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| Bridge Houses of Bad Kreuznach google images |
I have made
many amazing discoveries while doing genealogy and exploring the lives of my
ancestors. One of the most amazing was the discovery of a shared birthplace
between my granddaughter and her fourth great-grandmother a mere one hundred
and sixty-seven years apart!!
In 1997, my
daughter and son-in-law moved to a small town outside of Frankfurt, Germany.
The town’s name was Bad Kreuznach. They had decided to live in a German town
rather than living on the military base. My husband and I were lucky enough to
be able to visit them often during the six years they lived overseas.
On March 18,
1999 my granddaughter was born in the German hospital in Bad Kreuznach. During
our visits we tried to learn about the history of the little town. One of the
things we loved about the town was the Fußgänger zone, which was a pedestrian
only shopping area. Another was the bridge over the river with the little
houses at either end. A favorite pastime was to stand on the bridge and feed
bread to the ducks in the river.
We enjoyed
our visits to Germany and one time even rented a van to explore the known areas
of my German ancestry. We traveled to Oberselters and Villmar in the Hessen
Nassau area to see the churches where the Burbachs worshiped and the cemeteries
where they were buried.
Eventually
we returned to the United States and I returned to exploring my genealogy.
I knew my
grandmother Henrietta Burbach, born 1888 in Milwaukee, and her father’s
ancestors but hadn’t explored her mother Eva Schmitz’s background. I found that
Eva, born 1858 in Milwaukee, was the daughter of Philip Schmitz and Elisabeth
Kronenberger. While I have not yet discovered the birthplace in Prussia for
Philip Schmitz, I have found out that Elisabeth Kronenberger was born to Heinrich
Kronenberger and Anna Margaretha Mary Bott on the 29th of September
1832, in Oberstreit, Bad Kreuznach, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany! How can this not
be a favorite discovery?
The Kronenbergers left Germany sometime between 1842,
when their youngest child, Margaretha was born. The first appearance of Elisabeth
Kronenberger in United States records is in the 1860 Milwaukee census with her
husband Philip Schmitz and children Eva and Philip.[1]
[1] year:
1860; Census Place: Milwaukee Ward 9, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; ,ancestry.com, https://ancestry.com, accessed 20 Feb 2020;
NARA, Roll: M653_1423; Page: 722; Image: 328; Family History Library Film:
805423
