This is the second of a multi-part series on ancestors in the Rhöne based on a translation of Rhönspiegel: Three Lectures on the Life, Customs, and Language of the Rhön People written by Leopold Höhl in 1881.
Here is the translation of an excerpt describing the religion of people in the Rhöne, as viewed in the 19th century.
This is the second of a multi-part series on ancestors in the Rhöne based on a translation of Rhönspiegel: Three Lectures on the Life, Customs, and Language of the Rhön People written by Leopold Höhl in 1881. Read part 1 on farming here.
Here is the translation of an excerpt describing the lifestyle of people in the Rhöne, as viewed in 1881.
The question of religion in our German ancestors’ time would seem quite strange to the modern American reader. After the Protestant Reformation, most inhabitants were obliged to follow the official religion of their leader, be that Catholic, Lutheran or Calvinist. This is an oversimplification, but the whole picture has been painted in many books and for the purpose of our story here, is unnecessary.
Suffice it to say, where one was from and one’s religion were, for a very long time, linked. And, in the case of the unknown man who died on the roadside between Flieden and Schlüchtern in the 1720s, this distinction resulted in a bit of fortune for the Catholic church in Flieden.
“So, he was a bastard.” This is a reaction I heard when revealing that a person’s ancestor was born out of wedlock. The word stings, and there is a stigma attached to it. Nonetheless, you don’t get to pick your ancestors, and when you go looking for your stories you might be surprised.
This is the first of a mult-part series on ancestors in the Rhöne based on a translation of Rhönspiegel: Three Lectures on the Life, Customs, and Language of the Rhön People written by Leopold Höhl in 1881.
When I found that some of my ancestors lived in a village near Fulda, I decided to do some research on that area. I translated excerpts from a German book on the culture of the area written in 1881, and I’m going to share them with you.
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