Württemberg Emigration and Immigration

Online Databases

 * State Archive Database

The German state of Baden-Württenberg was created in 1945 by merging the German Empire states of Baden, Württemberg, and Hohenzollern. When searching in the FamilySearch Library catalog, use the German Empire state name, as that catalog was organized by place names in the 1871 Meyers gazetteer.

It is believed that early emigrants followed the push and pull factor. For them lucrative salaries would have been pulling them while little prospects at home would have pushed them into emigration. Germany experienced unfavorable weather conditions in the 1800s that brought about food crises. Lack of food brought about elevation of prices. With a continually increasing population, some areas experienced devastation. When sons on top of that were not able to inherit the ancestral farm to support themselves and their families, emigration was one way out.

Works of Werner Hacker
The author, Werner Hacker, has prepared several books on emigrants from different regions. For entries of his works held in the FamilySearch Library, click here.
 * Auswanderer vom Oberen Neckar nach Südosteuropa im 18. Jahrhundert
 * Auswanderung aus dem Raum der späteren Hohenzollerischen Lande nach Südosteuropa im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert : eine Dokumentation
 * Auswanderungen aus Baden und dem Breisgau : obere und mittlere rechtsseitige Oberrheinlande im 18. Jahrhundert archivalisch dokumentiert
 * Auswanderungen aus dem nördlichen Bodenseeraum im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert : archivalisch dokumentiert
 * Auswanderungen aus dem südöstlichen Schwarzwald zwischen Hochrhein, Baar und Kinzig insbesondere nach Südosteuropa im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert
 * Eighteenth century register of emigrants from southwest Germany to America and other countries
 * Kurpfälzische Auswanderer vom Unteren Neckar : Rechtsrheinische Gebiete der Kurpfalz

Emigration of Prisoners from Baden
Poverty was in the mind of administrator the cause for social disgrace. Government officials spent a lot of money to ship their poor to America. Such measures were looked upon as more economical. But not only did they send the poor, prisoners were sent as well. In 1850 fifty people were selected and financed to find a new home in America.Friedrich R. Wollmershäuser has listed the unwanted and published their names, their place of residence/origin and when they were shipped out according to gender, male and females: The lists were published in [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1021814?availability=Family%20History%20Library 'Archiv für Familiengeschichtsforschung'', 3. Jahrgang, Heft 1 (1999).'''], call number 943 B2as.
 * In 1850/51/52 people were released from Pforzheim police custody.
 * In 1853/54 people came from 4 districts of Baden.
 * There are no further documents for the following years, however, prisoners were still released for emigration to America.
 * In 1860/62/64 people were released from Bruchsal prison and the workhouse in Freiburg.

Palatinate Mennonite Census Lists 1664-1793
The Kurpfalz territory included parts of the state of Baden on the east side of the Rhine River and parts of the present-day Palatinate. The state of Kurpfalz ended in 1801 under Napoleon of France. The Palatinate then became part of France. In 1815, this territory fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria, and since World War II is known as “Rheinbayern” or “Bayrische Pfalz”. The first Swiss-German Anabaptists or Mennonites immigrated to the Kurpfalz in 1664. After the 30 Years’ War the area was hugely depopulated and the religious refugees from Switzerland were encouraged to settle under certain conditions. They had to observe religious restrictions, pay protection fees and other obligations. In order to make sure everything went according to law, the Mennonites needed to register with the authorities at irregular intervals. Hence, censuses were taken in 1664, 1685, 1706, 1717, 1724, 1738, 1743, 1753, 1759, 1768, 1773, 1790, and 1793.
 * Palatine Mennonite census lists, 1664-1793

Not every subsequent sovereign upheld the protective rights for the people of a different creed and limited their growth so that especially young people were forced to leave. Many simply moved to a neighboring village if it belonged to a different sovereign, but most saw no other alternative than to pack up, travel down the Rhine and eventually make the voyage across the Atlantic to America.

The census lists were forwarded to the respective authorities (Oberämter). The genealogists Hermann and Gertrud Guth transcribed these lists and discovered that the Kurpfalz officials were not familiar with the Swiss-German names. Names were frequently spelled the way they thought they should be spelled causing some unusual deformities. Several surnames point to the origin of the person. Families had Lower German or Dutch origin. The list of family and village names are available in Palatine Mennonite census lists, 1664-1793 at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah, International Floor.

Source: Guth, Hermann and Gertrud et.al.Palatine Mennonite Census Lists 1664-1793. Mennonite Family History, Elverson PA, 1987.

Ahnenforschung im Neckartal-Odenwald
In connection with the above mentioned article of Palatine immigration by Swiss settlers, see also this website. The authors want to emphasize their research on the area left and right of the Neckar between the cities of Hassmersheim and Eberbach. They already produced data for the following places: Aglasterhausen, Asbach, Auerbach, Bargen, Dallau, Daudenzell, Hassmersheim, Heinsheim, Hochhausen, Hüffenhardt, Kälbertshausen, Michelbach, Mittelschefflenz, Mosbach, Neckarzimmern, Mülben, Neckarburken, Neckarelz, Neckarmühlbach, Oberschefflenz, Obrigheim, Rappenau, Rittersbach, Schwarzach, Strümpfelbrunn, Treschklingen, Unterschefflenz, and Wimpfen.

With this data a researcher can determine from where his Swiss families originated.The data is found under "Projekte" and then "Schweizer Einwanderer im badischen Neckartal-Odenwald".
 * Familien im badischen Neckartal-Odenwald (DB XIII), (Families in Baden Neckarthal-Odenwald)
 * Click on "'Projekte''' for a chart giving links to these collections:
 * Schweizer Einwanderer im badischen Neckartal-Odenwald, (Swiss Migrants in Baden Neckarthal-Odenwald)]
 * Auswanderer aus Neckarzimmern, (Emigrants from Neckarzimmern) ]Neckarzimmern is the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis related municipality in Baden-Württemberg (North Baden).

Online Databases

 * Wuerttemberg, Germany Emigration Index, ($)
 * Blackforest emigrant database
 * Emigrants from Urach and Neuhausen on der Ems
 * Emigrants from Fellbach
 * Emigrants from Gechingen
 * Emigrants from Liedolsheim
 * Emigrants from Neuhausen ob Eck
 * Emigrants from Odenheim
 * Emigrants from Rommelshausen
 * Emigrants from Schwaikheim
 * Emigrants from Stetten im Remstal
 * Emigrants from Verrenberg
 * Emigrants from Grafschaft Wertheim

Books

 * There are authors, who published lists of emigrants from Württemberg, such as
 * Trudy Schenk, Ruth Froelke (The Wuerttemberg Emigration Index, Vol. 1-8, Ancestry Incorporated, Salt Lake City, Utah 1986-1998) and
 * Brigitte Burkett (Nineteenth Century Emigrants from Baden Württemberg, Vol. 1-2, Picton Press, Rockport Maine, 1997, 2001)
 * Karl-Heinz Wüstner. Die Deutsche Evangelische Kirche in Liverpool – ein Rückhalt für Seeleute und Einwanderer im 19. Jahrhundert.
 * Stuttgart Passport Office Records: The index that was created is on film and in book form at the Family History Library.  The book call number is 943.47 W22i and there are many volumes to the index.  The microfilm numbers are 1,125,018-19.

History
Some of the earliest emigrants to America came from the state of Württemberg, Germany. It is the area of Germany from which the number of emigrants surpassed any other state. Anyone in America now who has ancestors from Württemberg and would like to trace their roots can rejoice because church records exist in almost every village. Very few of the church records, Lutheran or Catholic, were destroyed in the wars of the 20th century. For the most part the records go back to the early 1600s and some even earlier. Some of the records were destroyed during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Citizens from surrounding countries, specifically Switzerland, migrated to Württemberg because of the devastation of this war, to settle certain areas. Others came from France and Austria.

Many early emigrants to Pennsylvania and other Eastern states (Virginia, North Carolina, Maine, New Jersey and New York) had their origins in Württemberg. The books by Strassburger and Hinke and Rupp show ship passenger lists of these early emigrants. There were many captains, who destroyed the lists of passengers upon arrival in the new land. Some of the church records in Württemberg show the phrase made by a pastor “left to America, the new land or the Carolinas”. For emigration records a series of 8 volumes called Württemberg Emigration Indexes can be accessed through Ancestry.com. These are names of people, who applied for emigration legally to receive permission to leave the country and get a release from being citizens of Württemberg (clearance from military duties and possible debts or those who needed financial assistance and also those who had committed some crime). Many other Württemberg emigrants left the country over night with just a passport which was acceptable to ship captains. Those emigrants leaving in the 1700s usually gathered in a town close to the River Rhine and then took passage on the Rhine to The Netherlands. Later emigrants came via Le Havre, France, which was also reached via the Rhine River. Other ports were Bremen and a smaller portion of travelers left via Hamburg. In the 19th century these ports were reachable by train.

Emigrants were required to bring equipment on board, such as eating utensils, bedding in form of straw sacks and some food items. Often the promises made by agents and ship captains were not held and travelling became an arduous adventure. In a letter written by an emigrant in America back home advised travelers to bring a jug of whiskey which would help during seasickness.

Stuttgart Passport Office Records
In 1991, the European Reference group on the International floor at the Family History Library, also indexed 18 rolls of emigration films from the Stuttgart Passport Office dated 1845-1920. These were listings of passport applicants, many of which were not from Württemberg, but also from Bayern, Prussia and Switzerland, and many other areas, as well. These applications gave the dates of application, name of the applicant, birthdate and birthplace. Also included was the destination sometimes only being within the country of Germany, rather than only those traveling to foreign countries.

The index that was created is on film and in book form at the Family History Library. The book call number is 943.47 W22i and there are many volumes to the index. The microfilm numbers are 1,125,018-19. The index includes an alphabetical list of names, birthdate and place, passport issue date and where they were going and the film number. Unfortunately, the indexers did not include the running number which would have made it much faster to locate the name on the film. Therefore, if you want to recheck the information for accuracy in transcription, it would be necessary to search the entire film.

The actual application films are in chronological order, by date, and therefore the names listed on these films were not in alphabetical order.

Pork butchers in Liverpool
Offers like new beginnings in England as pork butchers came at an opportune moment for some. In the 1860s, men from Gerabronn and Künzelsau int he area of Hohenlohe emigrated and settled in the northern and middle regions of England. There are German settlements in Liverpool, London, Hull, Bradford and Manchester. The butchers established themselves in family businesses in which their wives and children were also participating. Besides immediate family, many German women were hired who worked as servants, governesses and sales clerks.
 * From Braunsbach came the Kochers and Happold,
 * from Steinbach the sons and daughters of the Böhm, Dietz and Hackel families,
 * from Steinkirchen the families Jaag and Vogt.
 * The Egners, Kuhn, Leiser and Reisig originate from Künzelsau
 * Schmetzers came from Criesbach.
 * The families Döhring, Dürr, Karle, Krumein and Rüben came from Bächlingen,
 * from Oberregenbach came two brothers Rutsch,
 * from Hohebach two sisters Stumpf, and
 * from Dörzbach the Donrads, Dimler and Grund.

Because they knew each other from home, the emigrants established places of congregation which gave them support and opportunities to get to know each other better. One such place was the German church in Liverpool, where people could practice values and traditions important to them. By 1914, with the beginning of WWI, the thriving businesses of pork butchers from the Jagstkreis in Wuerttemberg came to a shrieking halt. They were deported and had to look for other business opportunities. Some anglicized their names so not to be detected, others emigrated to America. The German church in Liverpool is still thriving today.

Source: Karl-Heinz Wüstner. Die Deutsche Evangelische Kirche in Liverpool – ein Rückhalt für Seeleute und Einwanderer im 19. Jahrhundert.

Emigration from Hohenzollern
Immigrants to the United States from the Prussian province Hohenzollern often gave their last place of residence as Prussia. This can be confusing because the mental picture of the state of Prussia tends to cover the northern parts of Germany. Hohenzollern was circumferenced by Württemberg which was a kingdom not belonging to Prussia. People who emigrated to the United States before 1850 gave as their place of origin Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen or -Hechingen. These two tiny principalities joined with Prussia in 1850, had one Regierungsbezirk and became known as Hohenzollern.

Ancestors from the above mentioned places may have just mentioned Sigmaringen which can lead to false conclusions if they did not come from the town Sigmaringen, but from the surrounding area. This is especially true of emigrants who left before 1850. Administratively speaking, the people belonged to an Oberamt and some Oberämter viewed each other as foreign territoríes and demanded tax for move-ins and -out which transactions were recorded (example: Wehrstein and Haigerloch). These records can be found in the Staatsarchiv Sigmaringen. Source: http://wiki/de.genealogy.net/Hohenzollern