English

Many of my ancestors have been farmers. Maybe that is why I go for agriculture? Until the Second World War my grandfather had both a farm and a cattle trade in the village of Breitebruch, which was only a few miles away from the town of Fahlenwerder. He did not return from war, just as my maternal grandfather did. Hundreds and thousands of people were driven away from their home, the eastern territories of Germany, which is Poland today. I visited this beautiful territory twice. I took up the genealogical research in 1994. In the summer of that year I went to see the town of Landsberg, now called Gorzow Wielkopolsky. I paid the local archive a visit and found out that my paternal ancestors came from the town of Fahlenwerder, which was founded in 1747 by Frederick the Great and populated by emigrants from the Palatinate (Pfalz). I can prove that my ancestors came from there as well, namely from Kaulbach. That is the reason why this is also the origin of all Göttels from Fahlenwerder.

Descendants list of Johannes Gödel

Gödel, Johannes, * Morbach around 1615

Gödel, Johannes, * Morbach around 1639, + Schmeißbach, oo Michaelisberg 09.02.1664 Elisabetha Jung

Gödel, Johann Nicolaus, evangelisch, ~ Michaelisberg 19.05.1669, + Kaulbach 23.02.1735, oo Anna Zimmermann

Gödel, Johann Philipp, evangelisch, * Kaulbach, ~ 17.03.1709, + 29.04.1735, [] Kaulbach 01.05.1735, oo Kaulbach 13.08.1726 Anna Scheid

Gettel, Johann Adam, evangelisch, * Kaulbach 28.06.1734, ~ Kaulbach 02.07.1734

Göttel, Johann Peter, evangelisch, * Fahlenwerder um 1755, oo Fahlenwerder around 1780 Göttel

Kettel, Johann Peter, evangelisch, Landmann, * Lotzen um 1785, + Lotzen 11.12.1845, oo Lotzen 21.01.1813 Hanne Krämer

In Kaulbach this name appears for the first time in 1497 when a miller named “Gedel” is mentioned. Back then the name “Gedel” used to be a first name derived from “Gottfried”. Later it became a family name. Further references are the mayors „Nickel Göddel“ in 1590 and “Göttel” in 1600.

Large-scale immigration from the Palatinate started around 1740. Many people went to the United States of America, others responded to Frederick the Great’s call who needed people for his settlements in Prussia. Fahlenwerder was a part of it, next to many other towns. The people left their homes willingly, because this region still suffered from the consequences of the Thirty Years’ War and regular assaults by the French. In addition, the Palatinate was overpopulated back then and there were also tensions as a result of the Thirty Years’ War between Lutherans and reformists, but also between Protestants and Catholics.