Visiting ancestral villages

I've done this twice in Ireland, found it very moving, and met family I didn't know existed. I learned a good deal about some "question marks" in family history. I was also able to visit the house where my grandmother grew up (abandoned on my trip to Ireland; restored by the time of my second trip).

We had no information when we started the process (other than the name of a crossroads... not really even a village... where she grew up). Before going to Ireland, we were able to get some info from church records and some from ancestry.com and other online sources. If your ancestors came through Ellis Island, those records are on line, I believe. We stayed in a B&B run by a long-time policeman and he was really helpful in learning about the area and meeting relatives.

Whether it would be worth it for you comes down to the answer that is so common on forums... it's different for each person.

Sherry: nice story, you were lucky to be in an English speaking place. Fortunately my family history has been fully documented so we know the names and villages. Nothing at all glamorous, an unwed mother from Sweden (hard to believe considering how liberal Sweden is today that the shame of unwed motherhood once required emigration) and a series of "tenant farmers" (essentially serfs) from the Austrian Empire. Did you know that the serfs in the Austrian Empire were only freed and allowed to emigrate 13 years before those in Russia? Also most immigrant transport ships from Germany sailed to Baltimore, not New York, at least before 1890.

Kaeleku: I'm not really sure what I would be looking for, or whether I feel it's a kind of obligation or pilgrimage.

Tom,
If you know enough about your ancestors, such that you would know which village in which they lived, it would be more meaningful for you.

I found a cousin I had never met before (and didn't know her last name) thru the help of a b&b in the same village before I planned the trip to Ireland. She and her husband met us in Ireland for a portion of our trip, took us to see the cottage in which her grandmother and my grandmother were raised (I have an old black/white photo of it from my childhood), she also took us to see the old church and school the ancestors attended, and also the family graves. The was something really special seeing the old cottage (which is still standing, but in a state of decline..no longer in the family) and walking the fields that would have been farmed by my great-great grandparents that was really rather special.

Some children who lived near the property walked up, and they seemed to really enjoy meeting people from America and hearing that my grandmother had lived in the little cottage when was their age.

Another friend recently went to Ireland, and after doing some quick last-minute research seemed to conclude that her ancestors likely came from the Aran Islands. So, a local driver we had recommended to her took them there, introduced them to some folks with the name of her ancestors, then cut a lock of the local guy's hair so she could get a DNA test done to see if they were related. She thought that was amazing the two locals offered that. So, if she does find out they are, in fact, related that will be neat. But, otherwise, she seemed to really enjoy seeing the general area from which her ancestors likely lived.

But, if you haven't been able to narrow down which village is a likely match or even which country/city, then you may just be going out of your way to see, as you say, 10 or 20 buildings with an unremarkable landscape 2 hours away.

Since you have some info on your ancestors, by all means visit those places and talk with some of the older, long-time residents, especially if you can find some with the last name of your ancestors. They may enjoy talking with you as much as you enjoy talking with them.....and one of them might turn out to be a distant cousin of some sort.

And, a lot of us with family that immigrated to America find that the roots were rather humble....likely the reason they decided to endure the long journey (often in steerage) for the promise of a better life.

My great grandfather came to the U.S. from Sweden in the late 1800's. I knew where he was from. In starting my correspondence there, I found 6 second cousins who we were able to meet for the first time (and all nice)(they had no idea they had a relative in the U.S. - turned out, one of the older grandmothers who was still alive remembered hearing the story of my great grandfather coming here). One of them drove my husband and myself to the place where my great grandfather had lived. We saw the old home (that had been restored), and it was delightful to just experience the place where he grew up. I totally prefer this type of experience to top tourist attractions - though I do like those too.

Tom, This is exactly what I did last spring. I went to two of the main areas in Sweden that my great grandparents' families resided. I had ancestors' names and the names of the towns. I knew no one in Sweden. One location was in Västerbotten and the other in Smäland. People were amazing! They essentially handed me from one person to the next to the next and ultimately I saw and went into family homes, churches and so forth, in areas hidden away from main roads, which I am unlikely to find again. I was informed the locations where I could locate living relatives, and in fact, they knew some of them. One person cooked me a typical Vasterbotten meal in her lovely home. Swedes were some of the friendliest and most helpful people I've come across while traveling. It seems they have a underlying sense of loss for the large portion of their population that they lost due to the economic hardships during the period of emigration. I had thought that this would be my one and only visit to Sweden, but I am already starting to plan my return, possibly two more times. Besides that, Sweden is a beautiful country so to get away from the largest cities is just different, not worse or better than staying in a city like Stockholm. I would encourage you to go and learn a bit more about your roots. Wray

We were in Amsterdam for several days and I took a train about an hour to the town where my earliest known ancestor came from, an indentured farm worker in New Amsterdam (now NYC) in 1637. I had scoped the place out with Google Earth and learned there was a historical museum, plus some castle ruins from before that period. At the museum I encountered a friendly board member who spoke English and gave me an hour or more, showing me the museum and ruins. There were artifacts from the early 17th century so I could imagine my ancestors using that spoon, bowl, farm tools, etc. Also drawings of the town in that period. He took me around the ruins, the only thing left that my ancestors would have seen. I spent a pleasant day looking at the canals, the old church, the square, etc. I'd brought along some photos of the town from about 100 years back that my great-grandfather had given to my grandfather, and donated them to the museum. The whole experience was very rewarding, not least the kindness of the people I met there. I'm sure Europeans are used to Americans with familiar names who talk about where their people came from, but it can't interest them much unless there's an actual family relationship. No chance of this in my case, since way back then men's last names were their fathers' plus "sen," and my name is that of the town.

Maybe I'll have better luck in Ireland on my mother's side, but I'll have to do a lot of research to figure out where they came from.

So, Tom, long story short, if you know of actual villages, see if you can find at least a history museum or some old buildings that your people might have seen or been around. For me it was definitely worth a day out of a multi-day visit to the Netherlands.

Tom, I would also encourage you to visit your ancestral home. There is something special about walking where your Grandparents walked. What a feeling! We went to Bettyhill, Farr, in Northern Scotland this fall. My Grandparents left for America when they were in their 20's. It was so amazing to find the homes they grew up in and hear stories about family. We started our search by first asking our B & B owner if she knew anyone who would be related. We gave her our genealogy information. She asked around and the neighbor was a cousin! By the time we arrived in Bettyhill all the relatives were identified! We ended up meeting cousins in Pitlochry and Inverness also! Just ask questions the door will open wide!

I'm going to highly recommend that you start doing some basic genealogy.Start with what you are certain of and go back carefully. I began just three years ago only knowing my grandparents' names. I know have one line going back to the Mayflower, two going back to Poland and one to Sweden. Here's what I did with my research:

Poland: we traveled to Krakow in 2014 after a two week transatlantic cruise and had the highly recommended Andrew Durham take us to my husband's ancestral villages. While we didn't find for sure relatives, we were accompanied by a local florist who took us to the priest at the village church. He made copies of the birth records. We were invited into possible relatives' homes and they were lovely. The day was magical and the region was mountainous-stunning. That experience taught me to do my research BEFORE I go...

So, I got the microfilm records from my grandparents' villages in eastern Poland (they left about 1906) and have traced back to 1728. I also found the "long lost relatives" and they are all excited to meet with us when we visit this spring. BTW- the records are in Latin and easy to decipher with online guides.

Sweden: I found two cousins in Sweden through ancestry.com public trees. I visited one just quickly while in Helsingborg and she wants us to come visit for a longer time. She made me a family album as a gift. Wow! We are looking forward to visiting Sweden in 2017. BTW- the other cousin is,... well...a little scary....

BTW- don't let a language barrier stop you. Start with ancestry.com and ask questions on the message boards for that country. That is how I found the extensive records for my great grandparents who came in 1892. I have been amazed at how helpful people are. Some have the archives easily available in Europe and get back to you within a day.

I also mentioned in another post about Skansens or folk villages. Most of us who are descendants of immigrants didn't descend from royalty. Therefore, a visit to an outdoor folk museum around the region of your ancestors will give you a real insight into the life they left behind. They are well done and you find them all over Europe.

I also do a lot of family history writing and just published my first book on createspace (easy to do)- free too!. The visits to Europe have added to uniqueness of the stories and book.

It depends upon where one's ancestral villages are and what their history has been. I have absolutely no interest at all in visiting the city, town, and village in present day Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus where my Jewish ancestors came from. So many people emigrated to the US or Palestine or were murdered during the Holocaust that I wouldn't expect to find anyone who would know of my ancestral families. I have no desire to see those places now that they are Judenrein. And I would fear a less than enthusiastic reception based upon what I've heard and read from others who have made similar journeys to those areas. After all of the evil that occurred there due to antisemitism, progroms, the Nazis, and Stalinist purges I have no interest in setting foot there and thank God that my ancestors left during the days of the Russian Empire and made a good life for their descendents here in the USA. Yes, after all of these years I'm still bitter.

and a series of "tenant farmers" (essentially serfs) from the Austrian
Empire

Where exactly?

I'd love to visit the towns where my family came from. We know a couple of places: Iasi, Romania; a small town near Kiev (long name that starts with a D; can't think of it right now); and Lut'sk, Ukraine.

To comment on Marc's post, I don't think anyone who lost family in the Holocaust is able to get over it. I'm doing some genealogical research and waiting to hear back from an organization in Germany called International Tracing Services about the fate of my known family members who didn't come to the U.S. with my grandparents and great-grandparents. I want to see the places where my family lived. I have no interest in going to concentration camps where they may have died.

Tom, if you know where your ancestors came from and you have the means to go there, you should do it. The towns may consist of "only 10 or 20 buildings in an unremarkable landscape", but I'm pretty sure you'll feel a lot more when you're actually there. To walk where your family walked, to see buildings and landscapes they may have seen, would be amazing.

The only place I visited with regard to family is Paris. My grandmother's family left Romania after a pogrom in 1899 and lived in Paris from 1900 to 1911, when they sailed to the U.S. My grandmother and her sister were born there. The family lived in Montmartre and 3 years ago my sister and I went to see the building. It was such an awesome experience to be there about 100 years after our family lived there.

Sarah- If you return to Paris, you might go to the Montmartre museum. There are lots of photos and maps from different time periods and you'd be able to see what the area looked like in 1900.

Montmartre Museum

Hi Tom -

I returned to Germany 2 1/2 years ago and visited where my grandfather lived before he moved to the U.S. in the early 1920s. I had visited as a teen but didn't appreciate the experience as much as I did as a 40 year old. I highly recommend if you know where your ancestors are from visiting that area. It was easy in my case since it wasn't more than 100 years ago. Also, we luckily have easily reconnected with my German family.

And for the record, like your family's ancestral area, my relatives are from a small village 20 miles south of Kassel that is pretty unremarkable. I still loved walking around and picturing my grandpa there as a child and teen.

Amy

Very interesting thread!

I'm just getting in to genealogy but have known that my Great Great Grandparents came from a small town north of Milan. Last year we went to the Duomo in Milan as it figured in some family stories about GG Grandpa and it was so neat to think about him being in that same building. My Dad was transferred around a bit as I grew up so I did not have much tie to their hometowns, nor do I have what I consider a hometown of my own. I appreciated establishing a tie to this GG Grandpa who died in the 1930s. Next time I will go to his home town. (And no, I do not think the family stories that he walked to the big cathedral in Milano for Sunday services are correct. It's at least 25 miles, so he might have gone for a special holy day but not every week!)

As I work my way thru the family tree on the genealogy sites, I've now discovered that an 8GG Grandfather came from Norwich England. Not a tiny hamlet, but I will visit there all the same. I am hoping to find the link for family that came from Wales and go visit that home area which I desperately want to be in the Snowdonia area because that is so beautiful to me!

Along a similar line, I will also say that in 2014 my brother and I visited the airfield in Belgium where our Dad was stationed in WWII. He had established contact with some folks from the town who were documenting the history of the groups that were stationed there. They showed us around the old base area and we found that very interesting plus completely enjoyed the whole ambiance and back door experience.

I would say if you have an interest, go. If not, you should not feel obligated.

I'm adding an ancestral town on my next trip this spring. I'm combining this detour with other touristy so it will be a day or two out of a 3 week trip. Though my family left Germany in 1855, I still would like to drive through the area and see where they came from. I don't expect to find any family there, though I did find a B&B with my family surname (which is VERY unusual) so I plan to stay there and see if there's a connection.. My father is unlikely to visit himself, so I feel like I'm going for him too.

My wife and I visited Ellmendingen, Germany on our 2006 Germany/Austria trip. This was en route between Baden-Baden and Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It was just a two hour stop, but we had lunch and walked around town a bit. There were a couple of war monuments of the locals who had died in WWI and WW2 – many dozen individuals in a small town. Many shared the surname that is part of my genealogy – it was chilling and yet poignant to know that my (probable) relatives fought on the other side in these great conflicts. The proprietor of the restaurant in which we ate showed us the phone book when my wife asked about the family name – probably sixty times my ancestral family name was listed. It was kind of fun that this name was listed on several businesses around town, including a bakery and a hair salon. There were a few old buildings standings, one humble Romanesque church that looked like it might have been from 800 years ago. It was a prosperous suburban / semi-rural town and I would not have wanted to stay overnight there. BTW that branch of my family came to the U.S. in 1830, and the trail is cold on most of the other lines in my genealogy. This is the only branch of family that I can be this specific about where they came from, and I am really glad that I visited.

Still puzzled by that "serfs from the Austrian Empire" comment. What the heck is that all about? It was abolished in 1781.

Many small towns have historians who can be very helpful. There may be books about your small town, with the history of each family in them. I have had good luck with the historians in the towns of Büdingen (going back to 1595 in one case and late 1700's in another) and in Gravenwiesenbach with a family history going back to early 1800's. There, I found a book that listed each house in the town and had info about every single family who had lived in the house. Amazing!

If you aren't sure of your ethnic background, get a DNA test done with 23andme for 99$. I now have over 1500 relatives spread out across the world. (most of them very distant, but still impressive) You can share this info on genealogy sites too. Have a tremendous amount of fun with this and if you want to find people that might still live in your ancestors town, this might be very helpful to you.

Both sides of my family came to the US in the early 1900's.
I have traveled to Ukraine to where my maternal grandfather's parents were from and I've been to Cyprus to the property where my paternal grandfather(and at least 2 generations before him) was born. I am very glad I was able to see both places with my parents. We walked the places both my grandfathers walked 90 years prior as young children.
My Polish/Ukrainian/Russian grandfather was actually born in the US but when he was a year old his mother decided to go back to what they then considered Poland to see her mother who was ill. Unfortunate timing got them stuck there for years when WW1 broke out. My grandfather(and his sister who was born there during their visit) pretty much spent their first 6-7 years(from what we've been told) in a war zone in what is now western Ukraine. I met many distant cousins, went to one of their weddings. Very cool trip but we would have had issues without a translator. Very very few people that we met spoke good English. Most didn't know a single word.
My Greek Cypriot grandfather came here as a teen. We visited what is left of the home he grew up in. It is pretty much in ruin. My family still owns the property.
I hope to someday visit both my grandmothers ancestral homes one in Poland and the other on the island of Samos, Greece. I also hope to get back to Ukraine and Cyprus.
If seeing where you come from means anything to you I would say definitely go! I know plenty of people that have no interest.

and a series of "tenant farmers" (essentially serfs) from the
Austrian Empire

Where exactly?

Around Klatovy, Czech Republic.

"serfs from the Austrian Empire" comment.

Tenant farmers were not free to emigrate from Austria until 1848. "Certainly in the rural areas there were many restrictions and until 1848 most peasants were serfs of the noble families." http://www.czechfriends.org/reasons-for-czech-emigration

I have a unique surname, such that I did not randomly meet a non-relative with the same name until I was over 50, and that person turned out to be adopted (!). There are 3 branches to my name, the Czech (Catholic) branch, a group around the lower Rhine (Netherlands, Germany) who are descended from Huguenots driven from France for being Protestant, then a few who are listed as "Russian/Hebrew" I found on EllisIsland.org. Who knows if they are connected.

Thanks for all the replies.

Well, I have done the opposite trip. My grand-grandfather, sometime around 1890, emigrated from his Italian town (San Gimignano) to Buenos Aires. But he did not met his fortune there and after a few years he came back; he was lucky to come back alive as he missed a ship that later sunk during the ocean crossing. When I went to Buenos Aires in 1991 I spent a morning trying to trace the places where he lived and his son (my grandfather) was moved to tears in seeing photos of the places he had heard when he was a child.

Every now and then I consider making a trip to California, where my parents spent year 1962. My father was a semiconductor specialist - not many of them at the time - and was sent to work some time at Fairchild semiconductors where he got a job offer to stay there from a fellow called Bob Noyce. But my mother was pregnant and my parents decided to go back to Italy in order to have their son (me) born there. Sometimes I think I could have been born in the US and my father could have had Intel stock options. When I will retire and have time I think I will have a trip there.

Around Klatovy, Czech Republic.

That's really a bit in the iddle of nowhere and "2 hours away from any place famous". But it's still a nice place to visit and offers enough for a few days. You just need a car. There are a few castles (Klenova, Žinkovy, Švihov, Velhartice, Horšovský Týn, Kašperk). Horšovský Týn and Domažlice are nice small towns, and the Bohemian Forest isn't far away. And historically the region is quite interesting too. Klatovy was, as far as I know, a mostly Czech town, the area to the west of the town was settled by Germans (Sudetenland), and Domažlice was the centre of the Chodové.

"serfs from the Austrian Empire"
This is a very interesting topic. Many of us are descended from people from the vast region referred to as "Galicia" which was essentially the area of the Austria-Hungarian Empire of Franz Joseph. It was the poorest region in Europe and the people were serfs. Serfdom had been eliminated in Western Europe for centuries but not in Galicia and surrouding areas.

Serfdom was eliminated in 1848 in Galicia. So, my great grandparents might have been born as serfs. The history of the transition is complex but many serfs were not educated or skilled in economic issues and were poorly educated. They were often taken advantage of by different groups. Genealogy records from Poland will often give the status of the man letting you have an idea of how large his farm was or if he was one of the landless peasants.

So, consider that many of our ancestors were little better off than the slaves in America during the 1700-mid 1800's. They were bound to the land, needed the lord's approval to marry and their welfare was in the hands of the Lords of the Manor. Some serfs in more easterly regions could actually be sold so they were just like slaves in the south. If you read their history, you get a better understanding of why they felt about different religious groups or countries. The Christians and Jews in towns like Kolbuszowa lived separately but in general harmony until 1848 when certain laws were enacted causing anomosity. For example, only Jews were allowed to run the taverns and you can imagine the bitterness that came from that arrangement. I have learned a lot by reading primary source documents.

Hey Martin, one of the villages associated with my family to is in the darker red shaded zone here http://blahnik.genealogyvillage.com/Chodsko%20Map%20by%20Baier%20in%20Czech%20web.jpg
I'll have to read up on the Chods, although they look like gypsies.

I wanted to visit the village in Cumbria where my grandmother had grown up. I knew the name of the house and about the school as my great grandfather was the schoolmaster in Gamblesby. I stopped at a TI in Hexham and asked if they could find me a B&B in Gamblesby and mentioned my great grandfather Robert Walker. While I didn't stay in Gamblesby, I did stay in Melmerby just down the road and my B&B hostess's father-in-law knew my great grandfather! And his older brother had gone to school under him! They arranged for me to me several other people who had known him and my grandmother. I visited the village--and completely understand why Grammie wanted to leave when she was 18 years old around 1910! I strongly recommend doing this.

pam

About 15 years ago one of my uncles and his wife were traveling in Sweden and made a stop in the village that our ancestor had emigrated from in the 1860s.
They stopped in at the local Lutheran church to look at birth records and were chatting with the pastor who was familiar with the original farm. She called the current owners who invited my aunt and uncle right over and welcomed them with tea and cookies. The original house was no longer standing but these kind people showed them all over the property, including the original root cellar. My uncle was not a nostalgic kinda guy, but he admitted to me that he cried upon seeing that and being there.
I say go!

I would opt for the ancestral trip as there would be a better chance to meet people who might know about your family history, since time can erase memory.
I got to stay in my grandfather's 300 year old house in Ireland. It turns out the whole village knew I was coming to town, although I hadn't made contact with relatives until I got to the country. It was quite moving to see my mother's graduation picture on the piano!
You can always go to the tourist places later.

As follow up after some research:

There seem to be two themes here. The most prominent is those who visit places in Western Europe (using a cold war term for lack of a better word) who run across locals with good English speaking skills and a sentimental attitude in the local population for long lost American relatives. These are all positive experiences. There are only a few stories from former Eastern European village visitors, with mixed results.

Just now looking into this Czech connection for the first time, I am taken aback by what I am finding. I am familiar with the Fiddler on the Roof culture of Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, etc. villages where medieval culture, poverty, and inhumanity carried into the last half of the 19th century intact, then lingered into the 20th century, but I assumed that so close to the German border, 25 miles and some hills, the villages I would visit would be more like German ones, more like Western European culture, but I am finding that this is not the case.

As an aside, anyone who has done internet research in the past should look again because fabulous online tools keep popping up. For example, there is a German / Czech website collaboration on "Sudeten Culture" (whatever that is) that has put census records for a lot of Czech villages online. So I was able to look at the census records for each of the 60 village houses in one ancestral village. I found two with my surname but no one living in those houses matches names and birth years on my lists. I wish the records went back to 1855 because then for sure I would find people I am directly related to but they all appear to have moved away or emigrated by 1869.

The handwriting is very hard to read but you get used to it. For the religion column I could easily make out the word Katolik but puzzled and puzzled over what I knew must be Jewish (for names like Stein and Hausr) but only by writing down 2 or 3 possibilities for each letter and playing with Scrabble tiles was I able to figure out the word being used was "Israelite." A quick internet search shows a Jewish school and prayer house were located here, and any Jews remaining in 1942 were deported to Theresienstadt, and any survivors from there to their death at Auschwitz/Birkenau. Everyone with my surname in the census is consistently listed as Katolik so I can put to rest doubts of having Jewish ancestry (based on my name I am often assumed to be Jewish). From an informal tally I would say the town was 20% Jewish (based on census answers) and about 15% German ancestry (based on guessing from the name, like Hoffman or Bell, paired with a Catholic answer), the remainder Czech.

I did contact an American relative who had visited two villages, during the era when each plane in Prague was met by a Soviet soldier. Even though they hired a bilingual guide they did not get anywhere with locals who were not interested in long lost relatives, once getting a flippant answer, "We only care about going back as far as our grandparents so we could prove to the fascists that none of them was Jewish."

Just now looking into this Czech connection for the first time, I am
taken aback by what I am finding. I am familiar with the Fiddler on
the Roof culture of Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, etc. villages where
medieval culture, poverty, and inhumanity carried into the last half
of the 19th century intact, then lingered into the 20th century, but I
assumed that so close to the German border, 25 miles and some hills,
the villages I would visit would be more like German ones, more like
Western European culture, but I am finding that this is not the case.

Sorry, you couldn't be more wrong here. Bohemia has absolutely nothing to do with Eastern Europe. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire for almost 1000 years, for a while the most powerful part of the empire, and the industrially most advanced part of Austria-Hungary. You could actually say that Bohemia was the heart of Central Europe, the part where Germans and Slavs mixed and created one of the most interesting cultures of Europe... until 1945.
The region you are visiting is just not that interesting, probably because it was a sparsely populated borderland close to mountains with a harsh climate. The German side isn't that interesting either. The touristically more interesting regions are 1-2h to the north or south: the Spa triangle around Karlovy Vary/Carlsbad, and Southern Bohemia around Budweis/České Budějovice.

Interesting map, Tom. It's of county Domazlice. Majority of German population lived in white area (before 1946). Majority of Czech population lived in dark and light shade red area. Dark shade area is called Chodsko, that's where Chodove (Walkers) lived. There is a lot of information about them on google. Those people had privileges. They were directly under king and were not serfs and did not have to do mandatory labor on nobility fields. Their duty was to walk through the woods and guard the border. They had also dogs to help them. There is a famous novel Psohlavci by Alois Jirasek (Dogheads). These privileges were later revoked and several uprisings by Chodove followed. Even now they have different dialect and folksongs than the rest of Bohemia. I never noticed that Chodove look like gypsies. I would not recognize them from other Czechs unless they talk. Every year they have Chodsko festival with bagpipes in Domazlice. By the way, Martin is right, Bohemia is culturally western Europe, not eastern. Culturally eastern Europe starts in east Moravia. You can easily notice it in folk songs.
And one more little thing; no planes landing in Prague were met by Soviet soldiers. Those were Czechoslovakian border guards. Soviets were not even stationed in Czechoslovakia until August 21st, 1968 and then they tried to be as inconspicuous as possible and were stationed in few small towns and Olomouc and rarely left their barracks.

Thanks Martin and Ilja for posting. I am glad my hunches turned out to be wrong. I was thrown by the not being free to emigrate without permission until 1848, the Jewish angle (I am making the assumption that Jews in Western Europe before 1940 lived in towns and cities, not villages), and the less than friendly 1980 era village visit.

I need to read some more but without any geographic context history tends not to sink in. Also I need to plan a visit that is interesting and rewarding even if the villages don't work out.

"You just need a car."

I'm not sure what the transportation possibilities in Klatovy are, but you certainly don't need a car to get there. I didn't. You can get there by train from Prague or Munich (there are regular trains direct between Munich and Prague with a stops in Domazlice and Pilsen. There are trains (50-60 min) approximately every hour from Pilsen to Klatovy and a little less often from Domazlice to Klatovy. I went there by train from Zelezna Ruda on my way to Prague in 2012. I'm not sure what public transportation is like in Klatovy, but the were bus slips in front of the station.

I stayed on the German side of the border, in Zwiesel, in the Bavarian Forest (across the border from the Bohemian Forest), and the transportation by train and bus was very good.

Incidentally, I found that more people in that area speak German than speak English.

I've been following this thread with great interest, as my husband and I are planning a trip next September to his ancestral villages in western Germany [Sinsheim-Heilbronn area, some villages north of Mainz, and a few other spots] and eastern Alsace. We don't expect to see any major tourist sights, except perhaps on the first day we arrive as we get over jetlag. I'll be posting specific questions on our itinerary later, but several of the posts here have been very helpful as we start planning - especially Ms Jo's comments on town historians.

Most of his ancestors left Germany in the period 1720-1760, so we're not expecting to find any relatives. But it will be interesting to see the landscape, churches, and maybe other old buildings that his ancestors might have known.

Thanks for starting this topic, Tom!

Tom, Lee is right, you don't need a car. You can get by train to Domazlice and then to your village by bus. Tell me which is your village and when you want to go and I let you know how to get there by public transport. You are lucky because Domazlice county is in pretty countryside.
We visited my spouse's ancestral place in Italy (Castelfranci in Naples region about 100 miles east of Naples) and it was certainly worth of effort. By chance we even found winery of the same name as ancestors and sure enough they were distant relatives. They immediately put a table in the courtyard and we had to feast with them. Wine of course, too.

A recent DNA test indicated that half that DNA comes from Great Britain. So, I am making a special place in the itinerary of my trip to England in 2016 just for ancestor exploration. From what I know so far, many of mine were in Kent. The earliest immigrant I know of, Jane Henmarsh, was born in Charing in 1603 and died in Middlesex in the Virginia Colony in 1629. I'll be visiting some of her family locations in Postling, Charing, Wye, Hythe, Chartham, Bethersden, Trowley, etc. I haven't done a lot of personal research, only taken advantage of the research others have done and posted for free online. And I obviously won't be able to get to all those places.

Her mother was Katherine Honywood. I chose Postling, a village very similar to what you describe, to be the initial focus because of the number of Honywoods going back in time in the area. One thing the village does have is the 11th century Church of St Mary and St Radigund. An an online newsletter associated with the church (News from the Pews) has a contact page. I filled out the form and within a couple of days I heard from Caroline who lives in a town nearby.

As a result, Caroline will pick me up at the bus stop in her town, she'll drive me around where the Honywood lands were, then drop me off in town. As fate would have it, that weekend is an open gardens weekend, so I'll get to see people's gardens and have tea in the community center. The tea is for the benefit of the church, which I'll also get to visit. After I'm done, Caroline will take me to her mum's house. it's one of the oldest cottages in Postling. I'll get to meet her, see the inside and see her garden, too. I'm sure no one of my lineage is still there, but what a great thing to have happen on my trip.

I'm not sure when the Honywood land went out of the family, but Edward Hasted's, 'Parishes: Postling', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (Canterbury, 1799), has information on the family. I'm lucky that this information is in English.

"HENEWOOD, now called the Honywood farm, is an estate in the southern part of this parish, which was formerly accounted a manor. It was in very early times the property and residence of the family of Honywood, antiently written Henewood, which name they assumed from it; and it appears by the leiger book of Horton priory, that Edmund de Henewood, who then resided here, was a liberal benefactor to it; but they afterwards quitted this place for their seat of Sene, in Newington, near Hythe."

There is much more, and it's fun, if a little difficult to read, not so much because of the spelling and the language but because this and another source I found list the names and dates in a way that is cumbersome. Of course there are no guarantees that those sources, or any others I've used, are 100% accurate.

Apparently Honywood of Evington, Kent became a baronet in 1660. This is only important to me because there is documentation of that which leads back to other earlier family members who, so far as I know, stayed in England. I will definitely do more looking before I go to England, and will try to find where some of those ancestors are buried, but it will be delightful to me to simply walk where they walked, even though there may not be any traces of them at all.

I will definitely be seeing the more touristy things in that area of England in my 4 days in the area, but I'm sure I'll enjoy learning what I can about the family who came before my 9 times great grandmother who immigrated to America sometime before 1624 when she married in Middlesex Virginia. I doubt that I'll find it a waste of time.

I suppose it depends on the value you place on "just being there".

I was finally able to locate the town my paternal family line came from, Irrel in Germany, near the Luxembourg border. It was worth the trip to just look around, did not find any "family" and the place was basically flattened in WW II, so it was a nondescript small bedroom community in Germany, but still great.

We also were able to visit another town in Cornwall where another branch of the family comes from, bit more quaint there, went to the cemetery, found a number of graves of family from the 1800's.

Again no great stories, but just being there meant something to me and well worth the effort.

I'm not sure what the transportation possibilities in Klatovy are, but
you certainly don't need a car to get there.

No, but it helps if you want to explore the region and see some of the smaller sights I mentioned earlier. It will be difficult to get to some of the castles by public transport, and if it's possible it will take much longer.

I have been trying to follow this thread and just wanted to add need to do some research before you go. I mean REALLY good research! Please don't just use those free online trees and records or even the public tree on ancestry.com. You want a tree where you or someone very knowledgable has carefully researched each person as you go back generation to the former generation. Don't accept info unless they have sources where you can verify and make a critical analysis of the accuracy of the information. Most trees on ancestry that go back to European roots are fantasies! When you check out their sourcing, you see they just copied other public trees.

I sort my info into the American side which is very thorough and I stand behind my work with 98% guarantees. My English trees are mostly a fantasy past the first immigrant and I stop quickly unless I can read the ACTUAL birth, marriage or death record or a will. My trees from Sweden and a village in Poland have been verified by my spending THOUSANDS of hours reading microfilms or online primary source records.

The reason that trees for England tend to be fairytales is that SO many Americans would love to prove they have some royal blood.and they believe anything they see that might lead them to that conclusion. In the USA, we also have those people who wrote phony genealogies that lead to descending from the Mayflower Pilgrims or some presidents. The study of genealogy has some pretty strict guidelines if you want to do it right. Sloppy work just leads you to these fairytales and a whole bunch of ancestors that aren't really yours!

Back to the topic: if you REALLY know the villages of your ancestors, I think a visit is great even if you don't know if any distant family members exist. I found that much of my hard work in contacting distant cousins in Europe was met by a yawn. A few have been very gracious and I even met one in Sweden and we stay in contact. I will be visitng another in Poland next year!

" Most trees on ancestry that go back to European roots are fantasies! When you check out their sourcing, you see they just copied other public trees."

Whaaaattt!!?? Donna, you mean it's possible I'm NOT related to Conan the Barbarian? Darn it.

Yeah, when I first started in genealogy, I just kept pressing the keys and found out that I was a descendant of Halfdan "the aged" Sweidasson and Svedi "the Sea King" Svidrasson. My family thought it explained a lot about my personality... Oh yeah, and the first "King of Sweden". That is filed in my "funny, but likely not true" genealogy folder.

Of course, statistically, if we are of western European heritage, we have a very good chance of being a descendant of Charlemagne, but just try to REALLY prove it. I have better things to do... (like write on this board as I wait for my Christmas guests to arrive for dinner)....

Thanks for the nice stories, I got sidetracked by a wonderful vacation in Puerto Rico. Thanks also to Ilja for private advice on reaching small Czech villages.

As to Bohemia: I'm reading more and more, and it is interesting. Although some places may have been wealthy and advanced, the area between Prague SW to Bavaria was not. Emigration rates were high, and looking through the census records of one town, when I see most adults in their 20s are living unmarried with their parents I'm thinking these are poor villages.

As someone said earlier I suspect nearly all Americans come from similarly humble places.

To add to Toms point about humble beginnings; in my, and most cases, those that came were the 2nd, 3rd, and lower sons that had little opportunity and others that had few options. Lets face it, you would not take the risk of going across an ocean to a strange land if you had good opportunities at home.

As for some of the websites and veracity of information out there; it does take some heavy footwork, but also luck and being able to verify through multiple sources. As an example, for my Paternal line, the family name was changed, the family remembered the town where they came from as Erdel, but it was Irrel, and other information remembered was at best about 80% correct. We did luck out in finding a guy in Germany that had done research on the Family, and I stumbled across records on the ship they came over on, entry records to the US (before Ellis Island) and other information.

Serfdom in the Habsburg Empire lasted until 1848, when the compulsory labor ( "Robot") was ended, one wise move on the part of Monarchy to ensure that the peasants stayed loyal...they did, as a class stayed loyal to the Monarchy during the 1848 revolutions engulfing the Empire such as in Prague and Hungary. The rank and file of the Habsburg Army in 1848 consisted of peasants under aristocratic officers sent in to put down the revolution in the cities, such as in Prague and Vienna.

True about Bohemia and Moravia (known traditionally as Böhmen und Mähren) and its western European outlook in spite of its geographic central European location.

I would not be surprised still that in western Bohemia outside of Prague one would more likely to encounter German speakers than English speakers, as well as being bilingual in both. Also, even if the person spoke both, in which language is s/he more comfortable with or would rather speak. I don't assume it's always English.

The last time i was in Bohemia in 2001 in Pilsen outside of the train station looking for a taxi, I knew the "boss" for the taxis with whom you deal with re the price and where to, etc, (get all those details agreed to first so no surprises), spoke English and German. Since his German was good enough, certainly was not broken, I dealt with him entirely in German. The driver I got, another story, neither German nor English.