In answer to "Ott Otto" research found on GeVolga site. If not wanted or welcome on that site, please inform us in writing. Thank you. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry and Fran Goertzen" <[email protected]> To: "German Volga Roots Web" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:56 PM Subject: [GV] Fw: German Village Location resource ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry and Fran Goertzen" <[email protected]> To: "German Volga Roots Web" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:13 PM Subject: [GV] German Village Location resource I was a long time subscriber to Heritage Quest Magazine. It's Editor, Leland Metgler also had a publishing company, Heritage Creatons. Leland started the publishing of Hansen's Parish Books and I started ordering them for our Library Archives, AHSGR-CCC, Fresno, when I became genealogist and continued to do so until I retired in 2009. Unfortunately, Heritage Quest went into bankruptcy. I contacted Leland about Hansen's Series and he said he would start up a new publishing company and continue the series. That is why the name of the Publishing Co. changed. When Empress Catharine II sent out her invitation to Germans to settle in Russia, many of the Germanic Kingdoms and Provinces were against losing their people. The seven years war had just ended and rulers needed their workers to rebuild their country. For the same reason, the peasants were devastated and crops, etc. were destroyed. They were looking for a new land. That is why Büdingen became such a 'draw' for those colonists. The Count of Isenburg, ruler of the Province of Isenburg had Büdingen as the capitol of Isenburg. The Count sent armies to Russia to fight in the Wars and invited a Russian Consulate to set up in Büdingen to issue Passports and Visas so they could emigrate. Naturally enough, Isenburg and Hessen is what many immigrants listed as their 'home area' but people from many other areas left through Büdingen. Isenburg was primarily a Protestant Province and the Lutheran Church of Büdingen recorded many marriages and births. Kreis (County) Büdingen did not have a Catholic Parish. Darrell Brungardt is right about many churches, especially Catholic, not allowing the Mormons to microfilm their records. It helped to provide privacy for the Parishoners, but now it makes it hard for us to find ancestors. As mentioned, Aufenau may be a District rather than the Village like Bad Orb (resort of the Village of Orb). The District of Büdingen includes the Kreis Büdingen and the Village of Büdingen plus many other villages. Even though Aufenau and Bad Orb are very close to Büdingen, they were not in the Grand Duchy of Hessen. They were actually in the Province of Hessen-Naussau, Kingdom of Prussia at that time. Borders changed a lot due to wars, mergers, etc. In the late 1500s the area we know as Hessen plit up. There was Hessen-Kassel and Hessen-Nassau, which merged and was ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia. Hessen-Marburg and Hessen-Rheinfels merged with Hessen-Darmstadt to become the Grandduchy of Hessen. Your area of Aufenau and Bad Orb happen to be in Hessen-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia. This information would be in the Parish Guide Vol. 9 Hessen-Kassel, Kingdom of Prussia, Book I (one) in the Regierungsbezirk Kassel, Kreis Gelnhausen. This Vol 9 would also give you the history and many helps to find ancestors in this area. When I checked Vol 9, I found the Village of Aufenau was in the Parish of Aufenau, which means the village was large enough to have their own Catholic Church. This information is found on pages 278-280. There is no microfilm listed for the Catholic Parish. I also found the village of Orb which is also called Bad Orb. The prefix "bad" means it is now listed as an official Spa or Health Resort. Orb is also in Kreis Gelnhausen and its Parish for Lutheran is Aufenau (also no film available). So, Aufenau had both a Catholic Church and a Lutheran Church. Even though records of neither church has been filmed, the Vol 9 listed other German Archives you might check. There is a Catholic Archive in Mainz that may have your data, and who knows, could be in print. Let me know what you find out. Jerry Goertzen ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message