This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/ZVC.2ACE/4108.1 Message Board Post: There was no such thing as a Lower Saxony (in German: Niedersachsen) until after World War II! The state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) hasn't even existed 60 years yet! Johann Georg Mohrhauser was born somewhere in the state of Hanover. There was no such place as a "Preuben". The fifth letter is not a "b". The fifth letter is the German character "scharfes S" -- ß . The character "ß" is used in many, but by no means all, German words to represent "ss". Thus, another correct spelling would be "Preussen". "Preussen" is simply German for "Prussia" -- just like "Deutschland" is simply German for "Germany".