When my in-laws lived overseas recently, they were able to visit the hometown of Martin and Adelgunda Heiner in Wasungen, Germany. This is a small town about two hours northeast of Frankfurt, with a current population of around four thousand. Martin grew up in Walldorf, four miles away from Adelgunda in Wasungen, and then moved to Wasungen as a weaver's apprentice for Adelgunda's father. The couple married and settled in Wasungen before emigrating as a young family to the United States. The church where the family worshipped is still standing, and the school and likely street where the Heiners lived can be seen.
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| Martin Heiner's home in Walldorf |
Recently, the Wasungen museum created an exhibit on emigrants from their town, and featured the Heiners. Due to this publicity, there have been international connections made between the two branches of the family, and these photos were used in a presentation I made at a family reunion in 2012.
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| Wasungen now |
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| Church and its cemetery |
Insights from visiting Wasungen historian Eberhard Wolf at a 2015 Heiner reunion included the information that Martin's linen weaving would have been vital for tents and sails, and this interesting detail below about their emigration via raft:
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| thinking of Martin's bread baking... |
Auf wiedersehen, Wasungen!
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| 2024 details from Heiner group trip |
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The jail Martin was in briefly is now a hotel! http://www.fronveste-meiningen.de/
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