How should I name Lübeck in 1880?

Question

I don't have a profile, yet (still working on it, hence this question), but the earliest information is telling me my person was born in Lübeck, which seems to have been either Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck or Lübeck, Stadtkreis Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Preußen.  (Or was there another name?)

How should I name the place of birth?
 

My person was in Schwerin, Stadt Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin by 1890.  How would I name that correctly for that time?

in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, Census, 1890

Birth Date: 3 Jan 1880

Birth Location: Lübeck (Lubeck)

Town: Schwerin

District: Stadt Schwerin

Comments

Also, the sister of my person shows on the 1900 Mecklenburg-Schwerin census as having as her birthplace "Groß Strömkendorf, Wismar".  How do  I name that?

(Edit -- hopefully to correct silly font sizing from copy and paste.)

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I cannot decipher what this part of the census is saying. Any help?

(Full size on click.)

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Also -- is "Zweite Kajüte" second class (second saloon/cabin)?  As in, would my lady have travelled as a second class passenger?  (She travelled with the "Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft" in 1902.)

Also, also .. would this be the correct flag for Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 1901?

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The census says:
8. German nationality. (deutsch)
9. Place of residence Blücherstraße No 23

The second class is called the second cabin. And the flag shown was the state flag of the Großherzogtum Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) from 1863 to 1918.

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Groß Strömkendorf belongs today to the municipality of Blowatz and is located north of Wismar.
After the Thirty Years' War, Wismar came under Swedish rule in 1648. The Swedish rule over Wismar ended de facto in 1803 when Sweden pledged the city to the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 99 years with the Malmö pledge agreement. Wismar formally fell back to Germany in 1903. So the name should be Groß Strömkendorf, Wismar, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutsches Reich.

See:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowatz
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wismar

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Thank you, Lothar.  That answers all for now. 

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Ok, new location.

Would "Rügenwalde, Pommern, Preußen" be correct for 1883?  Or does it also need, Deutsches Reich?  The American documents use "Rugenwalde, Germany",which is incorrect as the u is "English alphabet". 

The German ship's list uses Preußen.  My guy's document also has "Occupation:  Commis" but interglot.com (my goto translator) doesn't give me any explanation of what "commis" was/might be.  (I get that männlich = male!)

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I know most are no longer reading this (because the above query has gone unanswered, but that's ok, I understand people have their own stuff keeping them busy), but I am hopeful that someone might, maybe, be so kind as to set up a category for the ship Fürst Bismarck which departed from Hamburg, Deutschland on the 10th July 1902, and arrived at New York on the 19th July 1902.  (I believe there was also at least one earlier sailing .. in the 1890s, I think .. but my pair definitely sailed in 1902.)

I did look, but (as I suck at categories) I didn't find one for it.   I have one profile for it now, and should have another in a few weeks time.

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Rügenwalde (today Darłowo/Poland), was in 1883 a town in the county Schlawe, government district Köslin of  the province Pommern of the Kingdom of Prussia inside the German Empire.

So the correct location is Rügenwalde, Schlawe, Pommern, Preußen, Deutsches Reich (German Empire) 

Kommis or Commis is an archaic German word for a clerk, assistant or commercial employee.

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At that time there existed some ships called Fürst Bismarck in Germany.

I think your ship could be the Fürst Bismarck of the HAPAG (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft) which was launched 29 Nov 1890. It started the first trip on 8 May 1891 from Hamburg via Southampton to New York.

This Fürst Bismarck was a so called Schnelldampfer (fast steamer). Until summer of 1894, the ship had made 14 voyages, mainly with emigrants to the USA. On this route, the Fürst Bismarck remained in service until the start of her last voyage on November 5, 1903. In 1904 the ship was sold to Russia.

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Thank you for the new information, Dieter.  I'm gathering from what you have said that my lady and her future husband must have travelled on one of the ship's last voyages if she (the ship) went out of service in 1903.  (I would need to check when in 1902 she (my lady) travelled.)

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I have not yet made a profile for the husband (I still need a birth record (and, strangely, a death record from Rügenwalde, even though he died in Chicago, Illinois)) -- it was he who was from Rügenwalde (which I currently have as "Rügenwalde, Pommern, Preußen" on my file - but which I will change to "Rügenwalde, Schlawe, Pommern, Preußen, Deutsches Reich", so thanks for that, too).

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If you give me the name and the datas you have frome your ancestor, I can try to find the birth record.

Rügenwalde (Marienkirche) is online avaible on o polish archive page. Worse is only that everything is in polish language. It will need some time to translate it with the PC and to find the correct links to register and to search.

But the access should be free, only to register is required.

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Thanks for good comments Dieter.

I found searching through Polish records very frustrating. I could see that there's a lot of genealogy information on-line but it's very difficult to read.

If anyone wants to head in that direction then I suggest that they find a local friend who can read the language.

Answer 1

Schwerin is the easiest at that time it was still a part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin or in German Großherzogtum Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which itself a part of the German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich).

It looks like in 1880 Lübeck was still one of the Free and Hanseatic Cities (Freie und Hansestädte) but still a part of the German Empire.

I've copied these names from various Wikipedia articles so there could be changes to these names.

Comments

Yeah, that's pretty much what I came up with from Wikipedia, hence my asking the question.  I want to be sure English wiki has it correct for what is now Germany, but wasn't Germany back then.  (I also have a birthplace of Galicia, which was under Austria at one time.)

I'm hoping someone from Germany / the Germany Project will pop in and help me out with an absolute answer.

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Lübeck, Freie und Hansestadt, Deutsches Reich. This is the naming from 1880.

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Thanks, Jelena!  :)

Answer 2

As a result of the Congress of Vienna Lübeck was named "Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck" and became a sovereign member of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) in 1815.

In 1866 the "Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck" joined the North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund).

In 1871 it became a sovereign member state of the German Empire.

In 1937 the city lost the terrritorial independence and became a part of the Prussian province Schleswig-Holstein.

So in 1880 it is a sovereign state in the German Empire.

From 1945 on the Hansestadt Lübeck is a direct to the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein (from 1948 on as part of the Federal Republic of Germany) subordinated city.

Comments

Thanks Dieter, I have just looked back at a profile I created in 2019. I thought Lübeck was a part of Prussia. The emigration date was 1837, so Prussia is wrong. I like your information "Lübeck was named "Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck" and became a sovereign member of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) in 1815." Also thank you Melanie for bring this question to my attention.