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HOW IT ALL STARTED........

24.02.2006

Dear Janice,

For the last two weeks I tried to find your Schwaebisch ancestors - it wasn’t very successful:

First I called the Chief of the municipal archives of Schwäbisch Hall, asking him for a citizen named Rothermel, who left the town in 1875-80. He told me that Rothermel was a well-known name in his town between 16th – 18th century, definitely not Jewish, and he promised to search in his archive for more information. The next day, he sent me an e-mail, that he couldn’t find the three brothers, he only has found a Johann Georg Rothermel, living in Horlebach , a little village near Wolpertshausen, near Schwabisch Hall between 1822 and 1852. He recommended to contact the archive of the county of Schwaebisch Hall. So I called them and they also were very eager to help and researched in all the protocols of the government in this time and all the lists of emigration permits , but couldn’t find any Rothermel.
So it is difficult to find more information and I am not sure, that your grandfather is really born in this region. Please send me the source, where you have found this information, was it from a database on the internet? If you have any documents, please scan them, it is more easy for us to read the text in the old German handwriting than you.
Bille and Folker..... Stuttgart

06.04.2006

We will look for Johann Georg Michael Rothermel, borne 1853 in Hörlebach in the archives of the Lutheran church as soon as possible.

12.05.2006
Today we have been to the Archives of the Lutheran church in Stuttgart. It really was not easy due to the terrible handwriting of the priests in that time.
We now know that all your ancestors came from Hörlebach all were Farmers and citizens of the village. The local church was in Ruppertshofen. The last Rothermel we could find was Johann Jacob Rothermel born before 1710, this is where the old church book ended in the Archives.

WITH MANY MANY THANKS TO BILLE AND FOLKER FOR THEIR DEDICATION


WITHIN THREE MONTHS THEY HAD DISCOVERED EVERYTHING !!

From 'Life in a German Dorf' by A T Rumbach 1954

"How do the people in these German villages live?" That is a question we are often asked. Well, everyone knows these people to be very industrious. Most of them own a few acres of land which they farm intensively…that is, they grow at least two crops on them annually. Much of the work in the fields is done by the women, assisted by the men in their spare time. Most men have a trade or business which they operate when their services are needed by fellow citizens. We have already mentioned the bakery and bicycle business. Then there are carpenters, blacksmiths, locksmiths, tinsmiths, basket makers, weavers, butchers, taverns and other occupations.
There is a cigar factory which employs mostly girls and buys the tobacco grown by local farmers. Many of the men and youths and young women work at their trade in nearby cities, travelling on bicycles and motorcycles.
The principal crops are wheat, (grown mostly for green fodder), turnips, sugar beets, cabbage, tomatoes, cauliflower, endive and head lettuce. There are many fruit trees - apples, pears, prunes and cherries.


Baden-Württemberg may be regarded as the one German Land in which economic life is dominated by middle-class businessmen and small farmers. Although such world-famous firms as Daimler-Benz started as small workshops in Stuttgart and Mannheim, there is virtually no heavy industry in the region. On the other hand, Baden-Württemberg is the centre for highly specialized mechanical and textile industries. The lack of valuable mineral and other deposits in Baden-Württemberg forces the population to earn its livelihood by the manufacture, improvement, and finishing of goods. Baden-Württemberg produces the majority of all the clocks, watches, and custom jewellery that originate in the country. Substantial amounts of Germany's leather goods, musical instruments, medical instruments, food and agricultural produce, cigars, and hardware are also produced in Baden-Württemberg.

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