Geneanet and my research

 I spent a lot of time to study the German speaking catholic branch of my family with roots in Iglau (Jihlava) Moravia and Dittersdorf Freudenthal (Detrichovice Bruntal ), now Czech republic. In the 19th century they emigrated to Siebenbuergen and Banat, Austrian-Hungary, now Transylvania, Romania. The My Ludwigs from Dittersdorf stopped about 1822-1826 in Neu Arad (Uj Arad) where the head of the family, Franz SR., did his job from his birth place, stocking manufacturer (knitwear). He died in 1844.

His son. Franz JR., married in Arad in 1840. His wife died in 1850 and he married second time in 1850 in Hermannstadt (Nagy Szeben, Sibiu). This time his father-in-law owned an inn and Franz had a stagecoach line which linked major cities from Transylvania. Franz was tenant of a hotel in the city of Kronstadt (Brasso, Brasov). Later he owned a hotel in Brasov.

Other son of Franz SR. was my ancestor Leopold Ludwig. After the death of his father when he was only 20 years old he continued his father's job. He married and he is mentioned in the Kronstadt address book beginning with 1850 as stocking manufacturer. He had a shop in the city and later he built a stocking factory in the part of Brasov named Blumenau (Bolonya, Blumana). At this moment I don't know the origin of his first wife but I know their children (I asked the administration of the Peter & Paul roman-catholic church to give me information). Leoplold's wife died and he married second time with my ancestor Anna Agnes Neumann, coming from Jihlava, Czech republic. She died in 1874 and Leopold married third time with Anna's cousin, Anna Pernfuss, coming from Jihlava. The mother of Anna Agnes became widow in 1848 and she married again. She emigrated from Jihlava to Brasov with her second husband Carl Kummer and one of her 2 sons from the second marriage.

Theresia, daughter of Franz SR was married with a public notary and had a printing shop in Brasov.

For Jihlava and Detrichovice I studied the church records on-line. For Arad and Sibiu I went to the National archives from each place. For Brasov I went to the National archives and to the catholic church. The state confiscated the church archives in Romania, but some books are still at the church.

About 3 weeks ago I discovered Geneanet Premium as subscriber. I am impressed about their work which fits perfectly with my research. I found records that I already discovered and also new records that solved misteries from my family tree. Here is a note from Geneanet regarding Romanian archives:

Source
Registre de stare civilă și bisericești referitorare la germani, evrei și parțial maghiari. Digital images. Arhivele Naţionale ale României.

Collection

This collection includes a combination of civil and church records from Transylvania, focusing on German populations. It contains extensive family history information from areas in Romania that formerly belonged to the historic Hungarian Habsburg Monarchy (excepting Bukovina).

In this case "German" refers either to Lutheran Saxons in Transylvania or to Roman Catholic Swabians and Berglanddeutsche from the Banat and Partium regions. Cities in the region, particularly in the 18th century, experienced heavy German influences as they became targets of the migratory flow of urban workers. Documented here is an exodus to South-East Europe that parallels the great German emigration to America in the 19th century.

The records cover ethnic Germans in Transylvania. They include urban Catholic populations as well as the Jewish community which, during the first half of the 19th century, had a particularly great affinity for German language and culture. The first signs of intermixing with diverse populations began to appear in the late 19th century, a trend that has continued until today.

Transylvania
Beginning in the 12th century, ethnic Germans began settling in Transylvania, invited at the behest of the king of Hungary to serve as a buffer zone for its southeastern border. Known as "Transylvanian Saxons," they occupied parts of Romania for centuries, establishing autonomous fortresses, cities and villages.

Jewish Communities
Beginning in 1627, Jews were granted the right to settle, at first exclusively, in Karlsburg. In the 18th and 19th centuries Sephardic and Orthodox communities emerged in the Banat and the Partium regions as a result of increasing urbanization throughout all Transylvanian cities and villages. In the second half of the 19th century, the initial preference for German language and culture gave way to Hungarian (Magyarization).

This collection includes a combination of civil and church records from the Transylvanian Saxon cities and villages of Brasov (German — Kronstadt; Hungarian — Brassó), Deva (German — Diemrich; Hungarian — Dèva), Sibiu (German — Hermannstadt; Hungarian — Nagyszeben), and Targu Mures (German — Neumarkt, Neumarkt am Mieresch; Hungarian: Marosvásárhely) in the historical region of Transylvania in present-day Romania.

With the German reformation, all Transylvanian Saxons converted to Protestantism, and most of the religious records are Protestant or Lutheran, although there are also Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish records included. The records are in German, Hungarian, Latin, Romanian, Hebrew, and Old Cyrillic.

What I would like to study on the Romanian National archives' site link to ! : search text catolici Brasov

The birth records from the Peter & Paul catholic church before 1870. They have these books.

The marriage records before 1857. Probably they have these.

The death records before 1868. They probably have some books.

For me is very difficult to access the records from the Peter and Paul catholic church but I think they will cooperate if the Romanian National archives will ask them. I don't know how they scan the books but I think they can do the job on site, without taking the books from the church.

If Ancestry and Geneanet are involved with a donation to the church this project will be successful.