Local heritage book of Aspenstedt

Aspenstedt  is located in the northern foothills of the Harz Mountain range, approximately 8 kilometres west of Halberstadt and directly on the south side of the Huys in the district Harz in Saxony-Anhalt. Approximately 500 inhabitants live in this small village.
Aspenstedt (Espenstede - Aspenstedi - Aszmustedt) was first mentioned in documents in 1084 in the founding document of the Huysburg Monastery.
In 1358, Aspenstedt became a fiefdom of the cathedral provost Halberstadt. The first school was built in 1730 and in 1880 it had 120 pupils.
The Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the following years brought hunger and disease to the village.
The plague in 1850 brought much suffering to Aspenstedt. A new graveyard needed to be opened.
In 1882, the men's choir was founded and in 1904, the town received electricity.

Two sources of water spring up in the village and have made life possible here for a long time. They are the Klopstockquelle and the Backhausquelle. The enclosure of the Klopstock Spring, which was commissioned by the poet Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim between 1798 and 1802, commemorates the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Gleim and Klopstock were already friends and their hikes led them to Aspenstedt.

Some surnames such as Bruns, Klaue, Schliephacke, Clauss or Bröer could already be found around 1700 in Aspenstedt and, even today, remain synonymous with the residents in Aspenstedt. Originally, the spellings of some surnames were different to their modern variants. For example, a gentleman, born as Johann Diederich is documented in his death certificate as Johann Dietrich. Another example is: Newy - Naewy - Naewi - Newig – Naewig, Kiehne - Keine – Kühne, which can make genealogy research very problematic. Also, the spelling of the first names can sometimes be confusing, e.g. Cord, Curt, Curdt, Cordt or Kurt. This is sometimes not easy.

This local family history book should be used as a research aid only and is very probably not complete, as there are many gaps in the church archives. It is not a binding document.

Contents: Baptisms 1690 - 1920, Deaths 1690 - 1879, Marriages 1690 - 1914

Do you have any comments or additions/changes? I would be very happy to receive them.

Good luck and happy reading.
Werner Reimer