Frankenmuth native finds roots in Germany
From the Frankenmuth News on April 7, 2010
While genealogy research has now hit TV with the new popular series “Who Do You Think You Are?” Frankenmuth native Wally Kern has been looking for his roots for years. Although he knows his roots are in Frankenmuth, he wanted to know more. Where did my great-grandparents come from?
With a little digging he uncovered the history of his great-grandparents and of the many Germans that settled in this area. There was a combination of circumstances in Germany that included religious issues and poverty. Being sympathetic to the plight of these people, a Rev. William Löhe organized emigration groups to the Frankenmuth area which included performing missionary work among the Indians.
After discovering the German town his great-grandparents came from, he played with the idea of going back to visit. “I speak a little German, so I felt I would be able to communicate and read signs, so I thought why not?” Wally said. Wally made the trip on his own in 1989. “It was amazing. I was lucky that I had contact with people in Germany who helped me find the places my great-grandparents had lived and gone to church.”
A few years later, he wanted to go back and learn more. This time Wally had heard about a company that specializes in Heritage Trips to Germany. Wally now lives in St. Louis, Mo., and is a member of the St. Louis Genealogical Society and the St. Louis German Special Interest Group. Another member of these groups is Kathy Wurth, who owns the company Family Tree Tours that takes small group tours to Germany and helps people make a contact in their German ancestral hometown. He signed up for her tour in 2008 and waited excitedly for the September departure.
“The tour I went on was based in the Pfalz and Baden area but I had the opportunity to visit my Bavaria hometowns of Roßtal the Kernmühle while there too!” Wally said. “The other people on the tour formed a tight group and had a wonderful experience. We toured archives and learned what kinds of things are kept there. I had the opportunity to hold a 16th century king’s seal in my hands. We also had lectures by local historians who explained why and how so many emigrants left Germany in past centuries.
“We also saw farmhouses and trade shops from the 1500s at one of the area’s Freilichtmusems, an open air living history museum. You can get the whole picture of your ancestors’ life, from where they lived, to what they wore and even ate! It was a very enlightening experience.”
The most important aspect of the tour is that tour members are set up with a contact in their ancestral hometown, which will meet them and give them a tour of their town. Most of the towns have changed little over the years and you can walk through the church where your relative was baptized or married, visit the farmland they owned or, in some cases, meet with cousins who are still living in the area.
Kathy Wurth of Family Tree Tours and her German partner Matthias Uthoff work diligently to provide local contact and information needed to get to the correct destination.
“I’m so excited this year, they are going to Bavaria!” Wally said. “My sister and I will be taking the tour again to visit our hometowns of Roßtal and the Kernmühle”
Family Tree Tours is organizing a trip to Bavaria, Germany, that leaves September 11 and returns September 21. The group will spend most of the time in Middle Franconia visiting genealogical archives and cultural places. Middle Franconia is the area from where most of the original settlers to the Frankenmuth area came. The small group can accommodate up to 16 people and is led by a genealogist very familiar with research in the area and assisted by a genealogist from Germany. The group will stay in Ansbach overnight, which is close to Neuendettelsau from where the first emigration groups to the Frankenmuth area were organized.
Before the group leaves, participants will be asked to fill out a form with family information. Family Tree Tours German partner will then make contacts in the town of your ancestors so arrangements may be made to possibly meet relatives and townspeople from their town of origin.
The State Archives in Nürnberg and Ansbach, which has civil and church records of the Franconia area, will be visited to conduct research. A visit will also be made to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and a historical tour of Nürnberg. Included will be a visit to Bamberg, known as the Franconian Rome, and a visit to the Hohenlohe Open Air Museum, with over 60 authentic farmhouses covering five centuries.
More information can be found on the website (http://www.familytreetours.com/bavaria.html) or by calling Kathy Wurth (314-954-7005).