F is for Friedrich
2025 April A to Z blogging challenge
One of my fourth great grandfathers was a day labourer from Freienthal in Prussia, named Friedrich Goersh (1771-1825).
Freienthal, also spelt Freyenthal, 25 km south-east of Brandenburg an der Havel, was established from 1754 to 1756 under the direction of Frederick II (the Great) as a spinner’s village. It was a free colony (‘Frei’, free) in the sense of ‘tax-free’: villagers were temporarily exempt from the usual imposts.
In 1772 37 cottagers lived in Freyenthal. Twelve years later a school and prayer house had been built. By 1801 there were 54 households. In 1841 the Freienthal colony had 300 inhabitants and 53 residential buildings.
On February 17, 1806, Friedrich Goersch, a 35-year-old day laborer (Tagelöhner) from Freyenthal, married Maria Dorothea Hohmeister, who was 19 years old. Friedrich, son of Gottlieb Goersch, had not been married previously.
Maria Dorothea Hohmeister was the daughter of Andreas Hohmeister, a farmer (Landwirth) in Freyenthal.
The marriage was fully consented to, meaning there were no objections. The wedding took place on February 17, 1806.
Friedrich provided a certificate from the manor in Forst to testify that he had the consent of the authorities to marry. To marry, serf in Prussia at that time required a marriage license from the lord to whom they were bound.
At the start of the 19th century, 80% of the German population lived in the countryside. From 1770 the legal status of the peasantry began to improve. In 1807 Prussia began to abolish serfdom with the “October Edict“; on 11 November 1810 all the Prussian serfs were declared free. The peasants were now allowed to travel freely and set up home in a town. They no longer had to buy their freedom or pay for it with domestic service, and no longer had to ask their lord’s permission to marry.
The freedom of the peasants, however, came at a price. The great landowners were now legally permitted to buy peasants’ farms, and they were no longer obliged to provide housing for serfs too old or sick to work.
Friedrich and Maria’s daughter, my third great grandmother, Maria Elisabeth was born on 22 Jan 1808 in Freyenthal. She was the daughter of Landarbeiter (farm labourer) Friedrich Goersch and Maria Dorothea Hohmeister.
There were three other children, all of whom died young.
On 15 May 1825, at 7 PM, Friedrich Goersch, a smallholder (Büdner) and farm laborer (Landarbeiter), died at the age of 54 years. The recorded cause of death was Gicht (gout). He was buried on May 18, 1825.
I read these digitised records online at archion.de, a difficult task for a non-native speaker of German. I am grateful to have had access to the church records, however. Reading them gave me an opportunity to learn more about my German family history.
PAW-NOTE: I invited Horace my Schnauzer to help, but he said he’d been aus Deutschland too long and couldn’t cope with the technical vocabulary. To ‘Gib Laut’ he said ‘Wuff’, and that was that.
Wikitree: Friedrich Goersh (abt.1771-1825)
1. Anne is the daughter of Christa Charlotte (Boltz) Champion de Crespigny (1939-2024)
2. Christa is the daughter of Hans Fritz Boltz (1910-1992)
3. Hans is the son of Fritz Hermann Boltz (1879-1954)
4. Fritz is the son of Johann August (Bolz) Boltz (1839-1916)
5. Johann August is the son of Maria Elisabeth (Görsch) Boltz (1808-abt.1891)
6. Maria is the daughter of Friedrich Goersh (abt.1771-1825)
This makes Friedrich the fourth great grandfather of Anne.
Wonderful piece of family history that you have unearthed. Really important to bring our ancestors back to life and embedded into today’s technology so that we pay them the respect they deserve. Thank you!
Archion is a great site, but not cheap to subscribe to.