In July 2019, we discovered the oldest record on Schochenmaiers in the Russian Empire, thanks to which we found out that Christian Schochenmaier, father of Michael (1859-1937) and Jacob (1861-1923) Schochenmaier, the Founding Fathers of the American and Canadian Schochenmaiers,
Well, what is that? I know what you think of. You have heard about Danzig, but what and where is New Danzig? If there is a New Danzig, then there should be an Old Danzig. And you are quite right. From Wiki:
- was called Christian Franz Samuel
- was born on the 1st September 1837
- was baptized on the 1st October 1844
Today, I'd like to share with you what I discovered about the place where Christian had been christened. In the church book, you may spot the name of that village: Neu Danzig.
Well, what is that? I know what you think of. You have heard about Danzig, but what and where is New Danzig? If there is a New Danzig, then there should be an Old Danzig. And you are quite right. From Wiki:
Alt Danzig was a German settlement in the southern Russian Empire, present day Ukraine. Its name comes from Danzig, Gdańsk in present-day Poland. Alt, meaning "old", distinguishes this community from Neu Danzig, another German settlement in this area of the Russian Empire.
Catherine II of Russia wanted to stabilize the border lands of the Russian Empire with an agricultural population. To do this she recruited the immigrants in the Danzig area of Prussia. In 1787 they founded Alt Danzig about 15 km to the southwest on land granted to them by Prince Potemkin. Several families from Munich arrived in 1841, followed by seven more from Rohrbach in 1842.
Originally Alt Danzig was called "Danzig" but when a daughter colony was established by several Danzig villagers near Nikolajew (this German spelling should be read as Nikolayev in English), the older village was renamed Alt Danzig and the newer village, Neu Danzig.
That's pretty interesting to see the first connection to Rohrbach where the core of the Schochenmaiers will be built in the 1850s. And we see the curious link to Poland!!! It will be very important when we will discuss the birth place of August Schochenmaier.
Today, Neu Danzig is called Vinogradivka (Ukraine). Here are some photos (clickable):
In the next post, we will have a look at who had baptized Christian in 1844 in New Danzig.
