Ruyle Muench Schenck Straube Ziegler Geiger Helene Pockrus wrote: > Someone on the list ask me to post this story about our trip! Hope it > doesn't upset anyone. If so just delete it! > Helene > > After a month of being in Germany and Austria we are home! > What beautiful country and what fun we had! Met cousins, > were wined and dined by family I didn't know I had, and got genealogy on > > my family von Metnitz back to 793 and Pflaummer to 1139 ! > The latter is my grandmother's lineage. Have copies of everything the > archives had in Klagenfurt on my Metnitz family. They copied all of it > in exchange for a microfilm copy they wanted of my Grandmother's > genealogy book she co-wrote in the 1920-30s with professional > researchers. We were walked by courthouse department heads (who > locked their offices) to our cemetery where I was able to see my > grandparents and cousins graves. Two museums that were locked were > opened to show us things they felt we needed to see in both Metnitz (the > > town) (where the Metnitz family arrived from France in 790) and in > Klangenfurt where the Metnitz family were one of the earliest families > in the Corinthia area. They were there before 1200s; this after an > upset with the Bishop of Gurk who razed their castle in Metnitz. > Met a cousin in Weissenburg that the courthouse persons directed me > to. He promptly locked his restaurant and Brewery (now defunct) and > took us to his home to show us his chart of the Pflaummer family from > 1100. He lived in the home of his family and was the 5th generation to > > live in it. The brewery had been in business from 1558 until a few > years ago, and of the 30 breweries in town there are now only 3 left. > I had the main line of this family but did not have the hundreds of > family members. He and I compared our material. Now I will send him a > copy of my book and he will make a large copy of the chart for me. It > was a chart on old parchment that was bigger than a map (like the old > school maps) and filled his dining room wall. It had been hand painted > and incribed by a teacher many years ago and he had added to it. All > the dates were on it! > In Klagenfurt Dr. Byenburg who was the town historian told me I had > > family there, a friend of his, and he called the cousin who had the same > > name as my father. They invited us to come to their old home (an early > castle that had been remodeled) and so we had afternoon "coffee" and > goodies with them and compared notes and found where he fit into the > family. > > He was also a second cousin. We were treated warmly and the pictures > and books came out to share. Their cute daughter will come to the USA > again this year. She speaks excellent English and her mother does really > > well, as she is a teacher and Carl did very well also. > The highlight of the trip however was when in Saalefeld, the town in > > what was the east sector of Germany after W.W.II where my father was > born.We went to the Rothaus and the gal didn't speak English. Showed > her > thatI wanted information on the family Metnitz and would like to find > the > graves of my grand parents. > She searched and searched. Finally a gentleman nonchalantly came in > eating an ice cream asked what she was doing ? > She told him and he asked us and again I showed him my > grandmother's book. He looked shocked! He went to his desk and picked > up some loose papers he had there and asked if I knew anything about > Carl or Gustav von Metnitz who went to Hamburg and then New York City. > Told him they were my father and one of his brothers who went to the > USA in 1926. I showed him who they were in the book. > He got on the phone and called the tourist bureau and had a gal come > over who spoke good English. > It seems that he had been working on this family as he had a letter from > > an attorney and a cousin who was claiming heir to my grandfather's > estate. He had told her she needed proof of the other children of my > father's brothers and sisters. He had sent the info to the archivist > who was to prove this. The letter was dated September 20, 1999. > We were there on the 1st of October. I had a lot of his answers. > He sent me home with copies of the letters and told > me the attorney wanted to contact me. Strange to say, my grandfather > died in 1910. His wife died in 1953. Their home had been bombed by > the Americans and the copper wire factory next door which they had > operated for many years as well. > If I had come in the day before the archivist hadn't been there and > if we had come the following 2 weeks he would have been on vacation as > he was leaving the next morning. His quote was, "It's magic". I had > saved him much work. Now the question is, what inheritance? Was it > possibly repatriation? If it is only a buck, the story is worth its > weight in gold. When grandmother died my dad's share was 600 dollars > approximately. This had been a family with great prestige and lots of > wealth over the centuries. > Now , how do you like that for a genealogical story? > > Will look forward to hearing from you. > Helene > > ==== GERMAN-KINGDOMS Mailing List ==== > Brother, > Can you spare $10 dollars to support Rootsweb? > Ask me why..... mailto:[email protected]