My fathers family were German Lutheran that descended from the 19th century immigrants from Pomerania. Pomerania was the Province in Prussia situated along the Baltic seacoast of northeastern Germany, stretching from the Kreise Stralsund on the west to the Kreise Lauenburg on the east.

The province once called Pomerania (or "Pommern" in German) no longer is part of Germany, having been overrun by the Russian Army and handed over to Poland at the end of World War II by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. The only reminder that this province once existed is found in the renaming of a northeastern province in modern day Germany called Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Many people in Dodge County, Wisconsin who consider themselves to have German Lutheran ancestors may actually be descended from the 19th century immigrants from Pomerania. They came to Wisconsin in church groups and ships with people from the same area. They settled together and married with church members and neighbors. Yet, today, few younger Americans even recognize the name Pomerania and its history.

The people from Pommern and Brandenburg, under the leadership of Pastor Kindermann, set sail from Stettin in May 1843, in six ships. A small group from Brandenburg followed in June, 1843 in three ships. Both groups reached America in fall.

In Wisconsin, the Pommern people spoke a German dialect known as Plattdeutsch or "low German"; called low because it predominated in the lowlands of northern Germany and along the Baltic Sea. While the Germans carried on everyday communication in Plattdeutsch, they used Hochdeutsch or "high German" during church services, meetings and parochial school classes, for writing and record-keeping, and in the German language newspapers and books which they read. They received German-language newspapers which were printed in Mayville, Wisconsin and Milwaukee, Wisconsin and primarily contained news about the United States, but also kept the reader up to date on the news in Europe. The Mayville German paper was very important as it kept people up to date on their relatives living in and around the Dodge County area. The women read Hausfrau for entertainment and for household information. They build their own cemeteries and churches which was the center of most activities outside the home.

Thumbnail pictures of the Macheel Picture Page.
For viewing all the pictures with title and discription go to the Photo Page. Photo page takes longer to down load.

Germany 1871	Germany 1990	Pommern Kreise	Crest	Altsarnow 1	Altsarnow 2	Johann	Johann	Walter 1	Walter 2
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Walter 3	Walter 4	Walter 5	Walter 6	Ewald	Marie 1	Marie 2	Marie 3	Family 1	Family 2
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Family 3	Dale 1	Dale 2	Dale 3	Dale 4	Dale 5	Dale 6	Dale 7	Dale 8	Jonathan 1
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Jonathan 2	Jonathan 3	Jonathan 3

Ewald Macheel, -- 103 East State Street, -- Fox Lake, Wisconsin 53933. -- Telephone: 920 928 2530-- [email protected]
last update: 03 October 2008

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