Hauptstrasse 12
Very likely, this chapter is only interesting for myself. But initially I started all these efforts for the simple reason to identify my own direct line of forefathers. But very soon I found out that my grandfather Karl had already done this and that the pastor Zeihe had written a complete book about families from Erbstadt and Eichen.
Therefore, I went somewhat deeper and the results are summarized on this website. Nevertheless, I am adding this very personal chapter which displays all my forefathers back to the beginning of the entries in the church books.
Property Hauptstrasse 12, before Vorstadt 8. This picture should be from the late 1970s. House at the right site, in the middle still the barnyard. At the left not anymore the cow barn with Peter´s bar upstairs but the new house with the flat for my grandmother Käthe Reichhold.
As already mentioned, the first Stoerkels who appear in the church books are Johannes who brought in 1617 his son Hans to baptism and (probably) this particular Hans who is asking in 1664 the priest to write down a copy of his letter of marriage.
From the four children of Hans who have descendants that are documented in the church books, Peter is the one who started my personal family line. The marriage of his father Hans with Lucretia was in 1651. For his two brothers Adam (*1651) and Johannes (*1654) entries of baptisms can be found. For Peter no such entry exists but only the entry of marriage in the year 1663. It can be assumed that he was already born before the marriage of his father with Lucretia (in particular, as he is called the "respectable bachelor" in that entry). Either he is born as illegitimate child of Lucretia or his mother is Evila who is mentioned in the letter of marriage of Hans. Potentially, Lucretia and Evila had been the same person and the marriage was not officially accepted in Erbstadt.
For Peter´s sister Gertraud there is also no entry of baptism in the church book. She had married in 1667. Means, either rather young or the same considerations as for Peter apply for her as well.
Peter himself had at least a dozen children with his wife Catharina Walther. By the way, Peter is not the eponym for the "Wirts-Peters". That is, much later, his grand-grand-grandchild.
The youngest child of Peter and Catharina is Johannes. Given the many Johannes with our family name, it would have been helpful here, if pastor Zeihe would been more precise with the date of birth. Here a mismatch exists with the notes of my grandfather. But everything speaks for the assumption that this youngest son of Peter is that johannes who is born on April 23th 1686. He was raised by his older sisters. He was brought up by his older sisters.
In the year 1712 Johannes had married a wife from Eichen, Anna Margarete Heckmann. One generation earlier, his Onkel Johannes (son of Hans) had already married a wife from Eichen with an identical name.
The son of our Johannes is born in 1717, Johann Peter. Besides being a farmer, he was also wainwright and had the function of head of parish council.
Johann Peter was married to Anna Catharina Hoohorst. After her death, he married 5 years later her sister. Son Johannes is from the first marriage, born 1745.
Johannes was farmer, linen weaver and innkeeper. In 1767 he married Catharina Weber. Their son Johann Peter, born 1777, is eventually the Wirts-Peter. He was running the inn above the cow barn, besides his actual profession, being a farmer.
Johann Peter married in 1799 Catharina Sybilla, also named "Stoerkel". Her father was Michael Stoerkel but I could not find an entry of baptism in the church book. Hence, I could not assign Michael nor Catharina Sybilla precisely within the Stoerkel family. In 1816, their son Philipp Karl is born.
Before him, there already had been the children Daniel (*1804) and five sisters. Daniel emigrated to America in 1837. Obviously, one of his sisters had already emigrated to America and two or three sisters accompanied Daniel. Catharina married in America a man called Johann Philipp Reis, Maria married a man named Herbert Bird. I do not know anything about Anna Margaretha, potentially she went back to Erbstadt. Also from the two other sisters, Dorothea and Barbara, I do not know anything.
Philipp Karl, who is town council besides his profession as farmer, married in 1842 Anna Catharina Rupp. In 1850, their son Jacob Karl is born.
Besides Jacob Karl, there are three sisters, who had married in Erbstadt or Eichen. Philippina is married to Heinrich Stein. Catharina Margaretha married Johannes Wörner and Catharina Margaretha Maria married Wilhelm Wörner.
Jacob Karl married in 1874 Margarete Katharina Seib. Their son Wilhelm Otto is born in 1878.
Besides Wilhelm Otto there are three more children. Fritz was not married and lived in the Hauptstrasse 2, Margarthe married in Rossdorf, Hermann had two daughters, Elise (Weitzel) and Greta. Hermann was running for a short period (1894 - 1900) a grocery store in the Hauptstrasse 12.
In 1905, Wilhelm Otto married Barbara Maria Margarete Schäfer (my grand-grandmother "Gretchen"). It is known from Wilhelm Otto that he used to be a horse enthusiast.
In 1906, my grandfather Karl Friedrich August is born.
Besides my grandfather, there was his sister "aunt" Helma who had married to Ostheim (Schütz).
Karl married in 1928 my grandmother Magdalene Seib. Her home was at the other side of the street, just a few houses down the road. And, as mentioned before, my grandmother had already some Stoerkel-women among her ancestors, however, a few generations ago.
My aunt Hedi is born in 1928. She married to Kaichen (Heinrich Martin). Another son Wilhelm is born in 1934 but died bevor he was 6 months old.
My father Gerhard is born in 1938.
Today, with my brother, myself and our children, there two more generations.
In 2013, there are three generations of Stoerkels from Erbstadt together with their cousins from the USA in front of the property of the Wirts-Peters - 176 years after Daniel with his family and sisters had left the house towards America.
My Grandmas
So far, I have described my family tree based on my male forefathers – pretty traditional. That was the way how the name was passed on. But, as also mentioned in the book of priest Zeihe, if the name of the mother would passed on, different family names would much more frequent in Erbstadt.
The first woman mentioned in my family line did not come from our village, but was the already mentioned Evila from a region in Germany called „Weserbergland“. Probably the first wife of Hanß and (according my own speculation) the mother of Peter and Gertraud. Also the family name of Peter´s wife, Walther, was obviously no common name in Erbstadt and Eichen. After that, my male forefathers had been looking for their wife in the close neighborhood. Heckmann, Weber, Hollhorst, Störkel, Rupp, Seib, Schäfer and, again, Seib had been their maiden names which are all traditional names in Erbstadt or, at least, in Eichen.
The first of those ladies which I had known personally is Barbara Margarete Schäfer, my grand-grandma Gretchen. I had the pleasure to be with her for the first six years of my life. She was telling wonderful stories and while playing with her she was open for (almost) every kind of fun.
Mein grandma Magdalene was born as Seib. As already mentioned, the house of her family is more or less at the other side of the Hauptstrasse 12. Together with Gretchen, she brought me up during the first six years of my life. Among Magdalene´s forefather there had been two other Störkel-woman: Another Magdalene (born 1754) who came from the „Johannes-line“ and, one generation earlier, Anna Catharina Störkel (born 1684), one of the many daughters of Peter Störkel („Peter-line“). Grandma Magdalene had one sister Katharina („Käthe“) and via her grandfather several cousins, who had been with her families always my closed „family“. Also because they all used to live in Erbstadt or, at least, in the surrounding villages.
My grandma from my mother, Käthe Reichhold born as Rüger, came from the village Bödigheim, close to Buchen in the Odenwald. Grandma Käthe was married with Friedrich Reichhold from Frankfurt. The family of this grandpa probably has her roots in Stammheim. My grandpa had been missing in World War II and my grandma had to leave Frankfurt during the war with together with my mother and my uncle. She went to Stammheim and stood there until she moved in the seventies to our place in Erbstadt.