The Germanna Foundation-sponsored trip for this late spring will visit Neuenbuerg in the Kraichtal, which will be the first time that this series of trips has gone there. This was the home of the Blankenbakers, Thomases, Fleshmans and the Scheibles (and perhaps others, now unknown). This village is different from the other villages in some ways.
There is no Protestant (Evangelische) Church in the village of Neuenbuerg; there is only a Catholic Church. In part, this came about because the village used to be on lands owned by the (Catholic) Bishops of Speyer, though about 1802 the lands were ceded to the state of Baden. The Protestants who used to live in town walked about two miles to Oberoewisheim to go to church. There, separate church books for the villages were maintained for a while and then the church books combined the two localities into one record. There is an Oberoewisheim-Neuenbuerg Ortssippenbuch .
The Catholic Church is nice and worth a visit if one is in the village. Going out to the cemetery for the village, there is a real surprise with about five Jewish stones. One of these dates back to 5 May 1945 which is longer than usual for a burial to be maintained. Though I had heard the general story of how this came about, a correspondent sent me more detailed facts.
Friday, April 13, 1945 had been a normal day until late afternoon. Then a jeep arrived carrying French military officers and the village was ordered evacuated within 90 minutes. Residents could take with them what they could carry. Many family belongings had to be left behind and they were never seen again.
On the trek out of the village, a number of trucks with emancipated people in prison garb were to be seen. They were the remaining inmates from a concentration camp who were to be quarantined for several weeks. Several of these people died in the immediate weeks ahead and were buried in the local cemetery. One man, who survived, wrote an account of his experiences. Many of the people were Eastern Europeans and Jews.
The stones in the cemetery with the obvious Jewish letters have remained, perhaps as a reminder.
There are very few businesses in the village, almost none. Even the mayor, who is responsible for several villages, has very limited hours in any one village. By wandering over some of the roads to the fields one can gain some height and a better overview of the village. Grapes are grown and sheep are to be seen in meadows. Since 1717, the village has grown in size, as several new developments surround the old village.
(12 Apr 05)
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.