Some Interesting Things I Found Along the Way...
Oh Well
In my four years living in Karlsruhe, I must have driven right between the two villages of Siebeldingen and Birkweiler hundreds of times.
Updates from Norway!
I was contacted by a relative (Bjørn) in Norway who shares my tree and he is a wealth of info! Thankfully to another relative, Lynn, who did a DNA test, Bjørn was able to contact us. Some fun facts he sent to me on the Andrew Erickson and two of his siblings:
"Tjøstolf's confirmation in 1866, from the parish record:
Konfirmandens Kristendomskundskab m. V.: "Temmelig godt. Ustö og lidet udviklet." -- His bible knowledge is reasonably good. He is (walks) wobbly and he is not well developed (for his age). Andrew Erickson's confirmation 1889, from the parish record:Konfirmandens Kristendomskundskab m. V.: "Temmelig godt. Tungt nemme, liden skole." -- His bible knowledge is reasonably good. He has learning difficulties and has received little school knowledge (or had little time at school). I recently added a jail record for Peder Benoni Andersen, 2nd husband of Andrew's sister Tonje Eriksdatter. He was sentenced 15 years in jail for setting fire to his boss' tailor shop, resulting in a huge fire that destroyd more than 30 houses in Kabelvåg in northern Norway 1883." |
Weingut Grassmueck
The award-winning winery with our family name in Birkweiler that has been making wine for 11 generations. That's 340 years!
Passage to America
Here's a first-hand account of what the treacherous and miserable voyage was like in the 1750's.
Norwegian Naming Laws
An amusing article from an Aussie living in Oslo, Norway, about the strict naming laws now in effect in Norway.
Dinner for One
I find it interesting that an 18-minute British comedy skit made in 1963 is just as popular in Scandenavian countries as it is in Germany. The Germans play it every New Years Eve on their TV stations and the Norwegians do the evening of December 23. It is actually a lot of fun watching it with a roomful of partying Germans!