[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Zelow again; some history

[albertmuth at aol.com]

Zelow is one of a few Evangelical-Reformed parishes in 19th century Poland.
If you draw (or imagine!) a triangle on a map linking Lask, Pabianice and Belchatow,
Zelow is located midway on the side connecting Lask and Belchatow.
In an area where Lutheran parishes did not start until about 1840,
Zelow was a convenient place for some German Lutherans to go to to register
births, marriages, and deaths.

Remember, "going to church" (for Sunday service or mass) does not have
anything to do with registering births, marriages and deaths in early 19th century
Poland.  Even late 19th century, some times. The law required it in Catholic churches;
mid-1820's the law changed to allow (not require!!!!) Lutherans and Jews to register
their own.

The language of Zelow parish was Czech until 1945.  For some simple background,
you could check Wikipedia.  The English version is barely passable, the German a bit
better.  Of course, the Polish version offers quite a bit more information.  In fact,
I want to draw your attention specifically to the web page in Polish on the Evangelical-Reformed
Church there.  http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parafia_Ewangelicko-Reformowana_w_Zelowie

I often use the google translator to get a quick understanding of content on a foreign language webpage
     for English interface http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en
     for German interface, use http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=de

Just copy the URL and paste it into the box for translating webpages.

Many of the original settlers came from Hussinetz (Schlesien); See some more
history at http://www.online-ofb.de/hussinetz/index.php?lang=en 
(German version at http://www.online-ofb.de/hussinetz/index.php?lang=de)
The country flags in the margin promise more than they deliver; the page appears to be 
available only in English and German.

In many, many cases, the ancestry of Czech settlers of Zelow can be traced back 
several more generations into Schlesien, and even to Czechia.

al







-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Stockhausen <michael.stockhausen.ff at web.de>
To: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
Sent: Sat, Nov 13, 2010 5:23 am
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Zelow


My microfilm Zelow ev.-ref. no. 753223 has arrived.
f anybody needs any information, please let me know.
ichael
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