Local heritage book of Beutelsbach

Since the 1975 municipal reform programme Beutelsbach has been part of Weinstadt, a major town within the Rems-Murr administrative district. Beutelsbach is a place which is closely interwoven with the history of Württemberg. Here, the first Earls of Württemberg held a fortress on the higher ground of the Kappelberg. Around 1252 this fortress, the Burg, was extended by "Ulrich the Benefactor" also known as "Ulrich the Thumb" (because the thumb on his right hand was much larger than normal). Beutelsbach’s Stiftskirche (the church established by Ulrich’s private foundation) was the burial place of the House of Württemberg until this foundation was moved to Stuttgart around 1321. In 1514  the peasant uprising of "Conrad the Poor" ("Armer Konrad") also began at the Burg fortress which was later destroyed. A visit in Beutelsbach is offering a good possibility, to taste the wines Beutelsbach produces, enabling them to understand why early documents record that "theyre doth a gode wyne grow"’.  Almost everyone in search of ancestors here, will find at least one vine grower among them! "Beutelsbacher Burghalde“ and the "Remstalkellerei“ (The Rems Valley Cellars located in Beutelsbach) are well known to wine connoisseurs. Today Beutelsbach has more than 8,000 inhabitants and the town of Weinstadt itself, which also incorporates the communities of Endersbach, Großheppach, Schnait and Strümpfelbach, is home to more than 25,000 inhabitants.

The people listed  lived here when Beutelsbach had between 500 and 2,000 inhabitants. The card index prepared by Dr. Heinrich Klumpp (1875 – 1962), a senior administrative officer from Stuttgart, represents a major part of the preparatory work for the family history listings. Dr Klumpp’s interest in Beutelsbach families began as early as 1930, when he was the chairman of a local history association. He did not allow the Nazis to misappropriate his activities, was not a member of the National Socialist Party and his work does not appear in any Nazi literature. Where and how he prepared the card index is, unfortunately, unknown.  

Once the information on the cards had been entered into the database, checks were carried out to ensure that the data was complete, using a CD with digitalised photographs of the pages of the church registers. Missing items were added and, where doubts arose, information was compared with entries in the original registers kept at Beutelsbach’s church office. Sadly, there is little data available prior to 1646, as the registers were destroyed during the 30 years war - only one register of baptisms has survived. Full information could not therefore be provided on individuals and family groups living at that time and, in view of the large gaps in the data available, false assumptions may have been made. Beutelsbach was a protestant (Lutheran) community from the time of the Reformation onwards, remarks relating to religion are made, therefore, only in respect of those people who were not protestants.   

American genealogists suspect, incidentally, that one of current US President Barack Obama’s ancestors came from Beutelsbach (Johann Conrad Wölflin). This line can be traced in the database. In addition, a few months ago examination of the church registers showed that Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg took a liking to at least one young damsel from Beutelsbach (Regina Margaretha Traub) and and she gave birth to the Duke’s first known son. The boy was given the name Friedrich Wilhelm of Franquemont and he became a commanding officer in the Württemberg Cape Regiment (Kapregiment).  

Sources:
The family history listings include all families who, as a result of a baptism, marriage or burial were recorded in the church registers - more specifically the baptism register of
1573-1626, the baptism, marriage and death registers as from 1646, the "register of the souls of Beutelsbach“ - which already grouped entries as families – as from 1740 as well as Family Registers I and II from 1800 onwards. The data was supplemented with information taken from a  "List of Citizens“ held at the Weinstadt Archive that covers the period 1640-1810. In some individual cases there are additional entries taken from Lists of Inventories & Divisions  (of plots of land, property etc) kept from 1620 onwards.
Personal details relating to members of a number of families that had been recorded in the register of the souls of Beutelsbach by the priest at the time were also included. The reader’s understanding is requested here, as it may not always have been possible to decipher the handwritten entries fully or necessarily accurately!  The family history information provided reflects the status of research as at October 2012.

Data protection:
Only those individuals who were born at least 110 years ago or who died at least 10 years ago are included in the listings. Many people are missing, even though they died prior to 2002, because no details of their deaths could be found in the church registers – they may, for example, have renounced their membership of the church or have been interred elsewhere.  

Place names:
(Amerika, Russland, Australien) America, Russia, Australia = no further details entered in church registers
(gefallen, vermisst, verschollen) killed in action, missing, missing presumed dead = mostly war deaths, place of death unknown
Stetten, Strümpfelbach = unless otherwise indicated, neighbouring towns or places in the Rems valley
(Ort (Krankenhaus)) Place (hospital) = actual place of death though the person lived in Beutelsbach
The numerous Stuttgart suburbs are listed as Stuttgart with the suburb shown in parenthesis. In the church registers, however, the suburbs were normally still known by and entered under their own names.  

Spelling of names.
In Beutelsbach changes have often been made to the way in which names are spelled. Generally the current spelling (as shown in the telephone directory) is used for the listings but where clear cut changes have occurred, these are noted. Variants such as vowels with umlauts above them, those written "ai" "ei" "ey" or "ay" or different endings such as  "tz" instead of "z", "dt" or "d", doubled letters like aa, ll, nn etc. have been ignored in cases where on examination of a number of different entries in connection with one and the same person no uniform spelling was apparent; this also applies in relation to the frequent use in earlier times of  "w" for "u", e.g. Raw für Rau.

Concluding note and request   
Errors are inevitable when compiling family history data. It is all too easy to misinterpret the documents that are sometimes very difficult to read – not to mention transcription or typing errors that may have been made. The editor requests the reader’s forbearance in this respect and welcomes all contributions of corrections or additional information. In the words of an argument frequently employed by software producers "product maturity evolves with customer use".  The editor hopes very much that missing information - particularly where it relates to individuals, who moved away from Beutelsbach to other villages, towns and countries - will be communicated to him so that the process of updating the family history data can continue.

My thanks go to:

• my wife, who allows me the time I need for the task and who even takes an interest and assists me  
• my daughter, Dorothee Weber, who in essence is my assistant
• Dr Haag and Mr Michael Bing of the  Landeskirchlichen Archiv (State Church Archives), who made the digitalised documents available to me and who were always willing to help with my queries
• The Beutelsbach Pfarramt (Church Office), where I was always able to delve into the original registers.
• Dr. Breyvogel of the Stadtarchiv Weinstadt (Weinstadt Town Archive), who always supported me with assistance and advice
• Other family researchers in the area - Dietrich Paulini, Ernst Haag, Dietmar Alex, Martin Klöpfer, Jörg Heinrich, Wolfram Callenius, Hans Schiller, Uwe Riegel, Friedrich Bäuerle - from whom various supplementary items of information or transcriptions originate   
• A number of visitors to the database, who came forward with corrections and additions
• English tanslation of this introduction: Margret Kurz

December 2013 Martin Goll
The information in this family history database is also available in book form: (by amzon)
"Beutelsbacher Familien“
    Publisher: Bärenfelser Verlag, Weinstadt; Edition: 1 (2013)
    ISBN-10: 386372013X
    ISBN-13: 978-3863720131