Georg Ederer

Following is an English translation by Debbie Blau from an original German newspaper article published in the Bayerwald Echo (Cham, Bavaria, Germany) online on August 31, 2014, and printed newspaper issue dated September 1, 2014, page 32.

Original article: http://www.mittelbayerische.de/region/cham/artikel/ahnenforschung-war-ederers-leidenschaft/1114273/ahnenforschung-war-ederers-leidenschaft.html#1114273

Genealogy was Ederer's passion

The emigrant Joe Wankerl* from Plain (USA) recognizes the merits [of Ederer] born in Stratsried. Many Waldmuenchen people once went to the United States.  

In his library: Georg Ederer († [deceased]) was an avid genealogist.

Waldmuenchen. Tracing the footsteps of their fathers, Louise [Lucille Lechner] and Joe Wankerl from Plain, Wisconsin (USA), with their two daughters, recently visited Waldmuenchen. Joe's father emigrated in 1914 from Pemfling to America. Louisa's [Lucille's] father** from the Lechner family in Treffelstein went later in 1924. Both settled in Plain where several emigrants from the former county of Waldmuenchen had already found a new home.

Eventually, the Wankerls became interested in their roots. But the contacts were broken off, as was the case with many other emigrant families. A connection to the descendants of the relatives left behind in Germany - almost - was no longer made. But then, during their research, they met Georg Ederer from Waffenschleife [suburb of Waldmünchen].

In 1973, he [Ederer] became interested in family history and worked from 1985 as a volunteer in the archives of the city parish of Waldmuenchen. With information from entries of the parish registers, marriages and deaths, he created family trees. His work formed the bridge for emigrants in search of their "roots."

During his visit to the old country, Joe Wankerl praised Georg Ederer, that he [Ederer] enjoyed the highest recognition in Plain. On the occasion of his death in the spring of 2014, the local newspaper there, "Home News" of Spring Green, Wisconsin, devoted a lengthy article to him, written by Debbie Blau and Marian Ruhland Burmester.

Described therein was the life story of Georg Ederer, who was born on February 13 in Stratsried, a carpenter apprentice until he took the master carpenter examination, and later worked in Dachau and the District Office Building Authority in Cham.

Information from church books

Relevant to the people in Plain is the following text: In 1973, Georg Ederer became interested in family history when he accompanied a cousin to the parish office of Ast. The information in the parish registers made him curious. He was caught by the genealogy fever and began to search for his own ancestors. He could read the difficult German and Latin handwriting which the Catholic priest used in the district Waldmuenchen for entries of baptisms, marriages and deaths. With this information, he created family trees. He also researched landowners and created maps.

Ederer's work spread by word among Americans from Plain, but also from other states of America, who hoped to learn more about their ancestors in Bavaria. He was pleased when he was able to help, and donated many hours of his time by reading church records and compiling family trees.

Many of his genealogical trees were handwritten on long rolls, others were typed. His personal library grew with every family which he was researching, and eventually, an entire room was required to hold his work.

In June 1996 and in May 2005, George and Resi Ederer took trips to Wisconsin to visit some of the families. With pride he distributed his genealogy scrolls and patiently explained the documents he made. Ederer's research was the bridge that connected the descendants of American immigrants with distant relatives in their homeland. In Bavaria, Ederer could show the Americans in which village or house their ancestors lived. For the US citizens, this was a very emotional experience. Ederer was happy to be a part of this experience.

40 years of research

In 2011, after 40 years of research, about ten percent of Ederer's work was scanned and made available for purchase on a DVD entitled, "Genealogies of families that immigrated to Sauk County, Wisconsin, from Bavaria, Germany. The collected works of Georg Ederer, Otto Horz, and Hansjörg Schneider." This DVD is available in Plain at the "Old Franklin Township Historical Society."

Although Georg Ederer preferred not to be the center of attention, the authors honored him when they officially presented the DVD in October 2012 to the Mayor of Waldmuenchen. In the closing credits of the article, the authors explained that they wanted to encourage others to continue Ederers work and called on them to bring their family trees up to date: "Please share your knowledge with others. Thank you, Georg Ederer."

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Corrections:

*Joseph "Joe" Wankerl did not emigrate; his father John Wankerl emigrated in March 1914.

** Lucille Wankerl's father, Joseph "Sepp" Lechner immigrated in June 1923.