At first glance, the village of Ostheim seemed to have no special attraction. It even seemed not to have any guest houses where we could stay, but inquiries disclosed there was a hotel off the main street where we obtained the last room available. The rooms were on the ground level which is a rarity in Germany. It was a fairly large hotel and the rooms seemed to have been taken by a touring group. At dusk they convened in chairs on the lawn and sang songs.
In the morning we looked around the village some. The main attraction was the large church which was built inside an old walled village. While we did not have all of the details, it appears that there was an old walled village that was not too large. In the midst of this, they tore down some of the buildings to make room for the church but they tore down no more than necessary for the church. The remaining buildings seem to have been kept in approximately their original condition. As you walked among these buildings, there were really only walking paths, not streets. The buildings were of many shapes and descriptions but predominantly just a jumble. Never had a situation so suggested what early villages might have looked like. Chaotic is the best word.
Incidentally, we were now in former East Germany, but the visual distinction was hard. Perhaps there were fewer facilities, such as restaurants and guest houses and filling stations. Our objective was Klings, the village from where Cyriacus Fleshman of the 1717 Colony came. We were not sure what we would find. My map indicated very poor roads, perhaps only hiking trails. We were expecting a small isolated village. As we drove along the main road, we came to the point where we might be able to turn to Klings. Sure enough, there was a street sign pointing to Klings. We had to have a picture of this. Only after taking it did I notice a truck, almost under the sign, which had the name of the owner painted on it. It said Fleischmann. Right away we felt that perhaps we were in the right place.
In about a mile over a perfectly good road we came to the village, which was not large, but the houses looked substantial and in good condition. We drove immediately to the church and found the cemetery. The most common name in the cemetery is Fleischmann. Everyone in the village must be related to Fleischmanns in multiple ways. I am not a Fleischmann myself but I will bet that the majority of the people are my step cousins.
In a limited conversation with a resident tending a grave site, we learned that the church is still used, though they do not have an exclusive pastor. One comes a limited number of Sundays. There may be church books somewhere but that is only a guess on my part.
When someone says that Cyriacus Fleischmann (or his father, Veltin) came from Klings, I have to believe them. We returned to the main road and spent some time finding a restaurant. One other table was occupied by a family who seemed different (the father was wearing a coat and tie). We struck up a conversation in English and learned they were Jehovah Witnesses who were out calling on people. They were German and they were attempting to build a congregation in the area where they already had a few members. Such churches, as a group, are called the Free Protestant churches.
(13 Jun 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.