Prussia Place Suggestion

+5 votes
337 views
Hi all!

My latest Prussian place name quandry arises from my G-G-G-Grandmothers Death Certificate which states she was born in Balan, Prussia and married in Gross Teschendorf. I am ever edging (slowly...) into prussian research but I can't find a Meyer's Gazette match for Balan, Prussia.

Gross Teschendorf is now Cieszymowo Weikie and I am wondering if Balan is actually Baalau (as in Gross Baalau). Anyone have any thoughts of any other places that might match up?

Cheers,

Cara
WikiTree profile: Caroline Kajewski
in Genealogy Help by Cara Kajewski G2G2 (2.2k points)
The birth record found by Dieter confirms that Caroline was born in Baalau, Province of Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia.

Look below the best answer star for the paragraph "parish Groß Rohdau, Kreis Rosenberg, Marienwerder, Preußen, Preußen - Trauregister Nr. 56/1856...

Tochter: Caroline, geboren 7. October 1856 abends 8 Uhr, getauft 26. October 1856"

It seems that Balan is an English variation of the name.
If you need a copy of the mentioned records send me a PM and I will send you the copies to your mail.

3 Answers

+6 votes
 
Best answer
I could find the following:

parish Groß Rohdau, Kreis Rosenberg, Marienwerder, Preußen, Preußen - Taufregister Nr. 29/1854:

Groß Teschendorf:

Vater: Christian Kajewski

Mutter: Maria, geb. Waschke

Sohn: Friedrich, geboren den 27. April, getauft den 7. Mai 1854
by Dieter Lewerenz G2G Astronaut (3.1m points)
selected by Steve Thomas
parish Groß Rohdau, Kreis Rosenberg, Marienwerder, Preußen, Preußen, Deutsches Reich - Trauregister Nr. 8/1876

8 October 1876

Arbeiter Friedrich Kajewski aus Groß Teschendorf, ehelicher Sohn des dort verstorbenen Instmannes Christian Kajewski, unverehelicht, 22 Jahre, evangelisch

Caroline Ehmann aus Groß Teschendorf, eheliche Tochter des dortigen Instmannes Johann Ehmann, unverehelicht, 21 Jahre alt, evangelisch
parish Groß Rohdau, Kreis Rosenberg, Marienwerder, Preußen, Preußen, Deutsches Reich - Taufregister Nr. 52/1877:

Geboren:  16. August 1877

Getauft: 2 September 1877

Kind: August

Eltern: Friedrich Kajewski, Knecht und Caroline Ehmann
parish Groß Rohdau, Kreis Rosenberg, Marienwerder, Preußen, Preußen - Trauregister Nr. 56/1856

Ort: Baalau

Vater: Johann Ehmann, Inste

Mutter: Catharine, geborne Schroeter

Tochter: Caroline, geboren 7. October 1856 abends 8 Uhr, getauft 26. October 1856
Note: Although the villages Groß Teschendorf and (Groß und Klein) Baalau belonged to the Kreis Stuhm, Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder, Provinz (West-)Preußen, Königreich Preußen, the responsible Lutheran church in Groß Rohdau belonged to the Kreis Rosenberg, Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder, Provinz (West-)Preußen, Königreich Preußen.

Although the Kingdom of Preußen belonged to the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) from 1815-1866, the provinces of Ostpreußen and Westpreußen (1815-1829), then combined into the Province of Preußen from 1829-1866 did not belong to the German Confederation. Exception 1848-1851, when they belonged to the German Confederation.

1878 the Provinz Preußen was again divided into Westpreußen and Ostpreußen, but the Kingdom of Preußen was then part of the Deutsches Reich

That means for WikITree:

  • marriage location 1876: Groß Rohdau, Rosenberg, Preußen, Preußen, Deutsches Reich
  • birth location groom 1854: Groß Teschendorf, Stuhm, Preußen, Preußen
  • birth location of child August 1877: Groß Teschendorf, Stuhm, Preußen, Preußen, Deutsches Reich
  • birth location bride 1856: Baalau, Stuhm, Preußen, Preußen


Because it is not written in the baptism record if Caroline is born in Groß or Klein Baalau, you should only write Baalau.

Thanks Dieter!

I know very little of the historic border changes. I did not know anything about the merge and later de-merge of Westpreußen and Ostpreußen.

The village of Baalau does not look like a German name to me. If it isn't German, do you have any idea of the original language?
Unfortunately, I cannot say from which language the word Baalau originates. The place was also known as Balwe, Balaw and Balewo throughout history.
There were two municipalities in the beginning: Groß Baalau and Klein Baalau. In 1928, the municipality of Klein Baalau was dissolved and added to Groß Baalau, which was then renamed Baalau.
In Polish, Klein Baalau is called Balewko and Groß Baalau Balewo, which is also the name of the present-day municipality in Poland.

In West Prussia German, Polish and Kashubian were spoken. In the area of the districts Stuhm and Rosenberg the language was predominantly German. However, the name Baalau can come from all three languages. Since old variants were Balaw or Balwe, I suspect that the name comes from Polish or Kashubian.
+10 votes
If you go on Google maps and type in Teschendorf, Germany, you will find it about 4 mi S of Neubrandenburg.   Then if you increase the magnification, Ballin is about 2 mi to the E of Teschendorf., (on the fork in the road).
by Bob Hanrahan G2G6 (9.0k points)
Sorry for the very late reply and thanks for looking - the current place name is Cieszymowo in Poland (used to be called Gross Teschendorf in West Prussia) so not Teschendorf in Germany or the Ballin nearby as they are about 500km away. I'm still trawling the place names to try find a match for Balan, Prussia.

Looking at the map, I also noticed Balewo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balewo,_Pomeranian_Voivodeship)  which is 4km North-West of Cleszymowo. The German name was Groß Baalau.  There are some exceptions however most people I've looked at in that era did not travel very far between their place of birth and marriage.  

I have seen some very strange variations from German names into Australian English. A variation from Balewo or Baalau changing to Balan seems possible. Baalau is unusual. I wonder if it is Swedish.

Yes - looking at the materials again today I have come to the same conclusion. The image from the German baptism register has ‘Balau’ and seems to be the reasonable location for associated events for this ancestor, as you say they didn’t travel too far.
+3 votes
This is an interesting challenge.

Cieszymowo Wielkie is a village in northern Poland. It lies 73 km south-east of the regional capital Gdańsk.

The German name was Teschendorf. I only found it in Meyers Gazetteer with the name 'Gross Teschendorf'. (Gross Teschendorf, Stuhm, Marienwerder, Westpreussen, Preussen)

 Gross Baalau was 4 km away from Gross Teschendorf. (Gross Baalau, Stuhm, Marienwerder, Westpreussen, Preussen). Both of these locations were inside the kreis of Stuhm in West Prussia.
by Steve Thomas G2G6 Pilot (117k points)

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