Löwenmensch or the Lion Man from Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is among the most archaeologically rich landscapes in Central Europe. One of the significant finds in the area - and why I was travelling there - is the Lion Man from the Hohlenstein in Lonetal or the Lone Valley. This is a mammoth ivory sculpture between 40,000 and 35,000 years old and its significance lies in its blending of animal and man, unique evidence for the development of human thought and imagination. It's housed in the museum in Ulm after being restored in 2013, following the third excavations 2008-2012 when more pieces were found. (They'd gone in again between 1956 and 1961, but not in that area of the cave.)

The original excavations took place between 1937 and 1939 and it was on the very last day, just days before the outbreak of WW2, that they found the fragments which would become the Lion Man.

Let's just say there may have been some national socialist interest in discovering if Germans could trace their roots to ice-aged hunters and Himmler was patron of the excavation. Now we know our roots may originate from that direction too - cave dwellers in the Ice Age not national socialists, of course.
We'd already left Germany by then; phew!

Jacob Friedrich becomes an Australian

I also found Jacob's naturalisation certificate of 7 February 1879, when he was a carpenter.

Erdmannhausen

About 4.2 km away from Steinheim (also known for the Steinheim skull found in 1933 of a 250,000 year old skull of a 25 year old woman - a relative perhaps?) is a town called Erdmannhausen. This is where the marriage certificate states that Jacob Friedrich was born - 30 May 1827. He married Catherina Magdalena Holzwarth on 24 June 1855. She was born 24 September 1826 in Steinheim. The certificate has her down as Wilhemine Magdalena - so I may have to get back to you on that - but the dates all match.

I walked between the two towns one sunny August day, I saw the Murr and sunflowers in the fields, lots of big, old trees and apple trees. It smelt of pine, honey, moss and damp earth with the occasional rotting apple - so many apples and no one seemed to be picking them anywhere in Germany! Again the friedhof held no graves older than the late 19th century.

 

The 16th & 17th centuries weren't much fun for our ancestors.
This notes the number of death during extreme winters!

Steinheim an der Murr, Wurttemburg

Here are some photos of Steinheim an der Murr today. It's actually not that far from Stuttgart. It still has lots of old buildings and, by the looks of the high water mark on the Rathaus, the Murr tends to flood. What is cool is that all these buildings were around in the early 19th century and earlier, when our story is set.

Unfortunately, there were no old graves in the cemetery (friedhof) to tell the story of all those left behind.

Welcome all!

For disseminating bits of family history and trivia throughout our ever-expanding tribe, this blog begins with the hope that you will find something of interest or suddenly feel the urge to contribute information you may have uncovered. And so, let us begin.

Once upon a time there was a family in Germany ... but not for long.

On 6 July 1855 a 28 year old shepherd, Jacob Friedrich Veigel and his wife Catherina Magdalena, 29, set sail from Hamburg on the ship San Francisco. It was heading for Hobart Town and Sydney. The passenger list states they are from Steinheim, Wurttemburg. Here is the record from the Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934