Württemberg

Those doing research in the former region of Württemberg are fortunate for several reasons:

So why another site on Württemberg? Well for two reasons:

1. I want to add my own perspective to those give above
2. My own family comes from Württemberg

Although I haven't got much on this Württemberg site yet, I am hoping to add a series of parish maps similar to what I did for Schleswig-Holstein. I am also going to make a trip to Germany next month and hopefully will be able to add my own experience to those of Wollmershäuser and Petersen. In the meantime here is a little background history on Württemberg:

Württemberg in the 18th Century

Most histories of Württemberg begin with the decline of the Hohenstaufen ruling family (ruled this area 1079-1268) and the raise of the Württemberg family (from 1200s). Some go back even earlier to talk about the Alemanni and Suebi (Swabian) tribes who occupied this area in the 3rd century AD and who were conquered by the Franks in 506 AD.

Although a history of the Württemberg ducal family is interesting, it does not represent a comprehensive history for this area during the 17th and 18th centuries. The area that we think of as Württemberg during the period of the German Empire (1870s-1918), was quite different prior to 1805. During the 17th and 18th centuries the Duchy of Württemberg and the County of Hohenzollern made up only part of this region. Much of this region was ruled over by other nobility and institutions. To understand the history of this region, these other ruling families and territories needs to also be taken into account.

During the period of the late 1500s-1805, like the rest of Germany, Württemberg was a patchwork of different ruling families and their various land holdings. Our ancestors were feudal tenants paying tributes for use of their land to the nobles who ruled over them. Once you begin to go beyond church records, it is important to identify the ruling families and jurisdictions over the towns where your ancestor lived in order to find wills, court, land, and other types of records.

For example, my Horlacher family lived in the following Württemberg towns during this period of time:

Although my Horlachers were from Württemberg in the 1800s, if I really want to understand the history of where they lived and the jurisdictions that the records are found under during the 1600s and 1700s, I need to learn more of the history of the territories of Hohenlohe, the City State (Reichsstadt) Schwäbisch Hall, the Frankish Knights of Odenwald, and Limpurg. A wonderful map showing these various jurisdictions from 1790 is, Herrschaftsbegiete und Ämtergliederung in Südwestdeutschland 1790 (FHL 943.46 E7bw sect.6, map13). The section which included my Horlacher family can be used as an example to see how this map works. Also the eight volume series, Das Land Baden-Württemberg : amtliche Beschreibung nach Kreisen und Gemeinden (FHL 943.46 E6bw, volume 8 includes place index), will list the different jurisdiction that each village belonged to at different times. A very similar, although a little less detailed, map of the jurisdictions in Württemberg in 1789 is available on the Internet.

During the Napoleonic period, many changes took place in Württemberg. Württemberg entered a peace treaty with France in 1796. In an alliance with Napoleon in 1805, Frederick of Württemberg was able to help defeat Austria. As a result January 1, 1806, Württemberg was proclaimed a kingdom and Frederick became King of Württemberg. In July 1806 Württemberg joined Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine and by 1810 its area had doubled to encompass most of what we think of as Württemberg. Frederick abolished the powers of the estates, ending the feudal system as it had been in the territory.

Gary Horlacher