Gail, Now you are cookin'! <g> Offenburg is a well-known town. Problem is - Offenburg is not in Bavaria. It is near Freiburg, state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in the southwest corner of Germany: Offenburg County : | | +---- Ortenaukreis (Offenburg) {OG} District : | +------- Freiburg State : +--------- Baden-Württemberg ZIP : 77652-77656 Popul : 51759 Locat : 48d28m N 7d57m E But OffenbErg is in Bavaria, northeast of Munich, in the southeastern part of Germany: Offenberg County : | | +---- Deggendorf {DEG} RegBez : | +------- Niederbayern Land : +--------- Bayern ZIP : 94560 Popul : 2845 Locat : 48d52m N 12d52m E Which do you think it is? Norm ----- Original Message ----- From: Gail E. Jorgensen To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 11:11 PM Subject: RE: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern...now Offenburg I finally found additional information on this town. I have the death certificate for Alois and it is written that he and his father and mother came from Offenburg and they are Catholic. Is this enough to go on to try to locate church records in Germany? Alois was born in 1825 and they came to the US in 1832. I am still a novice at locating my family in Europe and appreciate any advice. Gail Jorgensen -----Original Message----- From: Norm B [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 11:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern Gail, I believe you read the gravestone correctly. But gravestones are not known for their great accuracy. They are carved many years after the person's birth, written by others, and spelled as best they could remember. When you get home, look over the list of all Bavarian towns that begin with "O" at http://bavariangenealogy.com/bh/orteo.htm . Go down the list to find which is likely yours. You will see only four towns starting with "Oben". They are Obenbrunn G Gunzenhausen Obending G Tann Obenhausen G Buch Obenhub G Reut [The "G Xxxx" stands for 'Gemeinde Xxxx", which is the larger town nearby that provides government services for the first-named village.] A search for "look-alike" town names, using "Obe*burg" as the model, yields only Obergünzburg and Obernburg. Searching with "Obe*berg" gives more, but none close to "Obenberg". The best candidate seems to be: Obernburg (a Main) County : | | +---- Miltenberg {MIL} RegBez : | +------- Unterfranken Land : +--------- Bayern ZIP : 63785 Popul : 7486 Locat : 49d51m N 9d09m E Norm B. ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 10:46 AM Subject: Re: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern Norm, I copied the spelling exactly as it was written on the tombstone. Could it be that Obenburg is the German spelling for either Obernburg or Oberburg? And yes he was catholic. Would I then perhaps try church records in the 2 Obernburgs and the 2 Oberburgs? Do you know where I need to go to find out where to search Catholic records? Thanks for writing? Gail ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== Sister or Brother, Can you spare $10 dollars to support Rootsweb? http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#personal ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== Going on Vacation? Longer than 4 days? Go to http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/DEU/BAVARIA.html to unsubscribe

Norm I am looking at the death certificate, which of course is never 100 % reliable <vbg> and it looks like Offenburg Bavaria....BUT.....if written by someone not from Bavaria, they could have written it wrong. Would it hurt to try looking in the church records if I have the date of birth in Offenberg? Gail -----Original Message----- From: Norm B [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 9:40 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern...now Offenburg Gail, Now you are cookin'! <g> Offenburg is a well-known town. Problem is - Offenburg is not in Bavaria. It is near Freiburg, state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in the southwest corner of Germany: Offenburg County : | | +---- Ortenaukreis (Offenburg) {OG} District : | +------- Freiburg State : +--------- Baden-Württemberg ZIP : 77652-77656 Popul : 51759 Locat : 48d28m N 7d57m E But OffenbErg is in Bavaria, northeast of Munich, in the southeastern part of Germany: Offenberg County : | | +---- Deggendorf {DEG} RegBez : | +------- Niederbayern Land : +--------- Bayern ZIP : 94560 Popul : 2845 Locat : 48d52m N 12d52m E Which do you think it is? Norm ----- Original Message ----- From: Gail E. Jorgensen To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 11:11 PM Subject: RE: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern...now Offenburg I finally found additional information on this town. I have the death certificate for Alois and it is written that he and his father and mother came from Offenburg and they are Catholic. Is this enough to go on to try to locate church records in Germany? Alois was born in 1825 and they came to the US in 1832. I am still a novice at locating my family in Europe and appreciate any advice. Gail Jorgensen -----Original Message----- From: Norm B [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 11:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern Gail, I believe you read the gravestone correctly. But gravestones are not known for their great accuracy. They are carved many years after the person's birth, written by others, and spelled as best they could remember. When you get home, look over the list of all Bavarian towns that begin with "O" at http://bavariangenealogy.com/bh/orteo.htm . Go down the list to find which is likely yours. You will see only four towns starting with "Oben". They are Obenbrunn G Gunzenhausen Obending G Tann Obenhausen G Buch Obenhub G Reut [The "G Xxxx" stands for 'Gemeinde Xxxx", which is the larger town nearby that provides government services for the first-named village.] A search for "look-alike" town names, using "Obe*burg" as the model, yields only Obergünzburg and Obernburg. Searching with "Obe*berg" gives more, but none close to "Obenberg". The best candidate seems to be: Obernburg (a Main) County : | | +---- Miltenberg {MIL} RegBez : | +------- Unterfranken Land : +--------- Bayern ZIP : 63785 Popul : 7486 Locat : 49d51m N 9d09m E Norm B. ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 10:46 AM Subject: Re: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern Norm, I copied the spelling exactly as it was written on the tombstone. Could it be that Obenburg is the German spelling for either Obernburg or Oberburg? And yes he was catholic. Would I then perhaps try church records in the 2 Obernburgs and the 2 Oberburgs? Do you know where I need to go to find out where to search Catholic records? Thanks for writing? Gail ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== Sister or Brother, Can you spare $10 dollars to support Rootsweb? http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#personal ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== Going on Vacation? Longer than 4 days? Go to http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/DEU/BAVARIA.html to unsubscribe ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== Sister or Brother, Can you spare $10 dollars to support Rootsweb? http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#personal

Gail, I'm sure if an American heard Offenburg or Offenberg, he might spell them the same. It would only hurt in extra expense and/or time to write to both. I would write first to the Catholic Diocesan archive for Offenberg, Bavaria at: Archiv des Bistums Passau Luragogasse 4 D-94032 Passau Germany Give them the name, town, and date of birth of your ancestor. There is a fee, even if they don't find his record, but you seem to have good information now. Good luck, Norm ----- Original Message ----- From: Gail E. Jorgensen To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 12:10 AM Subject: RE: Re: [BAVARIA] Ludwig or Zapp - Obenburg Bayern...now Offenburg Norm I am looking at the death certificate, which of course is never 100 % reliable <vbg> and it looks like Offenburg Bavaria....BUT.....if written by someone not from Bavaria, they could have written it wrong. Would it hurt to try looking in the church records if I have the date of birth in Offenberg? Gail