My grandparents,August Friedrich MANZ and Amalia Pauline JEUTHE, came
to New Zealand from Guben,Germany in 1876 with their five children who
were born 1858 to 1876. Dates and places of the grandparents birth and
marriage have proved difficult for me to find, so any help would be
appreciated.By the way,Guben is right on the Polish border on the
River Neisse. |
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
09 Feb 2004 14:29 PST
Dear kiwiart,
Have you already tried to contact the competent offices in Guben, like
the Civil Registration Office or the church offices? Though many old
records have been destroyed during World War II, there is at least a
small chance that some records relating to your ancestors still exist.
Would you like to get such contact information?
Regards,
Scriptor
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Clarification of Question by
kiwiart-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 00:10 PST
Dear Scriptor, On his application for N.Z. naturalization,A.F.Manz
gave his place of birth as Ratzboer,Prussia.I can find no such
town,but the spelling may be the fault. There is a Ratzebuhr in
N.Poland and it is now called Okonek.Prussia extended right across the
north of Poland. Another Ratzbuhr is in northern Germany. I have
written to Land,Brandenburg,Potsdam They seny it to the main archive
but they found nothing. Also to a Herr Gerald Manz (the only Manz in
Guben telephone book) but no reply.Dresden suggested church books in
Guben. I got two microfilms of Guben Parish Records through the
LDS.They were all in German (of course!)and I only found the
christening of one Manz child, Emma Wilhelmina on 16 Dec.1866. Also
Berlin but no results.Ask again? Kiwiart
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Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 05:04 PST
What a fascinating quest! I will see if I can find any helpful
information ... I am German, so language should not be a problem. I
will let you know shold I discover anything of interest.
Regards,
Scriptor
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 07:05 PST
Dear Kiwiart,
I have discovered something that might be interesting: There is a tiny
village named "Ratzdorf", and it is part of the Landkreis (county) of
Guben! Given that August Friedrich Menz' handwriting might have been
misinterpreted by some naturalization official in New Zealand (old
German script could look quite different from Latin script used in
English-speaking countries at that time), this might well be a the
place where he was born. Also, Ratzdorf does not belong to the parish
of Guben, so the local church records would not be stored in the city.
Am I correct to assume that A. F. Menz was Lutheran Protestant?
Regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
kiwiart-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 16:03 PST
Dear Scriptor,
Yes,I know that my father,Herman Otto MANZ (not MENZ)who was born in
Guben on 8 Sept 1860 was a Lutheran.
Ratzboer spelling as on Naturalization application could be
suspect,but as spoken it would be the right place,I'm sure.
Keep up the good work. My N.Z.nephew married a German girl and
toigether they visired Guben but did no good. I gave them details that
my father copied from some tombstones in the Guben cemetery (family
names and dates)when he visited his hometown in 1906.If you think they
may help you,just let me know.
Good luck. Kiwiart.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
01 Mar 2004 15:32 PST
Dear kiwiart,
Unfortunately, all my attempts to find out anything about your
ancestors have not led to results. The main problem is that lots of
vital records and similar documents have been destroyed during World
War II. However, I will give you (free of charge, of course) contact
information for the church office of the parish Wellmitz-Ratzdorf. It
is not much, but in case the place name is indeed "Ratzdorf", their
records could prove useful:
Ev. Kirchengemeinde Wellmitz-Ratzdorf
Pfarrer Martin Zobel
Stiftsplatz 1
15898 Neuzelle
Germany
--
Phone: +49(0)33652-319
Fax: +49(0)33652-89931
E-Mail: pfarramt@kirchengemeinde-wr.de
Website: http://www.kirchengemeinde-wr.de
All the best for your research!
Regards,
Scriptor
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