we had beautiful sunsets with red skies my Mother would tell me that this was a sign that the Christkind was baking. Every evening until Christmas I would look outside and wait for the sky to turn red again.
In the city where I grew up, we would go and look at all the Christmas displays in the store windows.
At the Christmas market we bought roasted nuts and chestnuts.
On Christmas eve my Mother shut the living room door and the magic happened while I was sleeping. The Christmas tree went up, be decorated and the Christkind brought the gifts. The next morning, bright and early, I was allowed back into the room filled with lots of presents under the tree.
The Christmas season in Germany goes through January 6th and ends with Epiphany or Three Kings Day. Children from our church dressed up as kings, roamed through the apartment houses, sang and asked for donations.
I have wonderful memories of the Christmas season in Germany. My Mother always kept the tree up way past the 6th of January.
How did you spend the holiday season in your childhood? Please leave a comment below.
Just last week we visited another cemetery. We were supposed to go to Point Loma, however due to the federal government shut down it was closed. Instead we decided to stop by Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It is a federal military cemetery in San Diego with some of the same views you can see from Point Loma.
When I took the pictures I didn’t realize that the graves all faced the San Diego bay. It is a beautiful and peaceful place with lots of sunshine and probably a lot of fog at times.
The cemetery is located on 75 acres and has more than 120,000 interments. It’s the final resting place for military personal since 1846. The gold rush didn’t start until 1849 and California became a state in 1850.
In September I went to the famous Virginia City Cemetery in Nevada. It felt like I travelled back in time. The cemetery is located on a huge hill and grouped by professions and religions, goes on forever. Most of the people buried there, were born in other countries. I found many graves of Germans, British and Irish descent.
The cemetery was established in the 1860’s and about 5000 people are buried here. If you walk the cemetery, bring water and sun screen. Good walking shoes are preferred. Best time to visit is October.
In June we went to the Carmel Mission in California. I took one picture of the cemetery.
How many people are buried here, is unknown. The cemetery was established in 1771.
Last year in September we went to two cemeteries in Europe. The first one was in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.
Lauterbrunnen cemetery is nestled in the beautiful Swiss mountains with a view of the famous waterfalls.
We also visited Berchtesgarden cemetery in Germany.
This cemetery is nestled in the beautiful Bavarian Alps.
Please note that every picture was taken by me.
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Tomorrow is Father’s Day here in the USA. I will honor my Dad and his direct paternal line, meaning his father, grandfather and so on. You can read my Mother’s Day blog here.
My Dad, Karl Franz Wilhelm Krings, was born 25 January 1924 and got married married 9 March 1946 to my Mom in Düsseldorf, Germany. He died 21 May 2006 in Bad-Neuenahr.
Dad circa 1946
Mom & Dad December 1968
Dad came from a large family family. He had seven brothers and sisters. Two of them died in WW2. He was a hard worker. He apprenticed as a sales clerk in a local clothing store called C & A in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s Dad wanted to be his own boss and became a local flower wholesaler. It was a hard job. He had to be at the flower auction house at six in the morning trying to buy the flowers at a good price, stayed there until nine or ten and then delivered them to the shops. In the evening the leftovers were stored in an air conditioned warehouse. After dinner, Dad still had to do bookkeeping. He worked twelve to eighteen hours a day, including some weekends. The neighbors had the audacity to wake him up on Sunday mornings to buy some flowers from him and of course my Dad would never say no.
Dad retired in 1984 and moved to Bad-Neuenahr, a smaller town where he would spend time with friends, go for walks and play Roulette at the casino. In 1994 we celebrated his 70th birthday.
Dad’s 70th Birthday with his siblings.
From left to right: Ursula, Dad, Trude and Richard
Dad’s Father and my Grandfather, Wilhelm Eduard Josef Hubert Krings, was born 25 September 1882 and died 19 May 1952 in Düsseldorf. He married my Grandmother, Maria Becker, 13 May 1907 in Wesel.
My Grandparents with their first child circa 1908
Grandpa’s birth certificate
His birth announcement in the local newspaper
Grandpa only had one older brother. A sister had died in infancy. He fought in Russia and France in WW1 and later had his own business.
From the 1926 Düsseldorf’s directory: – Krings, Wilhelm., Upholstery and decoration shop, Klosterstr. 112A; workshop: Kölner Street 50AU
Grandpa suddenly died at home in 1952. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I was born many years later.
Grandpa’s Father and my Great Grandfather, Wilhelm Hubert Krings, was born 21 October 1840, got married to my Great Grandmother, Bertha Müller, 8 October 1869 and died 17 April 1909 in Düsseldorf.
His birth announcement from 1840 in the newspaper. His mother’s maiden name Götzen is highlighted. Wilhelm was a professional gardener as seen in the Düsseldorf directory from 1881.
Wilhelm died 1909 in Düsseldorf. His death certificate is below.
Wilhelm’s Father and my 2x Great Grandfather, Andreas Daniel Josef Krings, was born 25 September 1808, got married to my 2x Great Grandmother, Maria Agnes Götzen, 12 August 1835 and died 28 October 1871 in Düsseldorf.
1808 Baptism in the Sankt Martin’s church in Düsseldor-Bilk.
He got married in the same church.
Andreas and his family were in the census taken in Düsseldorf between the years 1854-1860.
It contains the last and first names, professions, Andreas was a shoemaker and his wife Agnes had her own market stall. It also contained the family’s birth dates. One son, Johann, is crossed out. He probably already had died. Another child, Henricus 1838-1840, was not mentioned at all.
Andreas as well as his wife Agnes were in the 1855 directory for Düsseldorf. Her name was mentioned right under his name. They lived on the Duisburger Street 71.
Andreas was 63 years old when he died in 1871.
His death card mentioned that he had been widowed for seven years and that he had left two sons and grandsons behind.
Andreas’ father and my 3rd great grandfather, Joannes Winandus Josephus Krings, was born 10 March 1760 and died 2 May 1823 in Düsseldorf. He married my 3rd great grandmother, Maria Anna Josepha Weingartz, 27 June 1787 also in Düsseldorf.
Baptism 1760 and Marriage 1787
St. Lambertus Church in Düsseldorf
Newspaper announcement after the wedding.
Winandus died at the age of 68 in 1823.
Winandus’ Father and my 4th Great Grandfather, Nicolaus Krings, was born 15 January 1733 in Birgelen. This small village is located 33 miles east of Düsseldorf, near the Belgium border.
Nicolaus married my 4th Great Grandmother, Maria Clara Schadens, 26 January 1760 in Düsseldorf.
They had only one child together, my 3rd Great Grandfather. Nicolaus got married again in 1761 to Anna Catharina Fasbender. They had three children. Nicolaus died 9 August 1781 at the age of 48 in Düsseldorf-Bilk.
Nicolaus’ Father and my 5th Great Grandfather, Godefridus Crins, was baptized 22 March 1708 and died 18 August 1743 in Birgelen. He was married to my 5th Great Grandmother, Agnetis Leonards.
Godefridu’s Father and my 6th Great Grandfather, Nicolaus Creins, was born circa 1680 and he was married to my 6th Great Grandmother, Sophia Greven.
My direct paternal line ends with Godefridus for now. I have high hopes, that one day the church books will be online. The last name Krings was at one time spelled Crins and before that Creins. It really depended on how the people would pronounce their names and how the pastor would hear and record it. Some descendants might still carry the name Crins or Creins or another different spelling.
I was able to go back eight generations for my direct paternal line.
The first Father’s Day in the USA was celebrated 19 June 1910. In Germany Father’s Day is celebrated on Ascension Day. It’s always on a Thursday. The very first one was also celebrated in 1910.
I do hope you enjoyed this article.
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I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This week’s title is “In The Beginning”. I will be writing on how I got started in genealogy. Today is also my first blog anniversary! I can’t believe that I have been writing these posts for a year now. Time flies when you are having fun.
When I grew up in Germany no one ever really talked about the past and a family tree was never mentioned. My Dad would talk a little bit about WW2, he had lived through it after all. He was also a soldier for a little while, however he kept getting sick and so he was released from his duties early on. His two older brothers Hans and Josef weren’t so lucky. They both perished in that horrible war.
My maternal Grandfather or Opa would talk a little bit about WW1. He talked about how he learnt a little English and French during the war. The first English and French words I actually learnt from him. Opa would make extra money in the war by entertaining the other soldiers. He would then send the money home to his Mother. He never talked about his Father. I know Opa served in France but when and where I don’t know. The records were destroyed during air raids on Wuppertal in WW2. Below a picture of Opa in his WW1 uniform.
At one point in the 1990’s I wanted to start a family tree. I had bought some genealogy software to install on our first computer. I entered some information about my parents and had made a mistake and wasn’t able to correct it. I pretty much just gave up. I was working full time and then my children were both born in the mid 1990’s and my life got very busy.
In the back of my mind I always wanted to create a family tree, however I didn’t have the time or the knowledge on how to do it until the year 2003. We were visiting my husband’s paternal Grandfather in the state of Washington. Grandpa was 96 at the time and was still farming. A picture below of him getting ready to plant some onions.
Grandpa would always tell lots of stories. He himself was a child of immigrant parents. They came from Austria. Over the years I had listened to these stories and they always had fascinated me. This time it was different. Grandpa had asked us we had the Scholz book. We had never heard of it. So he gave us a copy to keep.
I was mesmerized and hooked at the same time. It was the beginning of my genealogical journey. One hundred years of dates, pictures and stories. As I looked through the pages I couldn’t believe my eyes. To my surprise I was in the book. Life is funny sometimes. How can you be in a book you didn’t even know existed. The picture on the front cover was taken in 1938 for the 50th anniversary of Grandpa’s parents, Adolf Scholz and Rosina Muecke, together with all their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Adolf and Rosina were both born in Austria and married in Tennessee in 1888. They had nine children in that state and moved west in 1905. Grandpa was the youngest and only one born in Washington in 1906.
Adolf Scholz died in 1939, less than a year after their 50th anniversary. Rosina lived until 1960. She was asked to write down her life story. It was included in the back of the book in her original hand writing and also a typed transcript. I have read this story a million times and all of it starting making sense over time. I have been able to verify most names and locations.
When we first received the Scholz book, I had really no idea about my own family history. I didn’t even know the names of my own Great Grandparent until few years later when my research started.
The author of the Scholz Book was my husband’s first cousin once removed, Virginia Scholz Burger. Unfortunately we never met her. Sie died in 2004. I do have a couple of photos and articles I found about her during my research. First of all on her wedding day
She served in WW2 as a WAVE officer.
An her book was mentioned in the newspaper
I think she would be happy to know that her work is being continued in a slightly different form via my research. May be one day, I will publish a second book on the Scholz Family and continue the saga from 1988 on.
Starting my genealogy in 2006 I didn’t know much about our ancestors, except for the book we were given by my husband’s Grandpa. During almost 20 years of my research, I have accumulated massive amounts of documents, pictures, articles, books and so much more. I currently have 22,280 people in my tree. I work on extended lines as well. I have found second and third cousins via DNA testing and through research. My husband is the lucky one, he has all the famous cousins. Stuntman Yakima Canutt, President Herbert Hoover and actor James Dean. By the way, all three and my husband have the same ancestor. My husband is also an eighth cousin of the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. We both have ancestors going back all the way to the 15th century.
My journey continues, let’s see where it will take me in the next 12 months. May be finding another second or third cousin. May be a trip to an ancestral place. May be a surprise of some sort.
Peter Wilhelm Steinhaus was my maternal third Great-Grandfather. From his death certificate I know that his calling name was Wilhelm. He was born 1 June 1811 in Eckkamp and died 15 August 1881 in Heerdt, Germany. His parents were Wilhelm Herman Steinhaus and Gertrud Strotmans.
Wilhelm married my third Great Grandmother, Marie Christine Bolten, 14 June 1830 in Eckkamp. The family lived in Heerdt and had eight children together. One of them was my second Great Grandfather, Balthasar Hubert Steinhaus 1838-1893.
Wilhelm died 15 August 1881 in Heerdt. His death certificate below, states his name, when and where he died. It also states that his parents died in Rath. The information was given by Wilhelm’s son, the farmer, Mathias Steinhaus. The mother on the death certificate, Elisabeth Brückman, is actually his stepmother. Mathias probably never met his real Grandmother.
You have always to research official documents. They are not always correct.
Wilhelm’s oldest sister, Anna Maria Steinhaus 1806-1883, married Peter Ohren 5 August 1833 in Eckamp. Anna Maria and Peter had three children together in Germany. They immigrated and arrived in New York 28 September 1852. The family settled in Old Ripley, Bond County, Illinois. I have DNA matches with some of their descendents. I will write a seperate blog about Anna Maria in the future.
Here is a map of where Wilhelm was born and where he lived after he got married.
Adamus Joseph Dittmar was my brother in law’s third Grandfather. Adamus is the Latin form of Adam. Adam was born 25 October 1833 in Buttlar, Germany and died 25 November 1912 in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents were the farmer, Johanni Adamus Dittmar and Sophia Ezel.
Adam was the youngest of ten children. Coming from a very tiny village, he probably had no chance of getting a good job besides being a farmer. The oldest son would have inherited the farm. Adam travelled to Bremen, where he boarded the Ammerland to sail to New York. The ship arrived 9 November 1850.
Adam is on the Ammerland’s manifest as seen above and the arrival is also mentioned in his passport application from 1893.
Adam stayed in New York City for a little while. He married his wife, Elisabeth Kircher, 5 July 1855. As seen below, Elisabeth was born 9 April 1932 in Buttlar, Germany. Most likely Adam and Elisabeth had met already in their home village.
OkIn this country Adam was known as A J Dittmar. I found him on a New Jersey tax list in 1864. Is occupation is builder.
Adam and Elisabeth had together 14 children born from 1856-1877. All of them were born in New Jersey. One of them, Adam J Dittmar Junior was my brother in law’s second Grandfather. 80th
A J Dittmar was a prominent citizen in Jersey City, New Jersey as you can see from his obituary.
The Jersey Journal
Jersey City, New Jersey • Mon, Nov 25, 1912,Page 1
A J Dittmar had a very busy and successful life.
My brother in law recently flew to Germany and visited a brewery with the Dittmar name.
The brewery is only 27, 6 km or 17.14 miles away from Buttlar. It’s very possible that the original owner were somehow related to A J Dittmar.
Owning a brewery must be in the Dittmar genes. If you are ever in the Seattle area, you can visit Airways Brewing owned by my brother and sister in law Alex and Dione Dittmar.
Barbara Wippel was my husband’s paternal Great Grandmother. She was born 28 May 1881 and died 3 February 1933 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in Germany. Her parents were Heinrich Wippel and Elisabetha Hochdörfer.
Above is Barbara’s birth certificate from Ludwigshafen. It shows her Father and Mother and their ages. He was 45 years old and quite a bit older than her Mother who was only 32 years old at the time of her birth.
Barbara got married to my husband’s Great Grandfather, Johann Christoph Päbst, 29 September 1906 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Most marriage certificates will have two pages. Here is the first page:
Under number 1 the groom is named and that his parents live in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. A side not the right, states the groom died 12 January 1916. Under number 2, the bride is named and that her Father lives in Ludwigshafen am Rhein and that her Mother died in the same city. A side note to the right states that the bride died 3 February 1933. The second page has different information as seen below.
Under number 3 and 4 the witnesses signed the certificate. To the left of the witnesses are more side notes. These notes state the birth of the twins Herbert and Lothar in 1913 and their respective marriage dates. Underneath is the birth of another son, Ottmar, who was born in 1907 and got married twice. The second marriage was in 1957, the first one is unknown. Barbara and Johann had six children together. The second oldest, Werner Päbst, was my husband’s Grandfather.
Barbara became a widow in 1916 when Johann died. She had a young family to provide for and got quickly married to her second husband, Phillip Friedrich Schneider, 6 March 1917 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
The marriage certificate has the same layout as the first one. Under number 1 the groom’s name is stated and that he was born in Pirmasens and that his parents had died there. Under number 2 it states the bride’s name and that she is a widow and that her Father lives in Ludwigshafen. Her Mother died in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
Above is once again the second page of the marriage certificate. Under number 3 and 4 are the witness. To the left of the witnesses, once again more side notes. This time you can see 4 children and their respective marriages. Philip Anton born 1918, Renate Ann Else born 1921, Manfred Jakob born 1922 and Edgar Adolf born 1920. All four children were born in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
Unfortunately Barbara lost her second husband in 1925. The older children had to pitch in and help raise the family. Barbara died in 1933 leaving behind a large family. The second oldest, my husband’s Grandfather, Werner Päbst took on the responsibility of taking care of the family.
Barbara was only 51 years old when she died. She was widowed twice and left behind 10 children.
Above is her death certificate. I have a picture of eight of her children.
All ten of her children had families of their own and were successful in their careers. My husband’s Grandfather is the handsome man on the right side of the picture.
Franciska was my paternal second Great Grandmother. She was born on 23 March 1812 in Engelskirchen and died on 27 July 1886 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her parents were the shoemaker, Johannes Müller and Anna Catharina Miebach.
Above her death certificate from Düsseldorf. It mentioned her son, Eduard Müller who gave the death information to the registrar, her husband Johann Müller who was still alive and it also stated that her son only knew that her parents died in Engelskirchen, however he didn’t know their names.
Franziska was married to my second Great Greatfather Johann Müller. The marriage date has been a mistery. We don’t know when and where they got married, even so both of them were from Engelskirchen. A second cousin of mine in Germany has tried very hard to find the marriage, but no success so far.
Franziska and Johann Müller moved a lot and they had a large family. Their first two children, Elisabeth and Wilhelm, were born in Hückeswagen. Their next three children, Bertha who is also my Great Grandmother, Johann and Eduard were born in Elberfeld (Wuppertal). The last two children, Helena and Gertrud were born in Düsseldorf. May be Johann was looking for better job opportunities. In Düsseldorf he worked in a factory.
Here you can see the towns of Engelskirchen, Hückeswagen, Elberfeld and Düsseldorf on a modern map. My guess is that my second Great Grandparents married somewhere between Engelskirchen and Hückeswagen. Why did they not get married in Engelskirchen? May be their parents didn’t approve? Lots of questions I can’t answer yet. I am also waiting for Engelskirchen church books to come online.
Maria was my 3rd Great Grandmother and she was baptized on February 17th, 1756 in the St. Lambertus church in Düsseldorf.
The photo of the church was taken by a famous photographer, Julius Söhn, probably during the late 19th century. This is her baptismal record:
Maria’s parents were Petrus Josephus Weingartz and Anna Elisabetha Herbst. She got married to Joannes Winandus Josephus Krings, my 3rd Great Grandfather, in the same church on 24 June 1787. This is their marriage record:
Their marriage was also announced in the local newspaper:
Maria died in Düsseldorf on 17 September 1814. I found her death record at St. Martins church in Bilk which is nowadays a part of Düsseldorf.
I know from this death entry that her calling name was Anna and not Maria. Anna had nine children, at least five of them lived to adulthood. One of them is my 2nd Great Grandfather, the shoemaker, Andreas Daniel Joseph Krings.
Genealogy Is An Adventure 