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OVERVIEW
● Home Page
SITE MAP
● Timeline & Site Map
BALS NAME
● The Name
ANCESTORS
● Ancestors
of Henry Anton Bals
●
Jürgen
● Tonnies
● Joes Antonius
● Franz Heinrich
● Johann Heinrich
● Franz Joseph
● Theodor
FAMILY
●
Family of Henry & Elizabeth
● Theodore
● Henry F.
● Ella
● Gus
● Tillie
● Hattie
● Herb
● Alfred
● Carl
● Thelma
RICKERT
● Family of
Elizabeth
HENRY & ELIZABETH IN
NEBRASKA
● Details of
Their Life in Nebraska
●1900
Dorchester Precinct Plat Map
● 1918
Crete Twp Plat map
● 1918
Farmers' Directory of Crete
●
Memories of Delmer Patz
Ferdinand
● Ferdinand
in Nebraska
SCHMERLECKE
●
Village History
● Map of
Schmerlecke Area
● Map of
Village
LUSEBRINK
● History
of Lusebrink Farm
●Lusebrink
Chapel
LOWER-SAXON
BAUERNHAUSES
●
SOURCES
●
Bibliography
Website of Bettina Balz
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The Village of Schmerlecke, Westphalia, Germany
History
The village of Schmerlecke dates from the year
833, based on the book 1150 Jahres Schmerlecke 833 - 1983. It is
one of three villages in the district dating from the 800's. (Erwitte
from 823, Horn from 823, and Schmerlecke from 833.) The current population
of the village is about 730 persons.
Websites
The websites for the villages of the
Erwitte area contain current statistics on the villages, a short history
for each village, and interesting photographs of historical buildings and some
aerial views. The translation of the text into English is less than
perfect. Visiting the website for the village of Horn provides excellent
views and history of St. Cyriakis parish church. The St. Cyriakis "churchbook"
dates from about 1650 and was the source for most of the detailed genealogy
information for the family. Earlier church records were destroyed during
the 30 Years War.
Maps
Refer to Map of
Schmerlecke Area and the Map of the Village of
Schmerlecke for detailed information on the location of the village and the
map of the village itself.
Major Events in the History of Schmerlecke and the Area
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14 AD - The
Roman Army attacks the Marsi during a thanksgiving feast at the sanctuary of
"ten fanen" (Tanfana, Tamfana) and slaughter large number according to the
chronicles of Tacitus. A possible location of the "ten fanen" site
lies near the village of Berwicke, some 6 - 8 kilometers from Schmerlecke.
This information from the book "Geschiechte Des Kirchspiels Horn" (History
of the Church District Horn-Millinghausen), 1962, page 13 - 14.
-
The Saxons
came from the north into the area about 500 AD. Based on the Bals
name and the history of the area, it is assumed
that the ancestors of the family were part of this Saxon migration into the
area. They established small isolated farms, such as Lusebrink, in
contrast to the clustering of farms around a village center common to other
areas of Germany.
-
Saxons under
Widukind rendered a defeat to Charlemagne near Lippstadt, a short distance
from Schmerlecke, prior to Widukind's conversion in 785 AD.
-
833 AD:
The village of Schmerlecke is established. The history is detailed in
1150 Jahres Schmerlecke, 833 - 1983. It is likely that the
village existed before this date as a Saxon settlement because on April 1, 833,
Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, granted
Count Ricdag (Rihdag)
possession of Schmerlecke with its three farms (one of these was Lusebrink),
Ampen with two farms, and Geseke with five farms. The former free
Saxon farmers of Schmerlecke and their descendents were now defeated
persons, their land, their soil, and their person were owned by their
Master. They were not allowed to leave the farm where they were born,
if they wanted to leave to marry or learn a craft, they had to redeem
themselves (See Lusebrink for detail of
this in 1800's). They were not allowed to possess property. At
the death of the farmer, the property reverted to the Master and the eldest
son had to negotiate with the master to retain the farm. If the Master
considered the son physically and mentally able, he was certified as
successor, upon payment of a high sum of money (death tax). It would
be July 14, 1809, just short of a thousand years, before the Balz of
Lusebrink was released from bond service and again became free farmers.
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1247, March
25: Bishops Engelbert of Osnabrück
and Konrad of Cologne meet in Schmerlecke and seal an alliance for military
and religious assistance to their areas between the Rhine and the Weser.
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1250:
Around this date the ownership of the lands around Schmerlecke are
transferred to the Cloister of Benninghausen.
-
1444 - 49: The Soester Fehde wages in
the area. Aa war in which the Bishops of Cologne attempt to take
control of Soest.. The unprotected villages between Lippstadt and
Soest suffer heavily.
-
1536: During the Reformation, a farm in
Schmerlecke becomes the subject of a legal challenge concerning ownership of
land by the Church.
-
1618 - 48, The Thirty Years War: This
appears to be the low point in the history of the area. The area saw
unbelievable hunger. Gangs hunted other people like animals for food.
Graves of recently deceased persons were opened for food. In 1622,
armies laid in Lippstadt for 5 months and ravaged the area. In 1636 -
37 great plaques of diseases spread through the area. Whole families
in the area became extinct. It was probably during this time that the
Baltz moved from the remote Lusebrink farm to No. 26 in Schmerlecke,
for greater protection..
-
The history or Schmerlecke
notes that Napoleon's army was present in the area French
soldiers stole the small bronze bell from the old village chapel that had
rang out the angelus three times a day. The bell was later recovered.
At the time of my visit to Schmerlecke, I was told that French names occur in the family and
other families of the area because of French soldiers of
amorous disposition who remained in the area.
(See the major events related to
Lusebrink for
additional history of both the Village of Schmerlccke and Lusebrink
farm.)
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Bals, Balz & Baltz