Ley from Basel /CH and carpentry /DE
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Published in September 2021 by:
Rolf T. Hallauer, Chairman of the GHGRB
Family research of the Ley von Basel
The civil records of the city of Basel in Switzerland show that the immigrant Ferdinand Ley came from Zimmerholz in the Grand Duchy of Baden. His wife Anna Maria Rupp came from Baldern. In the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe the emigration is noted with five persons. The year 1907 is listed. However, this is the year of naturalization in Basel-Stadt and the entry into Basel occurred many years earlier. This can be seen in the Basel address books. Ferdinand Ley is first mentioned as a brewer's assistant in 1892. He had his lodgings at Dornacherstrasse 300.
He came from a farming family. His ancestors were citizens and farmers in Zimmerholz in Germany. The parents of Ferdinand Ley were Blasius Ley and Johanna Münzer. The Johanna came from Mauenheim. In one entry, Bargen is listed as the hometown. The towns of Bargen, Mauenheim and Zimmerholz are neighboring German communities.
His home community Zimmerholz.
Zimmerholz is a district of Engen in the district of Constance in Baden-Württemberg. Zimmerholz is located northwest of the core town of Engen on the district road 6130. To the north and east run the state road 191 and the federal highway 81. The incorporation into Engen takes place on January 1, 1975. Engen is located in the Hegau. It consists of the nine districts of Engen, Anselfingen, Zimmerholz, Bargen, Welschingen, Biesendorf, Stetten, Bittelbrunn and Neuhausen with the town of Engen and 38 other villages, hamlets, farms and houses. The districts are spatially identical to the formerly independent communities of the same name, with the exception of the construction areas Hugen I - III and Baumgarten, whose areas were formerly part of the Anselfingen district and now belong to the Engen district. The official naming of the city districts is done by prefixing the name of the city and following it with a hyphen the name of the respective district. The city area is divided into the three residential districts in the sense of the badenBasel Zimmerholz Württemberg municipal code residential district Engen, residential district Anselfingen, Neuhausen and Welschingen and residential district Stetten, Zimmerholz, Bargen, Bittelbrunn and Biesendorf. In the district of Biesendorf, a locality within the meaning of the Baden-Württemberg Municipal Code has been established with its own local council and local chairman as its chairman.
District of Stetten and Zimmerholz from the year 1813
In the district Anselfingen lie the dissolved village Hausen am Ballenberg and the castle ruin Hohenhewen. In the district Bargen lies the deserted village Spitzach. In the district of Biesendorf lie the abandoned villages and castles Burgstall, Griengen and Maggental. In the district Bittelbrunn lie the deserted villages Wasserburg and Weildorf. In the district of Engen lie the village of Altdorf, first mentioned in 1286 and merged into Engen in 1848, and the deserted villages of Ernsthofen, Gottschalkshof, Krattenhofen, and Pfaffwiesen, which, however, has not been proven with certainty to be a settlement. The deserted villages Hof zu Bybrugge and Glenderhof are located in the district of Neuhausen. North of Stetten are the ruins of Neuhewen Castle. In the district Welschingen there are the deserted villages Burgstall, Crasingen and Im Thurn. In the district of Zimmerholz, to the east of the village, lies the departed village of Haginshof, which is indicated by a field name. Bargen was first mentioned in a document in 1342. As part of the dominion of Hewen, the village was incorporated into the Baden office of Engen in 1806. After its dissolution in 1936, it temporarily became part of the district of Donaueschingen and in 1939 it was again incorporated into the district of Constance. Bargen was incorporated into Engen on July 1, 1971 as described above.
History of Zimmerholz (1166 Cimbrezolz)
Extension settlement of the High Middle Ages. Finds from the Merovingian period questionable. Early property of the provostry Öhningen from the donation of Count Kuno "von Öhningen". Lords of Zimmerholz, 1251- 1377, proprietors of the Lords of Hewen and Reichenau ministerials. Castle in the village mentioned only in 1517, demolished in 1826. Zimmerholz belonged to the lordship of Hewen at least since 1351 and was last subordinated to the Obervogteiamt Engen. After its annexation to Baden in 1806, it became an office/district office of Engen, in 1936 a district office of Donaueschingen, and in 1939 a district of Constance.
Church and school
Chapel 1496, patrons St. Ulrich 1486 and Georg, branch of Engen. Single-nave, flat-roofed church of 1660 with indented chancel with three-sided end and west tower. Protestants parishioners of Engen.
Anna Maria Rupp came from Baldern. The village is situated at the foot of a mountain cone on which Baldern Castle is located. The castle was first mentioned in the 12th century. The village probably originated from the castle yard and is documented as a hamlet in 1450. In 1215 the dominion came to Ellwangen, which enfeoffed the Counts of Oettingen with it in 1250. Since then, the castle has been owned by the family and has been open to visitors since 1896. The special attraction of the castle is the medieval weapons collection. The present baroque residence was built from 1718 to 1737 on the medieval foundations according to plans by Gabriel di Gabrieli. Jews were documented in Baldern as early as 1344. In 1658 the Jews were expelled and had to give up the synagogue and cemetery. They found shelter in Lauchheim. The Jews then placed the gravestones again in the Jewish cemetery of Aufhausen. Baldern came to Bavaria in 1806 and to Württemberg in 1810. In 1973 the community was incorporated into Bopfingen.
As mentioned, the ancestors of Ferdinand Ley came from Zimmerholz. A so-called digital copy is available on the Internet. It is a register (church book) from the period 1810 to 1869 to the community Zimmerholz. (Signature: Zimmerholz, Engen KN; Catholic parish: Standesbuch 1810-1869).
The Protestant church records of Baden-Württemberg are located in the respective parishes. Most duplicate church records from 1808-1875 and the microfilms are in the Landeskirchliches Archiv in Stuttgart. For the administrative district of Karlsruhe, the duplicates from 1810-1870 are in the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe.
The civil records of Zimmerholz are copies of civil records of Engen, which also contain baptisms, marriages and deaths and concern citizens of Zimmerholz. The entries before 1810 and after 1869 cannot be viewed online.
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Extract from the civil registry in Basel:
