GERMANY - Maximilian Johannes Ernst SHULTZE b.2 FEB 1845, Genthin

[manukarik]

I'm finding that a fair few of my wider family came from the Kingdom of Saxony (according to the English Censuses) during the Victorian period. I'm finding bits and pieces, but it is only when I find additional info with the date and place of birth that I can get anywhere. If I'm looking for people from Saxony do I need to be looking at records from Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Sachsen?

Although I studied German to Higher level (that was over 40 years ago!), I find reading German handwriting very difficult. I'm also finding it difficult to find many records for the individuals and time periods involved. I've looked through Sharing Useful Tips: GERMANY and E. Europe https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=11860.0 but have found a lot of the links are dead. I'm wondering whether it is worth subscribing to Archion for a month to see if I can find any additional info. Has anyone found that site useful? Does it have any search functions yet or is it a case of finding a church register for a place and time and wading through it.

One individual I have been looking into is Maximilian Johannes Ernst SCHULTZE.
He apparently married Mary Ann BILBY (from Norwich) in Belvedere, Kent on 20 August 1874. His father is given as Arthur Johan SCHULTZE, deceased.

They next appear in the 1881 Census in Hackney - he is a clerk in a merchant's office, shown as born in Germany.

Looking through the Familienbögen on Ancestry (behind the ancestry paywall - I can't find it elsewhere) I found them in Mannheim in I think 1891 - 3 pages of entries (each progressively getting easier to read!) It suggests that he was born on 2 February 1845 in Genthin which I believe is in Jerichower Land, Sachsen-Anhalt.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7575/images/41680_b157545-00017?pId=506186

Does anyone have any bright ideas on where to look next and whether it is worth subscribing to Archion? Max is shown as evangelisch in the above Family Register.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated!

[fiddlerslass]

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/109324?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Not online unfortunately but if you had a LDS centre near you you could order it.

[manukarik]

Thank you, fiddlerslass! I'll try to visit the LDS Centre in Inverness next time I'm down that way.

[fiddlerslass]

The Ortsfamiliebuch for Genthin is still under construction but the blog mentioned in the article has links to Schultze info, mostly deaths. I did not see Arthur Johann, but you may find something of use:

https://ofb.genealogy.net/genthin/?lang=de

[davecapps]

Saxony do I need to be looking at records from Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Sachsen?

The place you are looking for is Genthin in Sachsen-Anhalt
https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/10558024

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genthin

Dave

[manukarik]

Thanks davecapps. The Meyers Gazetter is always a good place to start. It has clarified something for me though. I noticed a few references to Saxony and Prussia at the same time, but the British censuses referred to the Kingdom of Saxony. The Gazetter makes it clear that Genthin was in Saxony, but was also part of Prussia.

In the case of Genthin, I had worked out that it was within Sachsen-Anhalt, but the map in the Gazeteer makes it much clearer were it is compared to larger maps. Thank you for your help!

Add: I see now that the Congress of Vienna ceded northern parts of the Kingdom of Saxony (along with other areas) to the Kingdom of Prussia. My confusion is beginning to make sense!

[fiddlerslass]

Brief history here

https://familytreemagazine.com/heritage/prussian/what-is-prussia/

[manukarik]

Thanks fiddlerslass - an interesting read.

[davecapps]

is this your man
Archion
https://www.archion.de/de/alle-archive/sachsen-anhalt/landeskirchenarchiv-der-evangelischen-kirche-mitteldeutschland/magdeburg/kirchenkreis-elbe-flaeming/genthin