Following in My Ancestors’ Footsteps

Soon I start on a trip to follow in the steps of my ancestors—across the ocean (albeit by plane) and dropping down in Munich. Then we (12 of us interested in Separatist history) travel by bus (not on foot as they did) to Ulm and on to Merklingen where Joseph and his brothers and sister were born—on my birthday! WooHoo!

But here’s the interesting news: Joseph’s brother, Ulrich, and his sister, Ursula, stayed in Merklingen as did all of their descendants except those who died in the world wars (one is listed as “missing in France” another “killed in Russia”) I will meet many of them there.

Then on to Rottennacker where the Separatists developed a following. One of the Pietist sects emerging in the late 18th century in Europe, the Separatists believed that each person had a personal relationship with God and needed no priest, no sacrament, nor sybolism for their salvation. Thus, they refused to follow the state church-Lutheran at the time, keeping their children out of the state school (also Lutheran), foregoing mandated church attendance and the final indignity–refusing to doff their hats at their “betters.” For this they were severely persecuted–thrown in prison, caned, thrashed (two people died from their beatings), and lost their children to orphanages.

With the help of Dr Eberhard Fritz, historian and archivist for the Duke of Wuerttemberg, and Dr. Hermann Ehmer, archivist for the state of Baden Wuerttemberg we will visit the Separatist-related sites of Rottenacker, Merklingen, Hohenasperg and Mon Repos. We will see where they were imprisoned and suffered under “hard labor, and visit Wilhelmsdorf, a Pietist village where the Separatists tried to create their own community in Germany near Ulm.

Not to leave you in suspense about what happened to the Separatists, I can reassure you that they found a welcoming home in America. With the help of Quakers in England, a small band of beleaguered believers, made their way to America to establish a community in Northeast Ohio that they named Zoar for the place where Lot had found sanctuary in Arabia much as they had found sanctuary in America. Their leader, Joseph Bimeler, is my 4th great grandfather. Today, I celebrate the lives of these intrepid settlers with my Singular Village Mystery series. Cover Her Body is the first; Graven Images will follow next year. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll find a story in historic Germany.

In the meantime, I take my readers, my family, and my friends with me on this journey.

Auf Wiedersehn!