Tears, Beer and Schnitzel!

Greetings from Deutschland! The first thing we saw getting off the ferry at Hirtshals in Denmark were old bunkers and fortifications, coastal defenses from mid 20th century (at the latest) and undoubtedly used during WWII. It was very cool to see history right there as soon as you step, or drive as the case maybe, on Danish soil. We stopped in a little town to exchange our Norwegian kroner to Danish kroner and found some breakfast: a nougat filled croissant and a poppyseed sprinkled pastry with a marzipan type filling. I am definitely going to try to replicate them when I get back home, they were delicious! Have I mentioned how much I love European breads and pastries? They are the best! I also had berry cookies in Norway that were delicious and since the recipe was on the package (albeit in Norwegian), you can bet I am going to try them out as well! Denmark is interesting because although it is a Scandinavian country, it doesn't have the dramatic (and hostile) landscape that Norway does. In fact, it is rather unremarkable, some slight rolling hills and plenty of fertile ground for farming. It almost makes one wonder why the ol' Norsemen didn't stay in Denmark!

When we crossed the border and entered Germany for the first time in almost 15 years, I suddenly got very emotional. To be plain, I melted into a puddle of tears, which is not what I was expecting, but I suddenly felt this overwhelming sense of "coming home." Germany was my home for the first 10 years of my life and I have felt that it was more my "home" than any other place I have lived because it was the first (although because we are driving a car with Norwegian license plates and my German is so rusty, our waitress on our first night in Germany thought we were from Sweden or some Scandinavian country...oops)! To add another level of emotional "homecoming," the reason I am coming to Germany is to research my ancestors, who actually lived in the same areas I did. Yet, I did not even know all this until I started on this journey. Knowing now that I lived in the same area as my ancestors, probably walking the same paths, adds another level of connection to these people that in itself is overwhelming. Even in Norway when I stood in front of Strand Church where my great great grandfather was baptized, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and closeness to this person I never knew. 

Now, to the German ancestors. My mother may actually have been part German. Her maternal grandfather's father, Mihaly Kreuts, was born around 1838 in the village of Felso-schonborn. At the time, the village was part of Hungary but now it belongs to the Ukraine. The name has changed to Verkhiny Koropets and lies outside the bigger city of Mukacheve. The name of the village sparked my curiosity as it sounded German and after some digging, I found out that the area was settled by Germans in the 1700s after the Hapsburgs took over. These Germans became known as Karpatho-Germans because the area was the Carpathian region. Further research revealed that Felso-schonborn was settled around 1740 by people from the Bamberg, Germany area. So it was probably my great great great great great grandparents that probably immigrated to this area. This whole area of Hungary retained much of its German identity until the 1940s. I will talk more about the Kreuts branch when we get to Hungary, but for now I will just say that to prove the German connection I would need records which are in the Ukraine. The Hungarian national archives have some information about the German communities but any records of former Hungarian areas that now belong to other countries are in those current countries. Considering the current instability in the Ukraine, I will have to look for other ways to look into that line. So for this German part of the ancestry tour I am looking into my dad's side. 

My dad is 30% German, which means he is more German than English, Scottish, Norwegian, Swedish or Cornish. The German ancestry is all through my paternal grandfather. His mother was half German, her father having immigrated with his family in the 1850s. His father, Grover, however, was also descended from Germans. Grover's mother was full blooded German, both her parents having been born in Germany. Grover's father, James had a mother of Germanic descent as well. I say Germanic because her paternal grandfather married a Swiss woman who also had some Alsatian ancestry. So to make things clear, here are the ancestors we are looking for in Germany: 

1. My great great grandfather (my paternal grandfather's mother's father) Elias Groft and his family. He was born in 1845 in Sulzbach to Gregorius and Felicitas Groft/Kraft/Croft/Kraff. 

2. My great great great grandmother (my paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother's mother), Maria Ursula Weller and her family. Maria Ursula Weller was born in 1838 in Adelberg to Johann Georg Weller and Juliana Buhler.

3. My great grandfather X 7 (my paternal grandfather's paternal grandfather's mother's paternal great grandfather), Johann Frederick Hengerer/Hangar and his family. Johann was born in 1726 in Neidenstein to Johann Melchior Hengerer and Maria Elisabetha Majer. 

Still following? Just wait till I include the Swiss and Alsatians into this Germanic mix!

Cheers!

Elizabeth

Schondorf, Germany, a city in the vicinity of family sites displaying typical German charm.