The tour started in Wissembourg, France. This is where it is believed that 6th GG Grandparents Peter and Magdalena lived when they died. It is here that 5th GG Grandfather collects his inheritance. It is believed that he may have lived and/or worked in Bobenthal, Germany. Both cities straddle the current France and Germany border. They are in the Alsace region.
Jacob heads to Georsdorf, France to begin his life. He marries 2nd wife, Anna Maria, in Preuschdorf, France. After Jacob passes away, Anna Maria and her son, our 4th GG Grandfather Mathias leave Goersdorf.
They had to leave Goersdorf due to the wars and the strife happening at the time. Several wars were going on, people fled, and it was just an awful time. Brian Berger writes in great detail about it in his book. The Alsace region has a long history of going between French and German rule. Also at this time, Napoleon was on his march through Europe.
After leaving, they settle for a bit in Freckenfeld, Germany. There he meets Maria Catharina Huener, who father he was working for, and they marry in Minfeld. In 1789, they relocate to Jockgrim, Germany.
For the next 20 years, our family is in Jockgrim. There, 3rd GG Grandfather Johannes Dionys is born, August 20th 1791.
Up until Johannes, all the wives of the Berger men were from the same villages they were.
Mathias and Maria Catharina are the ones who decide to leave Jockgrim for eastern Russia, now Ukraine, in 1809. Johannes, who is 18 at the time, will meet a woman there who he marries. Stay tuned.
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