Church Record Sunday - Elise's Confirmation

This is a picture of my grandmother Elise Gegenheimer after her Confirmation in 1933. She is outside of the Evangelische Kirche in Stein, Germany (currently Königsbach-Stein, Baden-Württemburg). Her Confirmation Verse was Lamentations 3:25 ...

"The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."

I can remember my grandmother telling me about this verse, and she kept it marked in her Bible.

Elise is in the front row on the left in this picture. It was customary for all of the children to wear black for confirmation, but I am not sure of the reason. They look so somber on this happy occasion! Even after they moved to the United States, my mother had to wear a dark navy dress for her Confirmation. 

My grandmother is holding what looks like a small branch or sprig of some plant and it appears that those in the front row are holding one as well. I do not know what this is ... another thing that I wished I had asked my Oma!

Friday's Faces from the Past - Wedding Day!

Fifty years. It's hard to fathom, yet not too hard to believe. Fifty years ago today, my parents were married at New Providence Presbyterian Church in New Providence, New Jersey. They had met in the church youth group a few years earlier.

My mother, the only daughter of Adolf Haberkern and Elise Gegenheimer, got ready at her parents' house in New Providence. 

It was a windy March day ... just look at the bridesmaids' veils!

I LOVE this picture of my grandmother, Agnes Speck, hugging her son after the wedding. The bride is kissing her new father-in-law, Art Cubbage. Looking on is Agnes' mother, Elizabeth Linneman. 

 They look so young! Well they were only in their early 20's.

The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Jamaica before returning to New Jersey.

The next fifty years brought them three children ...

... two son-in-laws, one daughter-in-law, and six grandchildren!

They have ridden the waves of life's ups and downs over fifty years. We are looking forward to celebrating this summer! Happy 50th Anniversary Dad and Mom!

Church Record Sunday - German Baptismal Record

Elise, Adolf and my mother in Germany, 1952

My grandparents, Adolf Haberkern and Elise Gegenheimer, along with their daughter, left Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1952. In the many papers and memorabilia that belonged to them, are several church records from Germany. Many of the documents are dated from the fall of 1957, but for events that happened much earlier. I do not know if my grandparents had gone back to Germany at that time or if they asked a family member to obtain the records. The certificates are all typed, presumably copied from the church record books.

My grandparents' citizenship papers are dated November 1957 and I wonder if they had requested these records from Germany as a part of the naturalization process. Below is a record that they obtained for my grandfather's grandfather.

Extract from the Birth and Baptismal Register

The Evangelical Parish: Stein near Pforzheim

Year 1869  Book --  Reg. No. 82  Page 512

Last and First Name: Haberkern, Jacob Friedrich

born: 13 Oktober 1869 in Stein

baptized: 21 October 1869 in Stein

Father

Last and First Name: Haberkern, Christian

Profession: Weaver in Stein

[religion or church]: Protestant

Mother

Maiden and First Name: Jäger, Christine

[religion or church]: Protestant

Other Information

(about about the producer, grandparents, godparents): Godparents: Friedrich Haberkern, goldworker and his wife Christine, nee Sauter - Ernst Kaucher, farmer and his wife Elisabetha, nee Sauter - Christ. Huf, farmer and his wife Luise, nee Jäger

This record is for the birth and baptism of my second great grandfather. It records Jacob's parents' names, as well as the names of his Godparents. While the record does not list relationships, the Godparents include both of the parents' surnames. I'm happy that I found these with the other records. I don't know how long the Haberkern family was in Stein, so this adds another generation. I'll post more of these records soon!

___________________________________________________________________________ 

SOURCE:

Evangelische Kirche Stein (Königsbach-Stein, Baden Württemburg, Germany), "Auszug aus dem Geburts und Taufregister" [Extract from the Birth and Baptismal Register], (privately held, [address for private use] NJ, 2014), Jacob Friedrich Haberkern baptismal certificate (1869), issued 1957, citing Reg. no. 82, p.512.

Mappy Monday - A Fun German Website

I've always loved maps. All maps ... vacation planning maps, Google Earth, city street maps, even subway maps! So I was thrilled to find this fun surname map on the German genealogy website verwandt.de.

There is a "Karten zum namen" or "map for names" page that appears to use phone book records and then map the frequency of a surname by district or city. While this may not be the most accurate source of information for researching my ancestors, I was able to find some interesting current geographical areas for surnames.

I started with my paternal great-grandfather's surname of SPECK, which was not very helpful as it is a more common surname (as well as SPECHT, which I also searched). Below is the map that was generated for SPECK:

When I searched for my maternal grandmother's GEGENHEIMER surname, I found a more interesting picture:

The website has the following (translated) information below the map:

"Statistics: Figures on the surname 'Gegenheimer'

In Germany there are 163 phone book entries with the surname Gegenheimer and approximately 434 persons with this name.

They live in 32 cities and counties. Most occurrences are in Karlsruhe, namely the 73rd

Other counties / cities with lots of occurrences are Enz (22), Karlsruhe (10), Pforzheim (8), Alzey-Worms (7) Berlin (4), Böblingen (3), Stuttgart (3), Lahn-Dill circle (2) and Mannheim with 2 entries.

Stefan Gegenheimer occurs in Germany most often. Ruth and Anke are the next often found first name, followed by Luis, Rainer, Adolf and Werner."

I have located church records that go back almost 300 years for my Gegenheimer ancestors in the small village of Ittersbach. Ittersbach is in Karlsruhe, which is one of the red areas above, indicating that there are still many Gegenheimers in that area.

I found other similar maps for other surnames, but the most fascinating was the following map for the surname of my paternal second great-grandmother NILKOWSKI:

"Statistics: Figures on the surname 'Nilkowski'

In Germany, there are 11 phone book entries with the surname Nilkowski and approximately 29 persons with this name.

They live in 3 cities and counties. Most occurrences are in Dortmund, namely. 8

Other counties / cities with lots of occurrences are Unna (2) and Solingen with 1 entries.

Corina Nilkowski occurs in Germany most often. Alexandra and Klaus Dieter are the next often found first name, followed by Peter, Uwe, Christa, Angelika and Michael."

There are very few NILKOWSKI hits, which is not surprising as it does not sounds like a German surname. Through her German marriage record, I have learned that in 1865 Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski was born in Muensterberg, in the district of Marienburg, which is in current-day Poland. 

Elisabeth was living in Gelsenkirchen at the time of her marriage in 1886, but her parents were still in the region of Braunswalde (also now Poland). I have wondered why a young unmarried woman would be living so far from home and wonder if possibly she lived with another family member. Dortmund, the region in red, is only about 20 miles from Gelsenkirchen. Could these few Nilkowskis in Germany be related to her? 

This website also has options to search for surnames in a few other countries including Poland, Great Britain, France, Argentina, Spain and others. I did have some problems getting results with several of these countries, but had success searching in Poland. 

Again, while this is nothing more than information pulled from a phone book, it was interesting to look at the distribution of current day surnames as compared to where I have any records for those ancestors.

______________________________________________________________

SOURCE:

Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Marriage Record no. 195, Christian Fasel-Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski, 1886; Institut für Stadtgeschichte [Institute for Urban History], Gelsenkirchen.

Wedding Wednesday - Oma and Opa

Yesterday was my maternal grandparents' wedding anniversary. Adolf Haberkern and Elise Gegenheimer were married on June 4, 1942 in Stein, Germany.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandparents in 1962. I believe that they are at Newark Airport and my mother and grandmother had just arrived home from a trip to Germany. I love the way my Oma is looking up at Opa.

Friday's Faces from the Past - Good Humor Man

I was sitting outside this week, enjoying a beautiful spring evening with my boys, and we heard the familiar jingle of the "ice cream man." I thought of this picture of my mother as a teenager and my grandmother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern. It was taken in the spring of 1960. I'm not sure where they are or why my grandfather took a picture of them with the Good Humor Man. I need to check with Mom to see if she remembers!

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Here are a few pictures of our favortie Moms:

 My grandmother, Agnes Speck Cubbage with her mother, Elizabeth Linneman Speck Merz

November 1954

 

My father (middle) with his brother Jeff and mother, Agnes Speck Cubbage

August 1959

My mother and her mother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern

circa 1955

Here I am with my Mom, along with my sister and brother!

Family Recipe Friday - Oma Cookies

I received a wonderful surprise for Valentine's Day! My darling son made "Oma Cookies" for me, with help from my mother & husband. We had been talking about favorite foods and I mentioned the cookies that my grandmother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern, made (and always brought a few when we went to her house). My son remembers having them a couple of times before she was unable to bake them anymore.


This is the recipe from Oma's recipe box for Wildbader Ringele, but we always called them Oma Cookies!

My mother worked on the translation and the recipe before my son made them. These taste just like her cookies, but looked a bit different (bigger). I couldn't find a picture of the cookies or us with Oma when she brought them to our house. Here is the recipe they used:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 package baking powder
1/2 package vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon Hirschhorn Salz (seal up leftover package well)
3- 3 1/2 cups flour (supposed to be 1 pound of flour)
1/2 cup milk (I forgot to put into cookies when I made them)

Cream butter, add sugar and eggs and beat till creamy. Add milk and flour very gradually. You may want to mix with spoon at the end. Dough should be able to be rolled out. Start with 3 cups flour and go from there. You may want to sprinkle a "tiny" bit of flour on top of dough as you roll it out so rolling pin doesn't stick. Cut out with cookie cutter (don't push down on red center). Put on baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with egg YOLK, not the whole egg. Back at 350F for about 8 mins. Of course, it depends on ovens so keep a good eye on it for first batch.

Happy Birthday Oma!

Elise Gegenheimer was born on February 28, 1919 in Ittersbach, Germany. This picture was taken at a place for children with malnutrition, where she went for about four weeks (click on the picture for a larger image). She was about 10 years old and third from the left on the very top row.

Happy Mother's Day!

Better late than never. Here are a few pictures of the mothers of my family with their children. Happy Mother's Day!

My mother, Brigitte, with her mother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern, in Stein Germany, 1945.

My father, Corky, with his brother Jeff and his mother, Agnes Speck Cubbage, in Pittsburgh, 1945.

This is my great-grandmother Elisabeth Linnemann Speck, with either her daughter Agnes (1915) or son Frank (1918), probably in Monessen, PA.

This is my great-grandmother, Maine Swank Cubbage, with her daughters Marian, Marge and Babe, with another woman.

My great-grandmother Elisabeth Nilkowski Linnemann, with her children Christian, Gerhard, George, William and Elisabeth, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 1904.

Happy Birthday Oma!

Elise Gegenheimer was born on February 28, 1919 in Ittersbach, Germany.