Hi,
Just starting to plan a trip to Germany in 2025. My wife’s grandfather was born in 1881. He came to Philadelphia when he was just 2 or 3 years old. The only documents we can find regarding his birthplace are ones that he would have provided the information. It is listed as Seigby Tussen. The problem being that I can find no such place listed in Germany. I have thought that perhaps the Tussen should have been Fussen, but that’s just a guess. One census has his birthplace listed as Bavaria so maybe that’s helpful?
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions we would appreciate them. We would like to include the site on our travels.
Thanks
Posted by
898 posts
There's a town near Füssen named Seeg. In other words, "Seeg by Füssen".
Posted by
Berlin
3009 posts
Answer in #1 is likely best.
Thoughts also coming to my mind:
Without given "Bavaria" information people can consider Danish border area because ending "-by" means village, still today, e. g. Haby. "Tussen" in wider interpretation could be "Tyskland" which is Danish for Germany.
Likely documents are written in "old German" letters.
Posted by
Germany
193 posts
For birth documents perhaps contact the Church in Seeg
A village not far from Neuschwanstein 20km
Good Tourist Infrastructure
Posted by
OP
43 posts
Thanks so much for the help. I’ll be checking on this very soon.
Posted by
OP
43 posts
Just wanted to add that I checked out the Neuschwanstein Castle website . Apparently it was completed in 1880 by Ludwig II, the year before my wife’s grandfather was born. He was named Ludwig. Just a coincidence? I’ll be reaching out to the church in Seeg very soon, thanks again.
Posted by
Bavaria
2480 posts
(1) In other words, "Seeg by Füssen".
(2) For birth documents perhaps contact the Church in Seeg
Just two remarks:
(1) "by", or rather German "bei", is not normally a word used in documents of the later Bavarian royal period (after 1875), not even in parish registers, which have had to adhere to the format prescribed by the state since 1875. The following formats would therefore come into question: "x, Gemeinde y" for hamlets and small villages, or "x Bezirksamt y" (B. = district authority), and I could imagine that the "by" is a misreading of the abbreviation "Ba." (palaeographically this misreading is not a problem). So, if the reading "Seeg" is correct, it would be "Seeg, Bezirksamt Füssen". In fact, Seeg was the northernmost municipality in the Füssen Bezirksamt.
(2) Now, still assuming that the guess "Seeg" is correct *), it is probably useless to turn to the parish in Seeg, as all parish registers have been transfered to the diocesan archives in Bavaria several decades ago. The one responsible for Seeg is the archive in Augsburg, and you can see on this page (parish registers starting with an "S") that they also have the parish registers of Seeg (baptismal registers from 1853 to 1882 are apparently in vol. ("Rolle") 4.). So I would write there: [email protected]. However, I'm unsure whether they will do any research free of charge, because they are literally inundated with such requests. But they will definitely name someone who will do it for you for a (small) agreed fee. Good luck with your search!
EDIT: I have just read an exposé of the special situation of parish registers delivered to the diocesan archives in the diocese of Augsburg, which says that about 2/3 of the parishes still keep a duplicate of the delivered register books in their own office. So it might be a good idea to write to the Seeg parish first.
*) We should not overlook the fact that the Directory of Historical Place Names of Bavaria lists seven places beginning with "Seig-", and the supposed "by" may be an abbreviation, as is often the case in documents.
Posted by
Bavaria
2480 posts
Addendum: You can read the baptismal records of the dioecesis of Augsburg at matricula-online.eu. The Volumen that should contain the records of your ancestors - if they really originated from Seeg - ist this one. Records for the year 1881 start on page 263.