The Fehmarn Cousins Newsletter
Issue # 1 Jan. 1999
Welcome to all our readers. This is our premier letter and
there is a lot to be told and learned. First of all I would like to thank John for all his
work and the new web site, If you have visited the site you have seen the home page with a
flag and coat of arms. This is what I am going to talk about. The flag has a blue
background and on that is the represent ion of the crown that King Frederik II gave to the
people of Fehmarn in 1583. Over the crown is written Insel Fehmarn and under it is Goldene
Krone im blauen Meer (Golden Crown in the Blue Sea). Next down the page is the Coat of
Arms for the western part of Fehmarn. The coat of arms is a U shaped shield with a point
at the bottom. On the flat top is a crown. Around the outside is a ribbon of blue and
inside is red. In the blue are 13 yellow dots and around the seventh dot are 8 smaller
dots. In the red area are represented a Cross, a head of Wheat, a Viking Sailing Ship and
a Sword. Each of these has a meaning; the Crown is the one given by King Fredrik II. The
ribbon of blue is for the three sides of the coast. The red is for Denmark. The Cross is
for the Church. The Head of Wheat is for all Farmers. The Viking Ship For Commerce and
Trade. The sword for Punishment. The 13 yellow dots represent the towns of the west
island, which in order are: Orth, Lemkenhafen, Gollendorf, Lemkendorf, Sulsdorf,
Kopendorf, Petersdorf, Puttsee, Bojendorf, Schlagsdorf, Dänschendorf, Westermarkelsdorf
and Wenkendorf. Petersdorf at the bottom point is ringed by 8 small dots. These represent
the eight estates around Petersdorf. These are: Mittelhof, Bellevue, Neuhof, Dorotheenhof,
Teichhof, Altenteil, Wallnau and Flügge. The Island of Fehmarn is 71 square miles in
size. There is 48.5 miles of coastline. It has a population of 14,000 of which 6,700 live
in the city of Burg with the rest living in 42 villages around the island. The widest part
of the island is from east to west being 10.25 miles and 8 miles from north to south.
Fehmarn is primarily flat with the highest point being only 95 feet above sea level. It is
a popular vacation destining with approximately 130,000 guest. They make more than two
million reservations - half of them for camping sites.
Tressie Hughes
Your Newsletter Editor
Web Masters Letter
Hello Fehmarn cousins
December has been a special month for those with ancestors on Fehmarn. I have launch the
first web site on the Internet devoted exclusively to Fehmarn Genealogy. Many of those I
have helped find their ancestors have encouraged me to take on this long overdue project.
I hope that the formation of this site will be able to help all those with links to the
Island of Fehmarn find additional ancestors and many new cousins here and abroad.
I am continuing to strive to make the web site simple, but full of useful information to
help you in the quest to find your Fehmarn ancestors. I will be making many updates and
useful additions in the coming months so visit often and watch us grow. I hope we will be
the number one place to visit and get results for those researching on the Island of
Fehmarn. We have already had over 500 hits in our first month of operation. We are listed
with all the major search engines on the web, including Altavista, which will translate
our web site into German for our German cousins.
The web site contains 11 main areas to help you. Here is a quick overview of what you can
find.
*The first stop is the History page, which has a short, but interesting view of the
Islands past and its people.
*The second is Maps of Fehmarn past and present which show the locations of all the
villages of your ancestors on the Island.
*The third is the Photo’s section, where I will be putting pictures from the Island.
Here your help is need as I am looking for donations of photos from your trips to the
Island to be placed in our photo area. All pictures will be returned after being placed on
the web site.
*The fourth is Search The Index, the most valuable for your research. Here you can view
the index of my database with over 21,000 individuals from Fehmarn. A form is supplied on
the bottom of the page to request information on those Fehmarner’s that you would
like additional information on. The results will be e-mailed back in the form of an
ancestor or descendant report. This is also the place to get update reports on your
ancestors. I add about 200 additional names each week with additional links and dates to
those already in the database. Here again your help is needed please share the results of
your research to be included in the database so all may benefit from your hard work.
*The fifth is The Fehmarn Cousin’s Newsletter, where you will find the most current
online newsletter about Fehmarn genealogy and stories. You will also be able to find
previous issues. Please support the efforts of Tressie Hughes our editor of the
newsletter.
*The sixth is Links, you will find valuable and interesting links to other Fehmarn web
site and additional aids in your German research.
*The seventh is Addresses, this is a listing of addresses and phone numbers on the Island
to help you in your research.
*The eighth is Microfilms, this gives you a list of microfilms and their #'s available for
ordering at your local LDS family history center. Here you will also find samples of the
actual records with translations to help you practice before ordering the films, which are
all in old German script.
*The ninth is Surnames, a place to leave the surnames of your ancestors along with your
name and e-mail and/or address so you can find others researching common lines and new
cousins. Please stop by this page and leave your surnames of interest today if you have
not yet done so.
*The tenth is Query, this is the place to leave your query on missing ancestors or
questions about your research. As time permits I will attempt to do some lookups listed on
this page. I have many of the Fehmarn microfilms on permanent loan at my local LDS center,
as do others.
*The final area is the Guest Book, where you can leave your comments and suggestion on the
web site, or just to let me know you visited.
I want to also take this time to thank all those who have helped me with this project and
all the information, which has been seen to me in support of this web site. This web site
belongs to all of us with roots on the Island of Fehmarn.
Thank you
John Kostick, your webs host.
Hints & Tips
Naming Pattern
If you are like me you can use all the help you can get. In searching for family I came
across a Naming Pattern article. It stated that in Germany the first son was named after
the paternal grandfather. The second son after the maternal grandfather. The third son
after the father. Now for the daughters the first was named after the maternal
grandmother. The second daughter after the paternal grandmother. The third daughter after
the mother. The article also stated that while naming patterns are not to be considered as
proof positive, it may help identify the family of an
ancestor from the names given to children. This pattern was also followed in England/Welsh
naming. Added to this were the fourth son to be named after the father's oldest brother.
Also the fourth daughter to be named after the mother's oldest sister. This is not to say
that your ancestors followed this naming pattern. After all our ancestors were people to
and may have named a child after someone else or a child that had died.
Tressie Hughes
Family Stories
My great grandfather was Julius Reimer born 16 Nov 1841 in Petersdorf, Fehmarn. He was the
son of Hermann Hinrich Reimer and Christiana Roepke. He married 25 Sep 1870 in Petersdorf
to Margaretha Radecker born 30 Oct 1851 in Petersdorf. She was the daughter of Jacob
Friedrich Radecker and Anna Catharina Ehler. Two sons were born in Petersdorf. Herman John
Reimer(s) born 30 May 1871 and Charles John Reimer(s) born 31 Dec 1873.
Grandfather Julius was said to be a sea captain while living on Fehmarn Island.
The family came to America in 1882 aboard the vessel "Excellsor". They lived for
one year in Chicago, IL before coming west to settle in Cuming County, NE. On 17 Oct 1884,
my grandfather Walter Heinrich Reimer(s) was born on a farm in Cuming County, NE.
Grandfather Julius had very bad asthma. The climate in Nebraska did not agree with him. He
longed for the salt water of his beloved Fehmarn. He did stay here and died on 17 Mar 1925
in West Point, NE.
(This is a little story about grandfather Julius and grandmother Margaretha as told to me
by my cousin.)
One day, grandmother Margaretha was "housecleaning". Grandfather Julius had
brought with him from Fehmarn some momentos of his seafaring days. These precious objects
being a pistol and ship's sexton. Seeing no further need for these useless things,
grandmother promptly whisked them out of the house and down the path to the "little
house on the prarie" (outhouse). Grandfather never saw them again. What I wouldn't
give to know where to dig for these precious, rusty, and useless treasures.
Marlene Reimers Heinsohn
Fremont, NE
Help
I hope you enjoyed our premier newsletter. Now I would like to ask all of our readers to
participate in the newsletter. By asking for submissions of family histories, old family
recipes, knowledge of island life, stories of trips to the island and anything that you
have of interest concerning Fehmarn and it's people.
Please submit these to:
Newsletter submissions
by E-mail: kc7bal@juno.com
or mail to:
Tressie Hughes
PO Box 770
Puyallup WA 98371
The FEHMARN COUSINS Newsletter
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Editor - Tressie Hughes, 9312 147th Street E.,
Puyallup, WA. 98375