Germany-Denmark-Russia
Family B-428 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.
Family Rus14-15 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.
Family # 15 in the 1775 Grimm census.
Family #Sp13 in the 1798 Stephan census.
Michael Fritzler was born 02 Jun 1724 in Kleingartach, Neckarkreis, Württemberg. There is a translator error in his birth record, spelling his last name as Fritzlin instead of Fritzler. All other sources show the name as Fritzler, so that is what I'm using as his last name in this profile.
Birth Record
[1]
Research into the last name at birth of his wife, Sabina, revealed that the two were probably cousins. On their marriage record, their surnames are spelled Fritzlen. Clearly, the two have different fathers who went by Jacob Fritzlen/Fritzler. Sabina's father added his typically unused first name, Jerg (an alternate spelling of Georg), to differentiate himself from his daughter's new father-in-law, who was already related to her, probably as an uncle or cousin.
Marriage Record
[2]
The Württemberg area had been ravaged by war and famine, and Michael had been around long enough to know that nothing was going to change any time soon. He was concerned about being able to provide for his family, as well as to find a way for his children to lead better lives than he had.
In 1759, when Danish King Frederick V invited Germans from Hessen and the Palatinate to help settle the area of Schleswig-Holstein, at that time under the control of the Danes. The king was interested in converting the marsh lands to arable farm land. Germans were known for their good farming skills and for being hard workers, so it seemed like a win-win situation both both Danes and Germans. Michael Fritzler decided the opportunity to immigrate to Denmark with his family was too attractive to pass up.
Michael arrived in Denmark in December of 1761. [3] His occupation was listed as a wine gardener or, what we would today call a vintner, an Evangelical Lutheran who brought with him his wife, four children, and one servant: [4]
Note [5] Johann Michael Fritzlen and his wife Anna Sabina Fritzlen had three additional children who died before the move to Denmark.
The adults took their oath of allegiance to Denmark on 24 July 1761. [6] By the end of the year, the family lived at 6 Moltken Hof in Colony F6 Friderichsheide, in the district of Flensburg. [7]
These records show four total Fritzle/Fritzler families, all of whom were from Würtemberg. Three of the families are definitely related:
(Of these four Fritzler families, all but Conrad Fritzler eventually immigrated to Grimm, Russia. Conrad Fritzler went to New Saratova by St. Petersburg.)
The marshlands were very inhospitable to farmers. Although the Germans were good farmers with typical farm land, it was far more difficult to convert these former wetlands and grow crops. Most of the German immigrants barely reaped enough to feed their families, let alone to provide food for others in Denmark. When Catherine the Great invited Germans to immigrate to Russia, Michael and his wife decided it offered them a better opportunity than what was there for them in Schleswig-Holstein.
The family left for Russia on 24 April 1765, [8] with their final destination being the Volga region. The journey was perilous and many people did not survive. These early German settlers did not immediately settle in Grimm, which was probably not yet ready for habitation. They went to a temporary in home to one of the villages founded pre-1767, like Dobrinka. It was there where they were listed in the 1767 census. Within a few months to a few years, all but a few of the Fritzlers made their way to the Colony of Grimm.
By the time of the first Grimm census in 1775, none of Michael's daughters were listed as living with their parents. The ones who survived, such as daughter Barbara, were most likely married and living with another family.
1775 Grimm Census
[9]
By 1788, however, for reasons heretofore unknown, Michael and his wife moved to the colony of Stephan (Vodyanoy Buerak), about 20 miles south of Grimm.
[10]
He took everyone in his household with him with the exception of his son Michael Jr. and daughter Barbara who had married Johannes Birheim/Bürkheim/Bergheim, both who remained in Grimm.
It could be that other family members, such as his wife Sabina's family, immigrated directly from Germany to Russia and were settled in Stephan. The two colonies were probably no more than 20 miles away from each other, which meant they could keep in touch with family members left behind.
1798 Stephan Census
[11]
See also:
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Michael is 24 degrees from Isaac Asimov, 32 degrees from David Attenborough, 28 degrees from Bill Bryson, 28 degrees from Richard Dawkins, 37 degrees from Bengt Feldreich, 37 degrees from Ruth Gates, 30 degrees from Stephen Hawking, 29 degrees from Julius Miller, 25 degrees from Bill Nye, 32 degrees from Magnus Pyke, 31 degrees from Carl Sagan and 25 degrees from David Randall on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.