Posen Research List Archive
POSRL ARCHIVE 97-2

Webmaster's Note: IMHO, you should create an HTML file that is a map index so that interested Posen researchers can access the several maps you have posted. Under the circumstances, since you are seriously interested in knowing where the Birkholz place of origin is in Germany, I strongly suggest you search Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes. You appear to have a sufficiently unique surname so that there will likely be some answers available to you here. You should recognize that like evry other surname, there likely will have been at least several other spellings of your surname -- Birkoltz, Bircholz, etc. These transliterations will sometimes take you back to near the place of origin. I assume you have seen the 1983 book (on FHL microfilm #1597686 item 2) by Delores Birkholz Gustafson on Birkholz emigration from Prussia to Minnesota.

Webmaster's Note: While Catholic church records exist in Latin and Polish on FHL microfilm for Bartschin, Kreis Schubian, Posen (now Barcin, powiat Szubin, Poland) from 1726 to 1946, we know of no Lutheran church records per se. However you may well find the civil registration records - sometimes provided by duplicate chruchbooks - do exist for the years 1874-1877 and they are in German. It just might be that others of the Matzel and/or Kottke family might be found this way.

Since both names seem to be uncommon, it is possible you may be able to get some help by searching Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes. You should realize there likely have been several other spellings of both of your surnames. So don't reject out of hand a possible alternate spelling until you have good reason to believe it is not related.

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4 December 1997 Note from Robert Ringel: ... Ken Cook inquired about Evangelical church records for Bartschin. My experience has shown it to be beneficial to search surrounding towns for those types of records. According to my sources, Bartschin belonged to the Evangelical Dioezese SCHUBIN. I have built a spreadsheet using the map coordinates taken from Karte des Deutschen Reiches that lists direction and distance to surrounding towns. The following table is extracted from this spreadsheet. The listed towns are all the Evangelical parishes that belonged to the Schubin Dioezese. The following table shows towns belonging to this Diozese with distance and direction from Bartschin. It might prove productive to search some of these other locations.

Map Directions from Bartschin in Evangelical Dioezese Schubin
Town ... Quad ... Y ... X ... km ... Miles ... Angle

Bartschin ... 56 SE ... 59 ... 196 ... 0.00 ... 0.00 ...
Exin ... 56 SW ... 74 ... 165 ... 34.44 ... 21.35 ... 295.82 ... N/W
Gross Mirkowitz Hallkirch ... 56 SW ... 64 ... 187 ... 10.30 ... 6.38 ... 299.05 ... N/W
Herrnkirch Labischen ... 56 SE ... 69 ... 194 ... 10.20 ... 6.32 ... 348.69 ... N
Lekno ... 55 SE ... 57 ... 153 ... 43.05 ... 26.69 ... 267.34 ... W
Lindenbruck ... 56 SW ... 68 ... 167 ... 30.36 ... 18.83 ... 287.24 ... W
Netzwalde ... 56 ... NW ... 81 ... 188 ... 23.41 ... 14.51 ... 340.02 ... N
Neukirchen ... 56 ... NW ... 83 ... 168 ... 36.88 ... 22.86 ... 310.60 ... N/W
Sarbia Schmiedeberg ... 56 NW ... 82 ... 162 ... 41.05 ... 25.45 ... 304.08 ... N/W
Schubin ... 56 NW ... 75 ... 182 ... 21.26 ... 13.18 ... 318.81 ... N/W
Wongrowitz ... 55 SE ... 53 ... 146 ... 50.36 ... 31.22 ... 63.16 ... W
Zinsdorf ... 56 ... SW ... 68 ... 176 ... 21.93 ... 13.60 ... 294.23 ... N/W
Znin ... 56 SW ... 57 ... 182 ... 14.14 ... 8.77 ... 261.87 ... W

Let me know if I can be any further help. Bob Ringel bringel@gfs.com

Jim Eggert responded: Ken Cook inquired about Evangelical church records for Bartschin. For Evangelical church records, Bartschin belonged to the Labischin parish from 1773 to 1846. In 1846, the Martinskirche was built at Bartschin. Its church records, however, _may_ have been kept at Labischin even after 1846. The following villages belonged to the Evangelical parish of Bartschin: Joachimsdorf, Zalesche, Wolitz, Pturke, Krotoschin, Bartschin Dorf, Josephinental, Julienhof, Kania, Mamlitz-Hauland, Eichwald, Zlotowo, Wapienno, and Hansdorf. This list dates from the period between the two world wars. In 1912, the list read: The city of Bartschin, the villages of Breitenstein, Dombrowko, Joachimsdorf, Knieja, Krotoschin, Mamlitz, Mlodocin, Polentowo, Pturke, Salesche, Wolitz, and Zlotowo, and the Gutsbezirke of Bartschin, Bialoblott, Krotoschin, Mamlitz, Mlodocin, Wilkowo, and Zlotowo. I hope this helps.

Webmaster's Note: If they departed from Hamburg, be sure to check the Hamburg Police records on FHL microfilm. Next check Meyer's Ortslexikon (1912) to be sure you have the correct place where Fratzig Lutherans worshipped. Was it there or a few kilometers down the road to the nearest town with a Lutheran church? Was the parish register of a nearby town in the FHL Catalog (fiche or CD-ROM?

Two other spellings of the wife's name appear in the "Surname Search" section of the FHL Catalog. In particular the MITTLESTAEDT (LE vs. EL) line there is connected to the NENNE family which came from Nikosken, Posen. Admittedly it is a long streach, but might Augusta and Wilhelm have been married at Nikosken if she was from that MIDDLESTÄDT / MIDDLESTAEDT line ? With no FHL church or civil records for either Franzig or Nikosken to check this idea with, you might want to check FHL microfilm #0496485 item 1 to see if either parish register is available in Berlin or Lübeck.

You should next spend a little time at your nearest Family History Center looking in the FHL Catalog under the province of Posen. It contains 32 Topics and many collections with a summary of the contents of each. There are at least eight topics with collections you need to review in summary form to decide if they are worthy of your search time -- #8 Civil Registration, #11 Emigration and Immigration, #13 and #14 Genealogy, #22 Land and Property, #24 Internal Migration, #27 Naturalization and Citiznship and #28 Obituaries, (plus #20 and 321 for Jewish reocrd searchers).

Finally, if none of the above solves your problem, remember that both of your surnames have a chance of appearing in Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes, the largest single German genealogy collection in existence (1,221 reels of microfilm). You and many other German genealogists are up against a simular "stone wall with no other sources or leads to follow" and have exhausted your existing search strategy. IMHO, you have no choice but to learn how to use the three step search method of this collection. The chances are you may find an ancestor or a line of them in it from among the 5 million plus Germans from all over the German Empire whose genealogy it contains.

Webmaster's Note: I assume you have positive knowledge that your Selchow was actually in Posen and is not the Selchow that was in Pomerania. Beacuse FHL microfilm exists for some civil registration records in the Pommern location. To be sure, you should research in Meyers OrtsLexikon - see item #11 under Sources For Finding a Place of Origin in Germany. While Luther is a common name, there are four listings for Wilke in the FHL Catalog's "Surname Search" section, including one Wilke line from Pommern (Pomerania).

Webmaster's Note: A Kreis roughly equals a County and a Regierungsbezik is equivalent to an administrative area. You should probably start with a search of the Hamburg Ship Passenger Records for 1872. A 4 page summary of this two step process is available from any Family History Center. If this does not prove to be useful, then search the Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes.

Webmaster's Note: MULLER is the most common German surname, However searching for Muller ancestors is possible, as you know their place of origin. Evangelical churchbooks are on FHL microfilm (1809-1874) and Catholic churchbooks (1819-1900) are on microfilm too. Civil registration (1874-1945) and Jewish records (1818-1824) are also on FHL microfilm.

You may also benefit by searching Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes. For common surnames such as yours, it will index Muller surnames in all submissions by "Orts" - i.e. by village - from Aachen to Zynitow. So all you have to do is search the Muller subidex for Kolmar, Posen and it is possible some of your genealogy is already available and waiting for you to find it.

Webmaster's Note: If you cannot find your ancstors using the IGI (International Genealogical Index) or the Ancestral File, then search the Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes. All three collections are found by contacting your nearest LDS Family History Center.