Today I'd like to start (or continue) a new series of posts about German Schochenmaiers who had dwelled in Germany before they moved to the Russian Empire. We have already "met" Schochenmaier the Hatter from Ludwigsburg but it was only the beginning. Thanks to the Ancestry account of Janet Schochenmaier (Alberta, Canada) I've found lots of Schochenmaiers who seemed to be unrelated first but after you find "hidden" generations finally you get the whole picture).
Well, there are two branches of the Schochenmaiers in Germany: the ones from the Kingdom of Württemberg (left) and the others from the Grand Duchy of Baden (right).
(the pictures demonstrate the German Empire of the 19th c.)Let's start with the biggest past - that of Württemberg. And we begin with the very first Schochenmaier of the Württemberg family tree -
Johann Christian Schochenmaier
We may conclude he existed from following records:
1. Birth
UNKNOWN, but, however, according to all below mentioned facts I conclude he had been born between 1680 and 1695.
2. Marriage (the earliest record ever!)
On the 9th August 1718 he married to Maria Christina Elisabetha Doebler in Kornwestheim:
Here you can decipher the name Johann Schochenmajer (underlined with blue), but written in a very strange way, namely Schochen Majer! What does it mean? Maybe, it indicates the process of alloying Schochen and Maier together? Two lines below you can find the name of Maria Christina and of course her father Johann Conrad Doebler (underlined with green) who should have approuved the marriage.
Besides the names it is pretty difficult to decipher the rest of the handwritten text.
But where is Kornwestheim?
It's Ludwigsburg's area close to Stuttgart (capital of Württemberg) and the scenary is more than just beautiful (pictures are clickable, views of the old town):
3. Children:
In May, 4 1719 Johann Christian got his first baby:
Johannes Schochenmaier
in March, 21 1721 the second child was born:
Johann Friedrich Schochenmaier
about 1724 there was the turn of the third:
Johann Christian Schochenmaier
They were born in Heumaden (11 miles to the south from Kornwetsheim). Today it's almost a part of Stuttgart:
I'm sure that some information is missing but the last child I found is a girl born in 1736:
Maria Catharina Schochenmaier
I don't know if the family moved away but the place of her birth is noticed the city of Freiburg or the area of Freiburg. It's far away for the people of the 18th century but it can depend on his professional occupation (see below).
4. Death
UNKNOWN, but after you get to know the next part, he should have died after 1750.
5. Occupation
It's the most exciting point of the story. The info can be read off from the marriage certificate of his son from July 1750 (whose father is underlined):
He was Feldwaibel (in German dialect) or Feldwebel (in Hochdeutsch). We read on Wiki:
literally "field usher", is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, but it is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. (...) The Landsknecht regiments first installed Feldwaibel to keep the men at line at the battlefield.Or from the dictionary:
Feldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually translated as sergeant being rated OR-6 in the NATO rank comparison scale, equivalent to the British Army Sergeant and the US Army Staff Sergeant.They looked as follows:
What is more interesting is the fact that in the certificate we can see where he served - in Infantry Regiment Alt-Württemberg.
What's that? Well, I didn'f find any info in English, that's why I am going to translate:
By contract dated December 24, 1715, Duke Eberhard Louis of Württemberg (1676- 1733) band himself to constitute an infantry regiment for the Emperor. The latter was - made up of volunteers thru the existing household groups
- additionally recruited in Göppingen until 18 March 1716,
- inspected by the Duke on 17 May,
- and committed on 19 May near Offenhausen (by Neu-Ulm) to the imperial Chief War Commissary
- swearing himself to serve the Emperor.
Then the regiment moved to Hungary (!!!).
After the armistice with Turkey, the regiment marched to Belgrade on July 16, 1718, and reached Mantua on October 5th. From the 6th December the march was continued from there to Naples, wherein it arrived on March 3, 1719. From there, the regiment was transferred to Sicily and remained there until the end of the lease. From the 20th June 1719 (date of the advertising to the recruitment) replacement was advertised.
The last year of the history is probably not so important to us as we know that Johann Christian was got married in 1718 and got his first baby in 1719. By the way, in 1719 the troops came up to Sicily (see the pic). But what if he stayed in the Army and was dislocated with the Regiment? I am not sure that it was possible in the 18th century but it could explain why his last baby was born in Freiburg where the troops stood from 1744 (namely in Breisach).The Commander of the Infantry Regiment at that time from 1716 to 1734 was Georg Ludwig von Forstner (1669-1734), then Heinrich Wilhelm von Heldenbrand up to 1735, then Prince Ludwig von Waldeck up to 1736.
Well, we don't know much what Johann Christian did there, in which wars he took part, but I'd like to find out it. I've contacted the Archives of Stuttgart and they responsed to me that the info about the Infantry Regiment should be in the archives' collections A 28 to A33, in the Archives of the Administration of Duke Eberhard Louis (collection A5, records 70 - 72) where we can find the tables and figures of inspection (17th March 1716!) and finally the Papers of Duke Eberhard Louis (collection A6, records 25-26, 63-64) about the household troops, renegades, war invalids, salary tables, designations plus
1) The entire circular regiments by feet, 1710-1714
2) District Regiment Baden-Baden by feet, 1711-1715
3) District Regiment Baden-Durlach by feet, 1714-1715
4) The 3 regional regiments on horseback, 1711-1718
5) Garrison in Kehl, 1715-1721
6) Württemberg District Regiment by feet, 1713-1720
7) Wuerttemberg Regiment by feet, 1716-1720
So, I have to go to Stuttgart. However, it's already the next story)))
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