There are many purposes or ends to which an Ortssippenbuch might be put. In recent notes we discussed the appearance of surnames and the number of times that "Amerika" was mentioned. The Diefenbach Ortssippenbuch has counts of all localities that are mentioned. One of the key things that this demonstrates is that gene diffusion was taking place.
Farms in the vicinity, which have names that are mentioned, include Burrainhof, which is mentioned 32 times. Füllmenbacher Hof is mentioned 95 times. These are probably estate farms, not farms belonging to the workers.
The village of Cleebronn, nine miles to the east, is named twenty times. In one case, an Oehler/Öhler [Aylor at Germanna] is mentioned as being from there. (In total, the surname Oehler/Öhler is given five times.) Villages close to Cleebronn also named include Brackenheim (7 times) and Bönnigheim (9 times).
Zaberfeld, a little less than five miles to the northeast, is mentioned 28 times. Zaberfeld was the home of the Germanna Käfers.
In general, the closer the second village or town lies to Diefenbach, or the larger the second village is, the more times it is mentioned. Sternenfels, to the north less than two miles, is given 79 times. Stuttgart is a larger town which is more distant, about twenty miles, and it is mentioned 106 times.
Sulzfeld, about five miles to the north, is mentioned 14 times. Ravensburg, the castle just outside Sulzfeld, is mentioned twice.
Derdingen, divided today into Oberderdingen and Unterderdingen, is less than four miles to the northwest and is given 58 times. (Oberderdingen is where Hans Georg Blanckenbühler was married.)
Karlsruhe, another bigger town, is mentioned many times. Ötisheim, the home of the Broyles/Briles, is mentioned 38 times. This last village lies five miles to the south-southwest of Diefenbach.
Österreich (Austria) is named eleven times. Bayern (Bavaria) is given eight times.
So, the inhabitants of the villages were not isolated. They moved about, looking for mates and jobs. In the process, the genes were distributed outside the village and new genes were brought into the village. Though no one probably gave any thought to the process, it was a beneficial process.
(08 May 04)
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.