Deciphering help needed for geographical bearings

[mbrssmd]

The image below is from a 1959 letter's reference to a shared 17th century ancestor, Hans Casper, from Hönningen (not "Höningen,"  correct?).

My feeble deciphering/translation skills are thrown by the elevated letters immediately preceding the words "Rhein" and "Wetzlar."

My specific difficulty is making out the nature of the reference to "Altenberg" -- is it Altenberg as an area, or a town (which would be hundreds of km away), or is it a reference to the "Altenberg Abbey" which is near Wetzlar?

I would be most grateful for any assistance in deciphering and translating.  Thank you.

[Peonie]

Hans Caspar was from Hönningen am Rhein (on the Rhein) and married in Altenberg bei (near) Wetzlar.

Hope this helps, regards Peonie

[mbrssmd]

Thanks, P, for that. Your response is very helpful, and I am most grateful for your assistance.

[Karen McDonald]

Hi,

A little bit of extra info:

Wetzlar seems more important as a town these days, but Altenburg has a long history.

The actual hill (calling it a mountain would be pushing it a bit  - it's 442m high) of Altenburg is about 10km north of Wetzlar.
In 1321, the first castle was built near there, but attacked and destroyed in 1349. The Kaiser forbade the rebuilding of the castle, but the local Grafen (counts) got around that by building a new castle, Burg Hohensolms, on a different hillock 2km away. 
Since then, the old location has been known as der alte Berg (Altenberg).

I used to live down that way. 

Best regards,
Karen

 

[mbrssmd]

Thank you Karen:

I am trying to keep my excitement in check. With apologies for my wordiness, in view of what you've written I'd be grateful for any thoughts on the following:

The mentions of "Altenberg" and "Wetzlar" were in a 1959 letter (family lore also mentioned "Wetzlar" as being where the family lived in the 17th and 18th century). However, the 'stammbaum' brought over to the US from Germany in 1881 does not mention either place, but only says (in the first entry) that on February 15, 1679 Hans Casper of Hönningen (which I assume is different from "Höningen") married "Catharina Hiesigär (Schloßmagd)."

My conclusion had been that the old document's parenthetical reference to "Schloßmagd" meant that Catharina was a handmaid in a castle. In thinking about your explanation of "Altenberg," would you concur with that? If so, could that have been the Castle "Schloss Burg" or perhaps "Burg Hohensolms"? (I've read that the Swedes laid siege to Schloss Burg during the 30 Years War). Or, would the stammbaum's reference to "Schloßmagd" more likely simply be a place name description akin to "der alte Berg."

Any thoughts on this would be most welcome, as it would open the door to some new understanding of geography and history regarding of my oldest known ancestors. Thank you again.

[Karen McDonald]

Hi,

It's exciting when things start coming together, isn't it? 

First of all, the town name:
I can only find one Höningen, down near Mannheim.
There is one Hönningen near Ahrbrück, Rheinland-Pfalz.
BUT...in your document it says Hönningen am Rhein. If I put this into Google maps, it comes up with Bad Hönningen (Bad means spa town), which is directly on the Rhein (Rhine) river, about 30km southeast of Bonn.
The two Hönningens are also about 30km apart.

Bad Hönningen also has an impressive castle, Schloss Arenfels:

https://www.schloss-arenfels.de/

Burg Hohensolms:
Two lineages shared the castle in the 17th century, the Butzbach line, who renamed themselves Solms-Hohensolms after moving into the castle, and the Solms-Lich line. The former took care of their part, but the Solms-Lich bunch let their part of the castle fall apart.
Graf Ludwig von Solms-Hohensolms (1646–1707) had a mint in the castle (mint as in where coins are made  ) at the end of the 17th century.

Lots of piccies of the castle here:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Hohensolms

Catharina/Schloßmagd: A Schloßmagd was a (hand)maid in a castle, so I would think that she was indeed a maid at a castle. But which one..?!
(As far as I can see, there are no places with a name like Schloßmagd/Schlossmagd. It would be a very weird place name, but I checked, to be sure.  )

One little thing I wanted to add: You have only referred to Hans Caspar. In the letter which you uploaded, it says Hans Caspar Schneider. Is Schneider his surname, or was he a tailor? (There is, however, no comma between Caspar and Schneider...)

Best regards,
Karen

[davecapps]

A Schlossmagd was a (Haushälterin) and in charge of the housekeeping.
House maids (Dienstmädchen)and other servants were of lower ranking

Dave

[Karen McDonald]

Thanks for clarifying that, Dave! 
I couldn't find anything that precise.

Best regards,
Karen

[davecapps]

Hi Karen

i couldn´t find anything either so I posted it in Ahnenforschung.net.
A very kind lady came to the rescue and delivered the Info.
see attachment
Dave