[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Land questions for Volhynia

[Mauricio Norenberg]

I wonder if that good historical information you got is all by research or
was it something from your family memories?
I would like to have the same information about my family but all I know is
that my ancestor Johann Norenberg was born next to Petrikau, then moved to
Volhynia to then emigrate to Brazil in 1908 and I have no clue on why and
how they did it.

regards


On 30 September 2010 11:34, William Remus <remus at hawaii.edu> wrote:

> My people arrived in Faustindorf Volhynia in 1833. At that time their
> contractual arrangement was that they had to clear the land (and the nearby
> river bed) to make way for growing flax. The contract was with the local
> nobility.  They had free land use for up to 5 years to develop the land and
> thereafter an annual rent. The land was and still is very sandy and suitable
> for flax and not much else. (They were clothmakers) as were many in the 1833
> migration.
>
> By 1855, they found this unsatisfactory and purchased land in Doliwa later
> Romansdorf in the next parish, Kiev parish. This was an expansion of an
> existing village (Doliwa) and so did require land clearing in a forested
> region. This was good black soil land and was not adjacent to a river. They
> did diversified ag and not just flax. The eldest son retained the Romansdorf
> land but younger descendants of those that moved contracted the purchase of
> additional land in nearby areas. Such sister villages included Grunwald,
> Malin, and Ludwigsdorf.
>
> These purchases were individual purchases but the individuals were all
> related so all purchases were linked. It was like most of Faustindorf moved
> to Romansdorf. So they moved like a village. The villages above were street
> villages (dorfstrasse) with the homes close to each other on the road and
> the fields some distance from the village. The farming land was laid out in
> strips so it could be plowed with only a few turn arounds of the heavy
> Prussian plow.  The school/chapel was at the center of Romansdorf as was a
> common area for grazing animals.
>
> The houses were made of logs that were weatherproofed with mud or clay. The
> roofs were thatched so could catch fire and burn the house down. The house
> was half for people and half for the animals. The one room for people was a
> combination living room, kitchen, and bedroom.  It was desirable to have the
> stoves outside to avoid house fires. Such houses are still in use in
> Romansdorf.
>
> When they left in 1892, they were able to sell the land to other Germans.
> They used that money to buy tickets to North America and also to buy some
> land in North America.
>
> regards Bill
>
> family names from Volhynia include Hofffmann, Lehmann, Spitzer, Radke,
> Remus, Will, Minge, & Krassin
>
> ********************************************************************
> William Remus
> Emeritus Professor of Information Technology Management
> 2404 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822
> Telephone: 808-956-7608 office   808-737-5470 home
> Bill's homepage http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/
> Bill's genealogy http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/genes/
> ********************************************************************
>
>
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