5.1

Chapter 5: William Kuehl (Wilhelm Kühl) -his early years and hometown

Wilhelm’s Early Years

Wilhelm (middle name is not known) Kühl was born inZiegenhagen, Germany, June 28, 1866. His parents were KarlFriedrich and Minna (Haseleu) Kühl. Wilhelm was the secondof three children. August was older by almost three years;Siegfried, three years younger.

In 1870 – 1871 Wilhelm’s father Karl Friedrich Kühl served the North German Confederation inthe Franco-Prussian War. This was an important time in history, for it was when the GermanEmpire was formed.

The North German Confederation was a federation of 15 independent states of Northern Germanywith nearly 30 million inhabitants. It was the first modern German nation state and was the basisfor the country soon to become the German Empire. Eighty percent of the inhabitants of theConfederation – including the family of our forefather Karl Friedrich - were from the Kingdom ofPrussia.

During this war of 1870 – 1871 the southern Germany states of Wurttemberg, Bavaria, and Badenjoined with the Confederation which was then renamed as The German Empire. During the Siegeof Paris, on January 18, 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, the King of Prussia,Wilhelm I was proclaimed Emperor of Germany.

These events of state happened a long distance from where a soldier, Karl Friedrich Kühl at theage of 30, lay dying of typhus in Glogan¹, a town about 120 miles south of Ziegenhagen. At thetime of his father’s death, our Grandfather Wilhelm was four.

The following year, in 1872, Wilhelm's widowed mother, Minna, married a second husband,Johann Friedrich Luloff. At the time of their marriage, Minna was 28 and Johann 26 years of age.Minna and Johann went on to have seven little Luloffs, half siblings to William. These half siblingsto William were Ernestine, Minna, Hermann, Auguste, Ferdinand, Gustav, and Luise.

This is what we know about Wilhelm’s early years, until he turned 22 and emigrated to America inMay of 1889. What we didn’t know yet was where to find William’s home town - Ziegenhagen - ona map.

1 Glogan, also called Gross Glogau and Glogow (Polish), was a strongly fortified town of eastern Prussian Selesia, 35miles NNW of Leignitz (Legnica in Polish) on the River Oder, in what is now Poland.

While Grandma Mary Kuehl spent her childhoodin America, William, her husband-to-be, grew

up in Germany. Mary came to America with herfamily at age nine. William came at age 22.

In this chapter we’ll share what is known aboutWilliam’s early life. And we’ll tell about William’shome town … and it’s connection with Mary.

William Kuehl - Circa 1888Born June 28, 1866

Ziegenhagen, GermanyKreis Saatzig

5.2

Allen and I recalled that in researching Klein Silber,Mary’s hometown, we had come upon a website¹describing a World War II battle fought at KleinSilber. It tells detailed stories of battles between theGerman and Russian armies at Ziegenhagen, andthen the Russians approached and devastated thevillage of Klein Silber. Below are a couple paragraphsfrom the war story in chapter one. The awkwardwording comes from the Google translation fromGerman.

In the early morning of February 8, 1945 thecommand comes to the foreclosure of aRussian advance to Ziegenhagen and KleinSilber. When encountering a strong enemygroup on the ridge of the Ihna east, carriedthe supply of two more tigers II, and about10 other assault guns, and a company.Around noon the attack, carried out from themovement, direction Ziegenhagen, whichwas joined by the assault guns.

After fighting on the outskirts ofZiegenhagen, carried the advance of theparatroopers, both sides of the road, over thesmall bridge on Ihna Ziegenhagen. Followheavy urban warfare, while it comes to thelaunch of another, the third Russian tanksJosef Stalin II. Towards evening the battlegroup was at the south exit of Klein Silber.

At the time when we saw the name Ziegenhagenconnected with this recollection of war, we were inthe early days of our working on this family history.We were totally focused on writing our GrandmotherMary’s history. We had no information on ourGrandfather William and thus no thought that wewould be uncovering some of his history. The nameZiegenhagen barely registered for us.

It was a 1939 map of Grandma Mary’s hometown –and a magnifying glass – that began to unlock thewhereabouts of William’s hometown. The mapshowed each of the former houses in Klein Silber andwho lived there before the war. At the bottom left ofthis map in very small print, on a street with arrowpointing out of town were the words “nachZiegenhagen”. We found it intriguing that aZiegenhagen could be either near by or a villageimportant enough for a directional arrow to bepointing the way.

But then, in this same website was a listing by nameof the inhabitants of Klein Silber in January, 1945.This was the last month before “much of theremaining population fled in the night of 06 February1945 in the icy cold north towards Norenberg.”² Theinhabitants of Klein Silber were fleeing from theoncoming onslaught by the Russian troops. It’s alsointeresting to note that this is 56 years after Williamemigrated. Now, these 56 years later not only werethe family names of Mary’s father Bloedow andmother Lueck listed, but there were Kuehl familynames living in Mary’s hometown of Klein Silber aswell. We wondered, are these names so popularthey’re found throughout Germany?

Among the Kuehl names was a Kühl and names ofWilliams maternal and paternal forebears. TheHaseleu name of William’s mother, Zuhlke familyname of William’s maternal grandmother andNeumanns family name of his maternal GreatGrandmother were all listed as living in GrandmotherMary’s hometown of Klein Silber. This doesn’tnecessarily mean these were relatives of Mary or

In a letter sent to Phyllis’ parents dated October 1, 1970 by our German relative, Irmgard Luloff writesthat our Grandfather William Kuehl came from the village of Ziegenhagen. The Suevia ship manifeststates that he came from Prussia. So we know that William came from the village ofZiegenhagen in the Province of Prussia, which was part of the German Empire. Yet, thequestion remains, “where is Ziegenhagen?” Searches on the Internet show at least three townsin Germany with the name Ziegenhagen. Which Ziegenhagen was William from?

Where is William’s home village of Ziegenhagen?

1 www.klein-silber.de/2 www.klein-silber.de/

Klein Silber church destroyed in WWII

5.3

William. On the other hand, although it was now several generationssince William had lived in Ziegenhagen, it’s quite likely that roots of thoseliving in Klein Silber could be traced to a common ancestry with William.By now it seemed we may have found our Ziegenhagen.

At this point Phyllis remembered that these birth and death certificates ofWilliam’s forbears had names of towns where those in William’s lineagewere born, died and where the documents were registered. In the 1800speople often remained in one area rather than move to distant locations.Marriages were often between persons from the same or neighboringcommunities. So we thought maybe one or two of these towns would benear Ziegenhagen. Finally, Allen found a local map with small townsnoted in the area. To our amazement the towns of William’slineage – Zadelow, Guntersberg, Falkenwalde, and Ravenstein– they all are not only near this Ziegenhagen, they are within 12miles of Ziegenhagen, William’s home town. We had ouranswer. We had our Ziegenhagen! Even the towns ofgodparents are there - Tornow and Goldbuck.

We had found the home of our Grandfather Kuehl. For the firsttime ever, we know where it was that this ambitious, dear,adventurous lad said his last goodbyes to his mother, each withtears and love and longing in their heart. This tender momentwould be their last. With his mother and family having wishedhim Godspeed, William’s journey to America had begun. Theywould never be together again.

Ziegenhagen - William’sancestral home

William Kuehl, his parents and our fourgreat-grandparents had lived inZiegenhagen.

▪ William was born in Ziegenhagen

▪ William’s mother Minna Haseleu Kühland father Karl Friedrich Kühl bothwere born and lived in Ziegenhagen.Minna Haseleu Kühl married secondhusband Johann Luloff inZiegenhagen. Minna Kühl Luloff spenther last years in Konstantinopel, avillage less than three miles fromZiegenhagen.

▪ William’s maternal grandmotherHanna Luise Zuhlke Haseleu andmaternal grandfather Wilhelm Haseleu(farmer) both died and are buried inZiegenhagen.

▪ William’s paternal GrandmotherChristina Hencke Kühl was born andlived in Ziegenhagen, and paternalGrandfather Friedrich Kühl died in hisZiegenhagen apartment.

1939 map of Germany showing Ziegenhagen-Klein Silber inrelationship to Zadelow, Guntersberg, Falkenwalde & Ravenstein

Source: A portion of a map at http://www.rollenhagen.de/Pommern/maps/

For scale, Ziegenhagen andFalkenwalde are less than 2 miles apart

These relatives lived within 12 miles of William Kuehl’shometown of Ziegenhagen

Falkenwalde: died here - Friedrich Kühl (paternal grandfather); Christina Henke Kühl (paternal grandmother) of William Kuehl. (See p. 15.1)Ravenstein: birth/baptism/death-Karl Friedrich Kühl (father of Wm). p 15.1Guntersberg: birth and baptism here - William Haseleu (maternal grandfather of William). (See p. 16.1)Konstantinopel: Minna Maria Luise Haseleu Kühl (mother of William) lived and died here as Luloff (see p. 16.1)Zadelow: birthplace of Friedrich Kühl (paternal grandfather of William Kuehl), and town where Friedrich’s parents Michael Kühl and Sophie Berkmann lived (great grandparents of William Kuehl). (See p. 15.1)Tornow: Peter Haseleu, godfather for Wilhelm Haseleu (who was William Kuehl’s maternal grandfather). (See p. 16.1)Goldbuck: William Neumann and Ms Christ Neumann, godparents for Wilhelm Haseleu (maternal grandfather of William Kuehl). (See p. 16.1)

Birth/Baptism/Death Certificates ofWm Kuehl’s forebears registered

at the Church of RavensteinDeath - Wilhelm Haseleu (maternal grandfather)Death – Hanna Luise Zulke Haseleu (maternal grandmother)Death – Christina Hencke Kühl – paternal grandmother)Birth/baptism and death – Karl Friedrich Kühl (father)Birth/baptism – Minna Maria Luise Haseleu Kühl Luloff (mother)Note: Refer to chart for lineage: - William’s paternal Kuehl p. 15.1 - William’s maternal Haseleu p. 16.1

5.4

The home towns of Mary and William

The 1939 map below identifies every building in Klein Silber and its owner. Phyllis was hoping to find homesowned by familiar names, perhaps distant cousins. As you’ll see on this and the following page, she hadsuccess. She also found the road to Ziegenhagen - William’s home town.

Pouring over themap with amagnifying glassPhyllis spied“nach Ziegen-hagen” and anarrow pointingthe way.

Things werefalling into place.On this samewebsite wefound Kuehlfamily namesresiding in KleinSilber in January1945.

This infor-mation, plustown namesfrom Wilhelm’sancestors’ birthand deathcertificates,helped us findhistoric maps onthe internet thatshowed Ziegen-hagen’s location.

Ziegenhagenis across theriver fromKlein Silber. Itis virtually astone’s throwfrom thevillage of ourGrandmotherMary. The twotowns areseparated bythe RiverIhna. Ziegen-hagen andWilliam wereat one end ofthe bridge;Klein Silberand Mary atthe other!

We neverknew.

Nach Zeigenhagen- the road toZeigenhagen

1939 map of Klein Silber, showing every home and ownerHighlighted properties are names similar to Kuehl and Bloedow relatives (see next page)

Source: www.klein-silber.de/index.php/dorfplan

= Church

= Cemetery

5.5

Ancestral Family Names of Mary andWilliam Kuehl that are found in Klein Silber

Below is a list of historic family names of both grandparents that are found in a 1945 report of who’s who in KleinSilber. We don’t know whether persons in the list (highlighted) are actually relatives of our ancestors, but there is agood chance they are.

The list would be accurate only for the month of January 1945 and preceding years. With Russian troops advancingon the village of Klein Silber, “much of the remaining population fled in the night of 06 February, 1945 in the icycold north towards Nörenberg.” Note the section: “The war that destroyed Klein Silber” in Chapter one.

Source: http://www.klein-silber.de/index.php/dorfplan

BloedowFamily Tree

Blödow: The father ofMary Bloedow Kuehl wasFerdinand Bloedow. Hisfather was Gotlieb Bloedow(Mary’s paternalgrandfather). (See p. 12.3)

Lentz: Mother of MaryBloedow Kuehl’s fatherFerdinand was Maria LentzBloedow (Mary’s paternalgrandmother). (See p.12.3)Lück: The mother ofMary Bloedow Kuehl wasAuguste, born as Lück,married name Bloedow.Auguste’s father was knownas Gotlieb and some say asCarl, last name Lück (Mary’smaternal grandfather).(See p. 13.2)

Kuehl Family Tree

Kühl: Father of WilliamKuehl was Karl FriedrichKühl; William left behind twobrothers - August andSiegfried Kühl. (See p. 15.1)

Haseleu: Mother ofWilliam Kuehl was Minnaborn as Haseleu (marriedname Kühl). (See p. 16.1)

Zühlke: Mother of WilliamKuehl’s mother MinnaHaseleu was Hanna Luiseborn as Zühlke (marriedname Haseleu) (William’smaternal grandmother).(See p. 16.1)

Neumanns: WilliamKuehl’s maternal grandfatherWilhelm Haseleu’s motherwas Sophia born asNeumanns (married nameHaseleu) (William’smaternal great grand-mother). (See p. 16.1)

5.6

Where exactly is William’s hometown of Ziegenhagenfrom Klein Silber, Mary’s town of birth?

The answer: Ziegenhagen is across the river … We never knew!

There’s one clue we haven’t talked about yet, and it’s absence confounded our research. Ziegenhagen and KleinSilber were in different counties, called kreis in the German language. Ziegenhagen is in Kreis Saatzig. KleinSilber is in Kreis Arnswalde. Knowing this made searching for information on the internet more productive.

The Ihna River separates the villages of Zeigenhagen and Klein Silber, and the counties of Saatzig and Arns-walde. After World War II, when this area in Germany was given to Russia - who handed it to Poland -German town names were changed to Polish. On the map below, the curved line for the Ihna river was drawnbold for emphasis.

Note that compared with the village map of Klein Silber (two pages back) showing every home and owner, fewhouses have been built or repaired since. The town is a fraction of its former self.

Source: maplandia.com/europe

Many German town names werechanged to Polish after WWII

German Polish

Zeigenhagen Rybaki

Ihna River Ina River

Klein Silber Suliborek

Ravenstein Wapnica

Zadelow Sadlowo

Falkenwalde Sololiniec

Stargard Szczecinski

Source: polandpoland.com

Place name changesmake research difficult

For many reasons, genealogical research can betricky. In Europe there can be multiple townswith the same name, and names can change overtime. The table to the right shows the historicGerman names of villages, and the current Polishnames.

Internet data on the former towns and namechanges is not readily available.

Satellitemap of

Ziegenhagenand Klein

Silber.

Ziegenhagen(Rybaki) is in

Saatzigcounty.

Klein Silber(Suliborek) isin Arnswalde

county.

William’s home village is Ziegenhagen,County of Saatzig, Province of Pomerania,Kingdom of Prussia. At William’s birth(1866), Pomerania was one of manyGermanic states. (Germanic denotesculture rather than a political entity.)

Mary’s home village is Klein Silber, Countyof Arnswalde, Province of Brandenburg,Kingdom of Prussia. At Mary’s birth (1870),Brandenburg was part of the NorthGerman Confederation.

BothWilliam

and Maryemigratedfrom the

Empire ofGermany

5.7

We Kuehl’s say we are German … but which one?When our ancestors were born there were many Germanies

Our forebears came from the Kingdom of Prussia - one of many independent German states at thetime. There was not just one German nation. The history of Prussia and Germany is a war-torn, convolutedstory. Here is a brief outline (from Wikipedia sources) of the transition to one Germany, and dates for major lifeevents for Kuehl ancestors.

Year The Evolution of Germany (Sources: Wikipedia articles) Birth Dates for Kuehls

About50 BC

Roman commander Julius Caesar refers to Germania - the unconqueredarea east of the Rhine River - roughly, the east half of Europe. The Rhine beginsin Switzerland, travels north and east through the heart of Europe, and emptiesinto the North Sea in the Netherlands.

Abbreviations used below: Wm = Grandpa William Mary = Grandma Mary GP= grandparents

6th C to1806

1517

1648

1701

The Holy Roman Empire develops - a multi-ethnic, complex political entityin central Europe (northern Italy to the Baltic Sea) that developed during theEarly Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806.

The northern Germanic states - including Prussia and probablyKuehl ancestors - became Protestant. This was at the time of MartinLuther’s Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church. The southernstates remained Catholic.

Prussia emerged as the dominant state in the Holy Roman Empire.Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Holy Roman Empire had fragmentedinto numerous independent states.

The Kingdom of Prussia was formed. It included parts of present-dayGermany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Kuehl ancestors born in the1700s in the Kingdom of Prussia,part of the Holy Roman Empire

Wm’s paternal great GP- Michael Kühl and

- Sophie Berkmann -both about 1778-1788

Wm’s maternal great GP- William Haseleu and- Sophia Neumanns -both about 1767-1777

No info on Mary’s paternal ormaternal great GPWm’s maternal GP

- Wilhelm Haseleu - 1797- Hanna Luise Zühlke - 1800

1806 Having been in decline for many years, the Holy Roman Empire wasdissolved. The Kingdom of Prussia continued in existence.

Wm’s paternal GP- Frederick Kühl - 1808

- Christina Henke Kühl - 1811Mary’s Paternal GP

- Gotlieb Blödow & Maria LentzBoth about 1808-1818

The1800s

In the early to mid 1800s, in the Kingdom of Prussia things were influx politically. In 1806 Prussia lost territory by defeat in a war with France’sNapoleon. After rebuilding its armies, Prussia went to war again with France in1813, winning and gaining territory. Within Prussia, there was a tug-0f-warbetween those who wanted to unite the many German states and those whowanted the patchwork of states to continue (where Prussia and Austria wouldhave to compete for influence). In 1862, Otto von Bismarck, Prussia’s PrimeMinister who wanted German unification, guided the state through several wars.This led to creating the North German Confederation in 1867, and the GermanEmpire in 1871.

Mary’s maternal GPGotlieb Karl Lueck and

Wilhelmina Schalbritze -both about 1810-1820William’s parents

- Karl Friedrich Kühl - 1839- Minna Maria Luise Haseleu Kühl - 1844

Mary’s parents- Ferdinand Bloedow - 1838

- Auguste Lueck - 1844- Grandpa William Kuehl - 1866

1867 The North German Confederation (1867-1871) - made up of 22independent German states - formed a military and political alliance,with Prussia as the leading state. This was the basis for the German Empirea few years later.

- Grandma Mary Bloedow - 1870

1871 The German Empire (1871-1918) was created under Prussian leadership, andthe Confederation dissolved. This was after Prussia beat the Second French Empire inthe Franco-Prussian War of 1871. The German Empire consisted of 27 Germanicterritories. Prussia covered two thirds of the Empire’s territory.

In 1870–1871 Wilhelm’s father, KarlFriedrich Kühl, served the NorthGerman Confederation in the Franco-Prussian War

1889 As time went by in the German Empire, Prussia, despite having mostof the Empire’s population and territory, played a lesser role. TheKingdom of Prussia’s political and cultural influence had diminishedconsiderably by the 1890s. In 1918 the Empire of Germany became afederal republic (a system where the central government cedes certain powersto the individual areas for self-government purposes).

- Mary Bloedow, age 9, emigrated toAmerica in 1880; William Kuehl,age 22, emigrated to America in 1889;both from the Empire of Germany.

- William and Mary married 1894

After1900

World War I occurred from 1914 to 1918. In the 1920s the Nazi Party developedand Hitler rose to power. World War II was fought from 1939 to 1945. As part ofthe war’s settlement, the ancestral home of William and Mary became part of Po-land. And Germany was divided, West German a democracy and East Germanyunder Russian control. With the collapse of the Soviet Union leading to the fall ofthe Berlin Wall on November 10, 1989, the two Germanies were united.

By July 1905 all of William and Mary’schildren had been born. William diedin 1926. Mary died in 1964.

5.8

Changes in Pomeranian territory in recent historyWhen GrandmaMary emigrated

from theGerman Empire

in 1880 herhome county,

Arnswalde, waslocated in the

province ofBrandenburg.

It wasn’t until1938 that the

county ofArnswalde

became part ofPomerania.

On this 1938map the

Brandenburgcounties of

Arnswalde (andFriedeberg) -green color -

were added tothe province of

Pomerania

Provincesof the

GermanEmpirein 1871

(the year theEmpire wasproclaimed).

Note that the provinces ofBrandenburg

andPomerania

are part of theKingdom of

Prussia.

In 1880GrandmotherMary and Her

Bloedow familyemigrated fromthe province ofBrandenburg.

In 1889William Kuehl

emigrated fromthe province of

Pomerania.

Source: www.authentichistory.com/1914-1920/1-overview/1-origins/MAP-German_Kingdoms_1870

NOTEThe red starshows thelocation of

Klein Silberand

Zeigenhagen

Baltic Sea

5.9

Today Ziegenhagen and Klein Silber are in the nation of Polandas shown on the map below

Are wepure-blooded

Germans?

The Prussianancestral home ofthe Bloedows andKuehls is now part ofPoland. You mightwonder whetherPomerania andBrandenburg wereever, in past history,part of Poland. Theanswer is “probablynot.” Old maps showthat Poland’s borderswere further eastthan Pomerania andBrandenburg. So ifour ancestors werelikely not Polish,were they alwaysGerman?

In the 7th and 9thcenturies, Slavictribes occupied large areas of eastern Europe(which includes our ancestral homes), plusPoland, parts of Russia, and as far south asGreece. Refer to the map on the right, wheregeneral regions of Slav tribes are underlined.Ziegenhagen and Klein Silber are indicatedwith a star. And names of some modernnations are in red.

The map shows that one of the many Slavtribes was “Pomeranians” (red arrow andbox). Wikipedia says that West Slavic tribesare ancestors of Germans, Poles, Czechs,Serbs, and others. Might West Slav tribes bethe ancestors of our ancestors? Perhaps … ormaybe not. For one things, we haveGermanic surnames. German tribes fromeast of the Elbe River (blue line on map)conquered Slavic tribes. These German“colonists” came from many German areasand mixed with Slavic “natives.” We Kühlsmight be purebred “colonists,” or perhapswe’re a mixture as Germans and Slavs inter-married. And what of our relatives since theyemigrated to America, perhaps married a Norwegian or Korean or another ethnicity? I guess we’re all Americans.

On a historical note, with all the political and territorial changes over time, when did Poland as we know it today come intoexistence? The ancient Slav territory was conquered and divided among players such as Prussia, Poland, Russia, Austria, etc.. Inthe late 1700s, Prussia conquered deep into what had been Poland. This, along with land claimed by Russia and Austria, meantthat an independent Poland didn’t exist from 1795 until 1918 (the end of World War I, when Poland received its independence.Poland boundaries were again re-drawn by victors at the end of WW II, resulting in the Poland we know today.

Location ofZiegenhagen &

Klein Silber

Note:Slav Tribe

“Pomeranians”

Elbe River

Grandma Mary Kuehl, washing her hands in a mountainstream, while on a trip with son Bill Kuehl