Tag Archives: ahnenforschung

Germanic Family History and Temple Work: Ancestry Love

Family history + Temple work is a core part of who we, Marnie and David Kuhns, are. After we wrote about our family history research, which led to our October 2024 Germanic family history trip and subsequent Arizona temple experiences, I realized our blogs, experiences, lessons learn, and data were somewhat disconnected and scattered.

This family history summary with links to the appropriate blog posts puts into chronological order all our experiences, including the genealogy research that made it possible to make the connections in Europe, Wisconsin, and elsewhere, that we did. These links also lead to lessons learned in traveling and in family history research.

Going Backwards in Family History: From Wisconsin Back to Bavaria

Kunz Kuhns ancestral home in Markt Falkenberg, Kreis Tirschenreuth, Bayern, Deutschland
Dave’s Family History Lessons From Marnie’s Perspective

Visiting What We’d Known Through Letters: Starke / Dausel / Dehmel Family History From WIsconsin to Kreis Bunzlau, Schlesien, Germany (Now Boleslawiec, Poland)

Once we finished in Falkenberg, Bavaria, we headed north, through Dresden, into western Poland. My father’s maternal grandmother, Bertha Starke (Geerdts), left Kreis Bunzlau, Schlesien, as a teenager in the late 1800s, imigrating to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she met and married Gustav Geerdts. Part of this trip was to return to the land of her nativity, which is now in western Poland.

Fortunately, “Granny Geerdts” wrote a lot of letters to her mother and relatives in Germany, and to her husband as they were apart. In the late 1990s, I translated and posted these letters, including:

  • The home page of the letters, leading to all the different types of letters she wrote. This also includes photos and maps of the “old country”

Once we arrived in Krasnik Dolny, Boleslaweic, Poland, we were able to meet some folks who could potentially be relatives. These are summaries of our meeting:

Mi Vorvater, Di war Schaffhüse und Zuri Lüt: Marnie’s Family History In Switzerland

An unexpected bonus of this trip was discovering new and deeper information about Marnie’s Swiss family history. In planning the trip, I’d simply wanted to take her across the border into Stein am Rhein, a wonderful town near where I’d served my mission in 1977-78 for the LDS Church. So it was truly a miracle to discover Marnie’s ancestors came from Stein am Rhein.

Further genealogy digging led us from Stein am Rhein to the Grossmunster in Zurich; the Reformed Church in Lustdorf (Kanton Thurgau); Schloss Kyburg in Kanton Zurich; Schoss Von Sulz in Tiengen near Schaffhausen; and more! Marnie’s day-to-day blog posts tracked her family history discoveries, including:

We hope these links will help you discover some of the joy we felt doing a family history tour, as well as the spiritual fulfillment we felt in connecting with our ancestors and doing their Temple work. If you have questions, please contact us at SpiritTreeFarms.com

Special thanks to FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, the Hartford (Wisconsin) Historical Society, the Freiberg, Tucson, Mesa, and Gilbert temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my father Gene L. Kuhns, the Gerhard and Doris Rasp family, Helmut Köstler, Monika Fisher und Agnes Kunz, the Kreis Bunzlau Facebook Family History Page, Alfred Kunz (RIP), and Marnie Kuhns, aka CreationGirl, each of whom played a part in this amazing family history discovery trip!

Nach Hause Family History Trip: Nieder Schönfeld, Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien — Now Krasnik Dolny, Boleslawiec, Poland

Family History Trip Part 2: Nieder Schönfeld, Altöls, Kreis Bunzlau in Nieder Schlesien — Starke, Dausel, and Dehmel Families

This is the 2nd part of our family history trip, to present-day Poland (Formerly Nieder Schlesien, Germany). We’re researching where the Starke / Dausel / Dehmel families lived in and around Nieder Schönfeld, Ober Schönfeld, Altöls, and other towns in Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien, former Germany. These villages are now Krasnik Dolny, Krasnik Gorny, Stara Oleswia, in the Boleslawiec District, Poland.

The genealogy focus starts with my father Gene Kuhns’ “Granny Geerdts”, Bertha STARKE (Geerdts), and her mother Johanna Anna DAUSEL (Dehmel, then Starke). Bertha STARKE left Nieder Schönfeld / Kreis Bunzlau and came to Milwaukee as a teenager in the early 1890s. It was there she met and married my father’s maternal grandfather, Gustav Martin Carl GEERDTS.

This part of the research tour will also include a Czech DNA relative of my father from about 100 km east of Prague.

[For an overview of the entire family history tour and a in-depth discussion of the Kuhns / KUNZ / MARK line from Kreis Tirschenreuth, Bavaria, find it here.]

Family History Tour in Nieder Schönfeld, Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien, Germany
(Krasnik Dolny, Boleslaweic, Poland)

After a lot of research about the Starke / Dausel / Dehmel family in one-time Nieder Schlesien, Germany (now in Boleslaweic district in SW Poland), we finally made it there. My father’s maternal grandmother, “Granny” Geerdts (aka Bertha STARKE Geerdts) was born in and lived in and around Nieder Schönfeld, Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien, Germany. Today it’s known as Kraznik Dolny, Boleslawiec District, Poland. Towns she was connected with include Nieder Schönfeld, Neu Schönfeld, Ober Schönfeld (Krasnik Gorny), Alt Öls (Stara Oleszna), and others in that area.

Backstory and Historical Context of STARKE, DAUSEL, and DEHMEL Families in the Nieder Schönfeld and Altöls Areas of Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien

Johanna Dausel (Dehmel Starke) of Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien, Germany, ca. 1905

When Bertha STARKE left Bunzlau for Wisconsin, USA in the early 1890s, she may have gone with other half-siblings or siblings, including members of the STARKE and DEHMEL families. After she left, her mother Johanna DAUSEL (Dehmel, then Starke) stayed in the area before traveling to Milwaukee to visit. She then lived in Kiel with her son Ernst Starke until she passed away and was buried in Kiel in 1911.

From the letters Johanna wrote, it appears her DAUSEL brothers stayed in the area, including in Altöls. This trip was an attempt to find their graves and more information about them.

Although there is evidence of Starke, Dausel, and Dehmel families in the Kreis Bunzlau area up to and including WW2, no specific connection has been made, nor have other relatives been found.

At the end of WW2, many people from this area of Germany fled because of the advancing Russians. Those who didn’t leave were eventually forced out in the late 1940s as part of the post-war turning over the land to the Poles. As a result, there are no native Germans left in this area. The border city of Görlitz, Germany (former DDR / East Germany) is about 40 km. west of Bunzlau / Boleslaweic. Most of the German cemetaries were destroyed or fell into disrepair. Many of the old buildings were abandoned or fell into disrepair during the Cold War era.

Family History Research in Nieder Schönfeld (Krasnik Dolny) and Altöls, Kreis Bunzlau

Bert DAUSEL and David KUHNS meet at the DAUSEL family monument at the Nieder Schönfeld Lutheran Cemetary in present-day Krasnik Dolny, Boleslaweic, Poland

Because there are still German-speaking people whose parents and grandparents fled Kreis Bunzlau, we were fortunate to have some Family History research help about that area. In particular, the Facebook Group Ahnenforschung Kreis Bunzlau + Umgebung was very helpful. During our trip, group member Sascha Simon, his neighbor (and potential relative — no DNA connection yet) Bert Dausel, and others met us in Krasnik Dolny cemetary, helping us find potential Dausel ancestor places and graveyards.

Fortunately for us, they had been in the area before, which made it very easy to find and get to different sites.

Marnie’s blog about our Family History tour discusses our first full day in Krasnik Dolny (Nieder Schönfeld), especially meeting “cousin” Bert Dausel and Nieder Schlesien researcher Sascha Simon at the Lutheran Cemetary. Bert and Sascha then read the Marie Rothkirch DAUSEL (married to Gottfried DAUSEL) headstone at an old cemetary in Altöls / Stara Oleszna (the blog includes a YouTube video).

Day 7 of our family history / genealogy research trip continues with more extensive cemetary research in Altöls (Stara Oleszna, Boleslaweic District, Poland), including uncovering and taking more photos and videos of headstones from the 1700s and 1800s. Check out that blog here.

Kreis Bunzlau Ahnenforschung Auf Deutsch

Falls Sie Deutsch sprechen, und interessieren Sich für Starke, Dausel, Dehmel Familien in Kreis Bunzlau, können Sie auch bei mir anmelden: da.kuhns at gmail dot com.