2023-07-04 11:04:00
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In dialogue (from left): Kunigunde Brandner from Wolferborn, Mila Koretnikow, Brent Mai and Maria Patzer from the Office for Regional History of the Main-Kinzig district. © pv
Wolferborn (red). Some time ago, Achim Lohrey wondered why there were very few inquiries from descendants of former emigrants. This question should now be answered. Coincidentally, Lohrey was out and about in Wolferborn on his bicycle. A coach with Stuttgart license plates was parked in the center of the village at Wehrtborn. “Can I help you?
“, asked he. “Yes, we’re looking for the village church in Wolferborn.” It was a tour group of 21 people from the USA. Ancestors of the tour participants came from the village.
emigration the Sinner family
This came as a surprise, because three of Achim Lohrey’s male ancestors, the Konrad brothers, Heinrich and Adam Sinner, had emigrated to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania in 1882. Up until the death of her parents in 1919, letters continued to come from Konrad, who ran a thriving salon in Philadelphia. A picture still hangs in the hallway of the Lohrey family. Heinrich and Adam broke off correspondence with his parents early on. What had happened to them? Was a door open to further information via this tour group?
tour guide dr. Mila Koretnikov, lecturer for Technical English at the Institute for Foreign Languages in Karlsruhe, sent an email to the local parish at the beginning of May. Unfortunate circumstances led to no answer. The chance encounter should change everything for the better. After hurried phone calls, the village historian Kunigunde Brandner, who had been dealing with the emigration issue for some time, came along. The group’s wish to be allowed to visit the church was of course granted.
We were looking for a Faust family that emigrated in 1766 to the Saratov region on the Volga via the Ysenburg collection point in Büdingen. This family later emigrated to the USA. During his genealogical research, Achim Lohrey had a 230-page document about this time. It speaks of a Hans Sinner, born in Wolferborn in 1604 as the first generation of a Sinner family. He showed this document to a member of the group. it was dr Brent Mai, Head of the Russian-German Institute and Dean of the Library at the University of North Florida (USA).
history of Volga Germans
Mai researches the cultural history as well as the genealogy and family research of the Volga Germans who moved to the USA. He also organizes the »Volga German Tours«. From 2016 to 2019 he accompanied eleven travel groups with a total of 250 participants in Germany. Since it is currently not possible to travel to Russia, historical research has been intensified in Germany since 2022.
After a two-hour stay, however, the tour group urged them to leave for the next appointment in Bad Orb. But there were still so many conversations to be had. Kunigunde Brandner and Achim Lohrey received an invitation to exchange information together at the Hotel an der Therme in Bad Orb. In the meantime, documents from Dr. Klaus Peter Decker and his own documents put together to be prepared for the evening. Lohrey informed Maria Patzer, who works for the Main-Kinzig District Office for Regional History, about the encounter. Patzer was enthusiastic and also came to Bad Orb. Their ancestors, the Pfaffenroth families from Geiß-Nidda and Reußwig from Niedermittlau, also emigrated to Russia. Was she also able to learn something about her family history?
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In search in New Jersey
Despite all the language barriers, there was an intensive exchange and addresses for further contacts and search queries could be exchanged. Maria Patzer learned important things about her family history. Kunigunde Brandner was in New Jersey, USA, with her husband from 1994 to the end of 1997, so she was able to continue her search. Also from their ancestors were around 1850 Johannes Appel sen. and son Heinrich emigrated to New York with their family. In 1883 the grandson Johannes Appel jun. moved to Iowa with his family. Through old letters from her mother’s parents’ house and further research, she and her husband were able to visit descendants of the family from Iowa in Rich Hill, Missouri, in the summer of 1997, with whom she is still in correspondence today.
»But how touching was the visit by Americans to little Wolferborn and the great interest in the old fortified church of Saints Peter and Paul? It is to be hoped that future inquiries will not be erased by EDP security software and that chance will not have to help lead to success«, says Achim Lohrey after this special encounter.
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#Searching #clues #Wolferborn