Koschentin/Koszecin

From an email from a Ganschinietz relative of Koschentin I discovered a blog specifically about Koschentin or Koszecin as it is now called.  Here is the link that will get you to this interesting site.

Panowie Na Koszecinie by Edward Goszyk And Other Polish Books

I received this book from a cousin.  I already had it but am letting you know about it.  It is a book on the forestry of Koschentin/Koszecin, Poland.  I purchased my book from the author on an earlier trip there.  It was published in 2008.

Another book I received today was Monografia Solectwa Strzebin.  History of the towns of Strzebin, Bagno, Prady, Lazy and Kurzichowe and Bukowice.  The author was Jozef Kochanek and it was published in 2004.

Another book was Koszecinskie Koscioly i Kapliczki by Jan Myrcik.  This book is also a duplicate of one that I had.  It is about the church in Koschentin.

Also a booklet by Jan Myrcik  Called Slask, the Polish dance troupe in Koszecin.

I also received a book with the Hohenlohe genealogy.  It was written by Arkadiusz Kuzio-Podrucki in 2012.

Another about the sports competitions in Koszecin.  Written in 2008, also by Jozef Kochanek.

Pro Memoria Tom I by Jan Myrcik

I was able to receive a recently published book by Jan Myrcik who is the proprietor of a local history museum in Koszecin where a large amount of my ancestors are from.  In this book, the topics of war casualties and fatalities from Koszecin are covered.  It includes the names of many of the participants of various wars, WWI, WWII, and some others in which villagers from Koszecin took part.

I was able to find many of my relatives listed in this book of 108 pages.  The book also includes many letters from the military informing villagers of the loss of the relatives, sons, fathers and so forth who were determined missing and those that had been killed in battle.  The book is written in the Polish language and includes the above mentioned letters, many of which were in the German language.  It included photos of some of those that were killed or missing.  For the Koschentin/Koszecin researcher this book is of great interest.

Castle in Koszecin of the Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen family showing the Silesian musical troupe's
bus.

Koschentin Evangelische Cemetery

Lukas Lenz was recently in Koschentin.  He went to the Evangelische Friedhof (cemetery).  To be honest, I didn't even know that this ever existed because most people there were Catholic church members.  So this was an interesting find.  He was kind enough to send me the pictures that he took and has allowed me to post them on my blog.  There are not many gravestones, but here is what he saw!

I quickly checked the Gemeinde Lexikon for Schlesien in 1908 and at that time there were only 6 Evangelische people that lived in Koschentin.  I wonder if they may have also been buried in the Catholic cemetery then also?  I don't know...it is new and interesting information!  Also the Konig family was also very Catholic at that time, as well, as I have relatives of this name.

Koszecin, Koschentin, Birthplace of My Grandmother

The old church is getting a "face-lift"  with a new tan colored roof and door frame.

Isn't it pretty?

Now we are going inside!

Beautiful old wooden churches, originally built with dove-tailed wood rather than nails.  I remember my grandmother made me a doll crib without nails.  Interesting...

The old pipe organ.

The alter.

Beautiful ceilings...

Pretty cemetery all around the church.

"Downtown".

A surprise, spur of the moment visit at the Ulfigs, my Koschentin relatives.

Jan, Theresa, Jan's sister and me in back of the house.

We went to the palace to walk the ground and maybe pick up some souvenirs, but the place was all under renovation.  Here the buses for the Slask performing groups were standing because they had a big concert that night.

The palace under renovations.

Looking for shops.

We found a pigeon house here.

Shoveling coal into the basement for the winter days to come.  Not aren't you glad you don't have to do this?

The Trinity Church of Koschentin

After it was separated from the Parish of Sodow, here is a listing of the Kurats serving in the parish:
Karl Dittrich 1862-82.  Died
1875-1885, administrated through neighbor towns
Joseph Kudzielka 1885-87 and later served as pastor of Rokitsch
Maximilian Thiell 1887-90 later serving as pastor of Rauden
Ernst Lehmann 1890-96, later he was a pastor in Schurgast
Gustav Hencinski 189 6-1901, later he was a pastor in Lubetzko
Gustav Maiss 1899-1901, later pastor in Chrosczuetz

Source Dr. Gruenhagen in Breslau Besitzer Koziol von Nieder-Sodow 8.Feb 1868
Karl Urban:  Die Troica-Kirche in Oberschlesische Heimat.

WOW! Polish Parishes ONLINE!

Yes, I found out today.  The parishes in the Toszek, Wisnicze, Gliwice, Koszecin villages and many in the "neighborhood" are now digitized and free online at this link: 

https://familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/collection/1867931/waypoints

It is SOOOO amazing.  Now I can do my research in my jammies - at my home- on my computer- and stay up till dawn researching them!  (I will need some sleep at some point in time)  but for now, I am on cloud 9! And will be staying there for quite a while.  All you Texans can research.  Opole is starting to be posted and I am sure before long lots of them will be on, as well. Lodz, Opole, etc.  Happy Hunting all you Oberschlesien researchers!  It is a genealogical miracle!

Pictures Of König Grave in Koszecin

A friend on an email subscription list for Ober-Schlesien sent a message for König researchers in Koszecin/Koschentin that he had taken pictures of a grave of König.  I responded that I had a König friend/relative in Hannover and would send it to him.  After I got the pictures, I looked on my computer program with my family genealogy and the Jozef in this picture is the son of Caroline Ochmann, which is my direct line.  So I am happy to add this to my Koschentin cemetery pictures.

More Black Sheep in Koschentin

As I was reading through court records from the county of Lublinitz/Lubliniec, I was surprised at how many of my ancestors were in there for having been thieves.  This included men in their 70's!  The things that they stole and ended up in jail for were items such as wood, tree roots and food items.  This kind of indicates something to me about times back in that day, people trying to keep warm and to survive.  I found it most interesting.  I think pretty much the majority of the crimes were of this nature.

Books About Koszecin/Koschentin

During my visits to Koschentin, I have found several books written by local authors.  For those Koszecin/Koschentin searchers who are interested in the local history, here are some items of interest.

Nadlesnictwo Koszecin Kartki z Historii Lasow i Lowiectwa, Koszecin 2003, Edward Goszyk.
Military and forestry history is included in the above book.

Panowie na Koszecinie, Koszecin 2008, Edward Goszyk
This book is about local history including information about the Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen family.

Pro Memoria, Tarnowsky Gory 2010, Jan Myrcik
about Koszecin epitaphs, includes some documents and pictures of locals.

W lesnej dolinie Malej Panwi, Koszecin 2006 Czeslaw Tyrol
I bought this because the picture of my great-grandfather was included where he is dressed in his forester uniform amongst the other rangers and the Prince Karl von Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.  The author mentioned to me that he is working on another volume to this book.

Koszecin na starej fotografii, Tarnowskie Gory 2001 Jan Myrcik
This book has "old" photos of Koszecin.  I find pictures of weddings of some of my families from Koszecin, people in the military, a Koschentiner with Auschwitz photos.  The person in that picture is the family name of Irek, which also appears on my pedigree.  Sure would like to post some of the photos, but there might be some copyright issues with that....

Zabytkowy Kosciol Swietej Trojcy w Koszecinie, Tarnowskie Gory, 2003, Jan Myrcik
This book is about the old church in Koszecin and includes a picture of the parish with the church members in front from the year 1934.

Koszecinskie Koscioly i kapliczki, Tarnowskie Gory 1998, Jan Myrcik
This is about the new parish in Koszecin.  It includes a list of the Priests that served, bishops, etc.

Legendy Koszecinskie, Tarnowskie Gory 1997, Jan Myrcik
Various legends of Koschentin in the olden days.

As you can see Jan Myrcik is the local historian and runs a museum that can be viewed by appointment.
Here are a few books from the area around Koszecin:

Strzelce Opolskie, Miasto i powiat na dawnych pocztowkach, Strzelce Opolski 2005, Marek Gaworski
Numerous old photos and post cards o the district of Gross Strehlitz, now known as Strzelce Opolski.

Drewciane Koscioly na ziemi lublinieckiej, Tarnowskie Gory, 1998 Jan Myrcik
Pictures and history of many churches in the Lublinitz district.

Poeci ziemi lublinieckiej, Tarnowski Gory 1999, Jan Myrcik
A book of poets from the district of Lublinitz,including one of my relatives, so of course, I bought the book!

Gmina Ujazd na starej fotografii, Ujazd 2005 Marek Gaworski
This book was given to me by relatives and includes all the places in the commune of Ujazd with pictures of all the localities.  It includes old post cards, as well.

So just a small list of books that are available over there in Poland.  I would love to know of more, if someone knows of some!

Here is where the forest used to be before the tornado, 1 km wide hit Koszecin.  Even on the US news because the van/vehicle carrying the famous singing/dancing group Slask was overturned.  It destroyed my great-grandfather's farm.

Here in the kitchen of my relatives. Fun to meet the new family members. 

A Little Gralla Family History (Koszecin, Poland)

LOCAL PEOPLE GIVE COLORFUL ACCOUNT OF "ROBIN HOOD" GRALLA.
(I

In the village of Koszecin, Poland, stand the remains of the Franz Gralla farm of the late 1800's. Although, much has changed on the property, the people who live there now were able to share what they remembered of Franz Gralla, father of twelve children and my great grandfather. The current owners, the Soballas, bought the farm from a Jewish man who had purchased it originally from Franz Gralla in the year 1903. Mr. Soballa tells what caused Franz Gralla to leave the area for Moscow and later St. Petersburg, as he recalls in the year 1903. Franz Gralla, although the owner of a farm and acreage was not the farmer "type" nor did he want to be. He lived life a little on the "wild side" as he chose to defy the local nobility, the Hohenlohes, who owned the forests and most of the surrounding property. Franz Gralla liked to hunt in the forests of the Hohenlohes, which was against the law. But he did this to provide food for his large and growing family and to provide food for all the poor townspeople. For this, the people of the village loved him and the Hohenlohes despised him. He became known as "Robin Hood" Gralla. Often times he would hide with his hunting friends in the forests as the local authorities tried to track him down. He made traps out of bridges which would drop to the water below and help him in fast get-aways. This he did for quite some time until the Hohenlohes eventually caught up to him, and knowing him to be very knowledgeable in forestry, rather than arrest him, as was expected, he was given a forestry job in Belorus on the Hohenlohe property there as an alternative punishment. This same Franz Gralla was also a merchant, a business man who provided the stones for the road which still is there and leads to the next town. According to the Soballas, Franz Gralla was involved in many interesting business "deals", but was a good man whom the people liked and respected for his help in feeding their families.