Denzilklip's Germany Trip Report
From: DENZILKLIP@aol.com
DearMYRTLE,
I have just returned from Europe and had a wonderful time visiting all of my KLIPPEL "Cousins."
About my visit to the archives in Gau Algesheim. Fru. Fritzen and Herr. Hinckel were just wonderful!!! I got ALL of the information on my family! They had everything. Your advice on how to handle myself and dress was a great help.
I had gotten all of the names I was researching from the Herr. Heiko Schmuck at the Church in Ober-Hilberheim. My g-grandfather was one of the 22 children of Johann KLIPPEL who had married four times. The church gave me everything on the family and I took it to the archives in Gau Algesheim on the day of my appointment. They said it would take a day or two to make photo copies since there was so much to look up. I went back on Monday and they had everything and since I found a few more names over the weekend I gave these to them and they looked them up right then and there. When I asked how much the cost would be they said nothing since I was a friend of Dieter Linck the Mayor of Ober-Hilbersheim.
I then went to the Church in Groß Winternheim to get the records on Johann KLIPPEL since he was born there and moved to Ober-Hilbersheim in 1802 to open a Bakery.
Herr. Weber met me at the time of our appointment and I told him what I wanted. He said he would give me ALL of the KLIPPEL records back to 1650! I almost fell over. He spent the next four hours taking photo copies of all of the church books from 1800 back to 1650 where the name KLIPPEL appeared. When he was finished there was a stack of paper four inches thick. I asked how much and he said what ever I wanted to give so I gave him 20DM ($10.00) and he thanked me and we said good by. I was told later by Dieter that this amount was fine and not feel it wasn't enough.
I mailed all of the documents home at a cost of 64DM ($32.00) since I did not want to carry all of that paper around Europe for the next five weeks.
I now have my KLIPPEL family line back to 1650 when the first KLIPPEL arrived in Bubenheim, up to the present date in Ober-Hilbersheim, since there are still KLIPPELs in the village who are my cousins, and my bloodline to my grandchildren.
The only thing I am missing is the ship the three KLIPPEL brothers and four sisters came to the New World on, and my cousin Helmut KLIPPEL in Hamburg has an appointment at the archives to do the lookups for me. The machines were all in use when I was there with Helmut, and we were told they would not be available until a later date.
I was a lucky man -- all of the leg work before hand opened all of the doors, and it pays to have friends in high places (the Mayor of Ober-Hilbersheim), and loving cousins like Helmut and his family. Also the wonderful advice you gave me before I left was very valuable. Oh, yes the books and new US $ coin that were suggested by people on the PFALZ and HESSE lists went over great.
DearDENZILKLIP,
Gosh, your report gives my readers hope that traveling to Germany in search of their ancestors IS a real possibility. THANKS for sharing your
insights and congrats on your family connections!
For Further Reading:
DearMYRTLE. Appointment at Gau-Algesheim, Germany
http://www.dearmyrtle.com/00/0609.htm
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Daily Genealogy Columnist
AOL Keyword: gf, roots or myrtle
www.DearMYRTLE.com
To post a message on this topic, go to Myrt's Message Board
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