Urban TANNER, Part 7:
It is always good to have a resource who knows more than you do. In the case of Urban Tanner, it appears that I have two resource people. I have mentioned Julius Gruenwald here before. He lives in Westhofen where the Catholic Church Record shows the baptism of Anna Catharina Danner, the daughter of Urban Danner and his wife Anna Maria. The Baptismal Report noted that the baptism occurred, not in Westhofen, but in Bloedesheim. I could not find Bloedesheim on the map and so I contacted Julius Gruenwald again.
He writes that I could not find Bloedesheim because it does not exist anymore. Thirty years ago the residents changed the name because of the connotation of “bloed” (blood). They and the map makers now call it “Hochborn”. It is located less than three miles from Westhofen in a northwesterly direction. It and the village of Monzernheim (about two miles from Westhofen) are daughter chapels or churches of Westhofen. The same pastor served all of these communities and kept the records at Westhofen.
It would be fair to say that Anna Catharina Danner/Tanner was born at Hochborn with the baptism recorded in the (Catholic) Church in Westhofen.
As to whether the name was Danner or Tanner, Mr. Gruenwald says that to this day the letter “T” is “unspeakable” for the residents of the Palatinate. In common language or dialect the people there still say Danner for Tanner.
In Buhlow’s dictionary of German names, the name Danner of High German origin is equivalent to Thanner as well as Oberdanner or Oberthanner. The name originated as a locality or location name. In Middle High German, “tan” is forest. There are many Tanners in Bavaria, Wuerttemberg, and Switzerland.
Mr. Gruenwald suggests that Urban Tanner was one of the people who moved about in the Germanic regions in the last half of the Seventeenth Century. The region had been burdened with three wars, the last in 1688 to 1697. People had left the villages, some never returned. The Elector Johann Wilhelm set about to repopulate the region and invited (18 September 1698) newcomers to settle in his country with the right not to pay taxes or contributions for six years.
Mr. Gruenwald believes Urban Danner followed this invitation and came to Bloedesheim. Perhaps the village had a chance for a cooper and brewer to start anew.
(05 Jun 2007)
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