Where’s Weigelsdorf?

Finding the Ancestral Home of OUR Weigels

Weigelsdorf’s location in the “Old Country” is a bit tricky to find. It turns out that there are several villages that were called Weigelsdorf in Western Europe. The names of the villages have also changed over time along with the borders of many of the countries in Europe as a result of the two World Wars. Of course there are dozens of Weigel families who can trace their ancestors to each of these locations. How can we figure out where OUR branch of the Franz and Amalie Weigel family hails from?

First, we should start with the possible localities. A quick search online will show you a few possibilities. I have seen several researchers link our Weigel family mainly to these possible locations:

Weigelsdorf, Kries Reichenbach, Silesia – now Ostroszowice, Gmina Dzierżoniów, Poland

Weigelsdorf, Kries Munsterberg, Silesia – now Wigancice, Gmina Ziębice, Poland

Weigelsdorf, Austria  – Still known as Weigelsdorf, south of Vienna

In the 1980s when my grandmother was researching the family, she was convinced that Weigelsdorf was in Austria. She had a map of Austria with the village of Weigelsdorf marked in pen. No records had been found from this location, but this was –I think – the only Weigelsdorf she could find in the days before the internet. Everything she collected was found by writing letters, calling or visiting family members, and on site research at courthouses, churches, cemeteries, etc. She did a LOT of leg work and she found a huge amount of information on our ancestors. She also expanded her search beyond just our direct line ancestor to his siblings and their descendants to gain a fuller picture. We need to examine the evidence available to figure out if she was right. Thankfully our ancestors left us some great clues to solve the puzzle!

The easiest thing to do is to look at the census records available and see what was logged as the place of birth on the various census years. Looking through the records for Marie Weigel Luecke, Paul Weigel, Joseph Weigel, August Weigel, and Herman Weigel, the birthplace is overwhelmingly “Germany”. The second most common location was Prussia, and then Silesia or Schleisen was least common. Note that none of the records state Austria, Bohemia, or Czech Republic as a location.

The next sets of records are immigration and naturalization records. Again, Germany is the most common place of birth on the New York Passenger Lists, with Bohemia listed on the manifest for Paul and Marie Weigel in 1877. However, when the New York arrivals are checked against the Hamburg departures, we see that Munsterberg is listed on that manifest for Paul and Marie. Weigelsdorf, Schleisen is listed for Joseph and Herman in 1878,and Weigelsdorf, Sachsen was listed for August in 1882.

The next clue comes from Margaret Weigel’s writings in “The Marshfield Story, Volume 1” published in 1997. Margaret states,“Near Munsterberg, Silesian province of Germany, was a small enclave called Weigelsdorf…” There is also a mention in a Weigel Family Tree document compiled by Rosina Pankratz Straub, Karl Feind, and Betty Weis that “Franz and Amelia Weigel lived in Weigelsdorf, Germany, near Muensterberg in the Province of Silesia, area of Frankenstein.” This manuscript follows the lives of the five Weigel children mentioned above and also mentions 3 additional children of Franz and Amalie Weigel (Franz Jr, Theresa, and Agnes) who did not come to the US.

Franz Jr is listed as having died in the “Civil War in Germany”. Research into Prussian Army records reveals that Franz did die in the Battle of Noisseville on 31 August or 1 September 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. At the time of his death, he was a soldier in the East Prussian Grenadier Regiment No.3, 5^th Company from Weigelsdorf in Kries Munsterberg.

I have been unable to find any information on Theresa, but Agnes had married a “Hoffman” by the time of her mother’s death in 1904. A search of East Prussian records reveals Agnes Hoffman nee Weigel having  2 children with husband Paul Hoffman in the village of Glasendorf in 1888 and 1891. This village is very close to Weigelsdorf, Kries Munsterberg.

The final and absolute proof of the location of OUR Weigel family is that the death records of Franz and Amalie Weigel were found located at the Catholic Church (St Bartholomaus) in Weigelsdorf, Kries Munsterberg.

It is easy to see how these locations can be confused. Ostroszowice is a much larger and well known town. There is more information readily available about this location and its history. It is also located in Silesia. The key is that this Weigelsdorf lies in a different county – Reichenbach – and that the records for OUR ancestors are from the Weigelsdorf in Munsterberg.