Deutsch Krone Project

Building a 'Master Family Tree' of the Deutsch Krone Region - A Different Approach to Genealogy

Most genealogy trees are based on starting with yourself (and your immediate family), then adding parents, then grandparents, then ggrandparents, then back through history as far as possible.

Our approach is very different: With this project we aim to document EVERY person living in EVERY City, Town or Village in Deutsch Krone and within a day's horse ride from it's borders!

Initially starting with villages and towns from the 1818-1945 Kreis Borders (but eventually expanding this to the earlier borders - Pre 1818) and working from the earliest records to the most recent ones and documenting EVERYONE (including marriage witnesses and persons reporting births and deaths) enables us to identify spelling errors and make connections that could otherwise not be imagined!

About the Project

Deutsch Krone is very difficult for family history research as many of the records were destroyed during the Second World War (WWII) and earlier conflicts, as well as natural disasters.

In addition, many of the German families (some of whom had been in the area for over 600 years) were expelled after 1945 and the area was re-populated by Pole's, generally from the east and the south, and those now living there know little of the area's history before the war.

This is also compounded by the destruction of many Protestant cemeteries around the same time and the taking over of churches, originally Lutheran, and converting them to Catholic.

This project attempts to reconstruct the families living there, and within 35 Kilometers or 20 Miles from the borders (a day's horse ride), as well as their descendants (for at least the first generation not born in Kreis Deutsch Krone), through other means including: surviving documents, family oral history, inferred history from birth/death/marriage records of other places nearby and afar, headstones, photos, land ownership records, tax records, etc.

For all individuals we have added the specific information contained in the document regarding the event, plus additional information where noted or found, such as:

• Also Known As (AKA) or known spelling variations of Name/s,
• Occupation,
• Religion, Baptism/Christening & Confirmation/First Communion information,
• Baptism/Christening Godparents, Marriage Witnesses, Reporting persons for Deaths and Cause of Death,
• Place Living in a given year, and
• Approximate dates of Birth/Death of related persons.

This is the general area we are searching for information and/or records from (+35km's from the border): Deutsch Krone Region including (from 1807):

• Province Brandenburg - Kreis Arnswalde
• Province Pommern - Kreis Dramburg & Kreis Neustettin
• Province Posen - Kreis Czarnikau, Kreis Filehne, Kreis Kolmar, Kreis Obornik, Kreis Wirstiz & Kreis Wongrowitz
• Province Westpreussen - Kreis Deutsch Krone & Kreis Flatow

If you have information (in particular, record sets) that may be useful to this project (or wish to get involved) please contact us via email at: [email protected]

Project Sponsor

Rosentreter Foundation Limited - An Australian Registered Charity

Noteworthy People & Events

• 1824 - Calixtus von Grabski (Heir to Marzdorf) and his wife Emilia Friderica Wilhelmina Ernstine von Hartmann gave birth to a stillborn boy on 20 Sep 1824
• 1825 - Baroness Johanna Wilhelmine Bertha Agnes Kegel was born 17 Oct 1825 in Kattun, Deutsch Krone (Kotun, Piła County)
• 1850 - Baron Kurt Heinrich August von der Goltz was born 7 Aug 1850 in Kattun, Deutsch Krone (Kotun, Piła County) - von der Goltz Family
• 1918 - A Railroad Accident in September 1918 in Plöttke claimed the lives of one Adult & 32 Children (aged 9-14) who were vacationing from München-Gladbach, Rhine-Ruhr

History

Kreis Deutsch Krone:

• In 1777 included the towns of Deutsch Krone (originally called Arnskrone), Schneidemühl, Jastrow, Usch, Budzin, Chodzesen, Czarnikow, Schönlanke, Radolin, Filehne, Schloppe, Tütz, Märkisch Friedland, four royal domain offices (in 1806: Deutsch-Krone, Lebehnke, Neuhof, Postollitz) and 196 noble estates.
• Was part of the administrative district of Marienwereder, Westpreußen in 1919.
• The city of Deutsch Krone:
• Received city rights in 1303,
• Is situated between two lakes,
• Prospered because it was on the highway from Berlin to Königsberg, and became the hub of the railroad, and
• In World War II, it fell to the Soviet Army on 12 February 1945,
• Since World War II, it is known again by its Slavic name "Wałcz".
• After World War I, the region was going to be awarded to Poland, but by mass protest of the citizens, it stayed German in Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen.
• In 1938, it became part of Pomerania.
• Tütz has a castle.
• Jastrow received city rights in 1602 and by the late 1700's became a major cloth making centre.
• Märkisch Friedland had the lumber industry.
• Schloppe had flourmills and cloth factories.
• The many forests and wetlands make the area a paradise for birds.

In the spring of 1945, the area of ​​the district of Deutsch Krone was occupied by the Red Army. After the end of the war (WWII), the district was placed under Polish administration by the Soviet occupation forces in the summer of 1945 in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The immigration of Poles then began in the district of Deutsch Krone, most of whom came from the areas east of the Curzon Line. In the period that followed, the German population was expelled from the district.