The Rhineland family that never was
A family tree from a genealogy website traced the Bach family from Kashubia to Germany, to the Rhine. A marriage record from 1897 and a baptism record from 1869 show something else: fishermen from Otalżyno.
Documents shown in the film
These are the real archive scans you see in the film. Each one has its archive reference, so anyone can check the source.
Narration
Do you have a family tree from a genealogy website?
This family had one too.
The tree traced their line to Germany, to the Rhine.
The ancestor, according to the tree:
Johann Gerhard Bach, born in Leverkusen in 1806.
We checked the archives.
A marriage record from 1897.
Kartuzy, in Kashubia, northern Poland.
The groom, Johann Bach, was born in the village of Otalżyno.
His father is not Anton, as the tree said.
He is Franz Bach. From the same village.
Who was Franz?
His son's baptism record tells us.
One word. Fisherman.
No Germans from the Rhine.
Fishermen from Kashubia.
Someone online had attached a stranger's family to their tree.
Does your family have a story about foreign roots?
Tell us in the comments.
In the next episode: a noble family that a newspaper in Vilnius called runaway serfs.
Ex Archivis.
We find out where your family comes from.
Sources
- Marriage record, Kartuzy registry office, 1897, no. 21 (State Archive in Gdańsk)
- Baptism register, Przodkowo parish, 1869, entry 194 (State Archive in Gdańsk)
Scenes marked “Staged scene” are reconstructions. The documents are real.
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Want us to look into your family?
Tell us where your ancestors came from. We will reply with how far back the records of that area go.