Notizen zu dieser Person
In Dutch, the name means hook shaped peninsula. In Platt Deutsch, the language of the area of Alpen, the name means shopkeeper, or grocer. The following information was found in the church register of the Evangelical Church of Alpen, Germany. The pastor of the church, H. Berger, allowed me to look at the original record book from the 18th century, and also at photocopies of later record books. Since the original publication of The Haack Family in May 1989 I have been able to learn more details about the Haack family in Alpen, Germany. My original inspection of the church records in 1983 was brief, and limited by my command of the German language. Since that time, the Mormon Church (LDS) have been to Alpen and filmed both the Civil and Church records. The most informative records were the records of the Evangelical Church. A closer inspection allowed me to fill in some of the blanks. One earlier generation was discovered, the parents of Abraham Haack. The first mention of the name Haack (also spelled Hack, in several places in the church record book) was that of the Heinrich Haack and his wife Amelia Schultetus. their son, Abraham Haack was born 20 April 1734 in Alpen. In an effort to locate earlier generations, records from throughout Europe were inspected to search for the name Haack. Several families were found in the early 18th century, some dating as early as 1560. The name Haack was found mostly in the Netherlands, where they likely originated. The towns with recorded births were Utrecht, Zutphen (Gelderland) and Amsterdam (Nord Holland). Families were also found in Belgium at Malmady (Liege). The French pronunciation and spelling shows several families with the name "Harck" or Harcq." I do not believe that any of these families are closely related. The next step in locating the family would likely be through land records. Unfortunately there has not always been a public office for keeping track of land ownership. The present day authority would be the Grundbuchamt. Changes in land ownership was in those early days a matter of private contracts. Loss of records often made one victim to loose his land. Further the production of forged contracts was not unknown to that time. The only known records of this kind were the Burgerbucher, or citizen books. These were registers listing the persons (or citizens) with full personal rights, such as buying land, running a business, or holding a public function. The other persons were the residents (Einwohner). To become a citizen used to mean paying a fee. These payments were listed in the city treasury files (Kammereiabrechnungen). There are few if any tax lists (Steuerlisten) available. Even fewer were the compilations of the Court records (Gerichtsprotokolle). A check at a State Archive in Hamburg found a reference to an eleven volume reference work listing the resources available at the Archives in Dusseldorf, the likely repository location of any records about our ancestors in the area of Alpen. A check at the Universitatsbibliothek Hamburg (Hamburg University Library) was rather certain in confirming that none of the records have ever been published in book form, or microfilmed. The Lower Rhine Provinces are traditionally Roman Catholic, and from a statistical point of view, it is likely that our ancestors were Catholic. Although records after 1700 are found in the Evangelical Church, the Diozesanarchiv, or the Archbishop's Archives in Cologne might show some evidence of the family. Latinization of names was en vogue all over Europe in the 16th, 17th and even still, into the 18th century, not only in Catholic countries. As Church records were often written in Latin, clerks and priests often Latinized personal names for style reasons, even when such persons would not have adopted such a name on their own! This name changing was found even more among people with higher education, those who could read and write. The name Schultetus is a good example. While learning about the Latinization, I found several references to the name Schultetus in the town of Cleve (Kleve). The Lower Rhine Province in medieval and early modern times was divided into dutchies, one of them being Kleve. The principality was a fief owned by the Archbishop of Cologne. The latest entry was a Friederich Schultetus married at the Evangelical Church in 1718. No relationship has been found to Amelia Schultetus, the wife of Heinrich Haack. Another possible lead to search the ancestral origins might be in the Dutch name Nyenhausen (Enneken Nyenhausen). The meaning "new houses" would be translated into German "Neuenhausen." Strangely, there is a town called Neuenhausen, in the southern part of Grevenbroich, about 55 kilometers from Alpen. No records have been found for this town yet. Still more records can be found in Germany, that are unable to be linked to our ancestry. There are many spellings of the German name Haack, spelled: Haacke, Haacker, Haker or even Hoke. The name is actually derived from a word of the German formerly spoken in north and northwest Germany, the so called Niederdeutsch or Plattdeutsch. Unfortunately, the language is dying out, and few can read or speak the language. The name Haack is from the word HOKER, meaning grocer, or shopkeeper. There are many records that I have not even mentioned that I have come across references to in the Archive listings. Most likely the only way we are going to learn more, I say discouragingly, is to seek professional assistance with the older records. Hopefully there are enough clues herein mentioned that will allow our future generations the information needed to find our ancestors listed in these sources. Alpen is located in the Ruhr River region, about 60 miles from Duisburg, Germany. In 1074 the name Alpen is first mentioned, known as Alphem or Alphim. The town of Alpen grew around the castle of the Lords of Alpen and received city rights before 1330. In 1354 after municipal rights were granted, they began coining money. Until 1422 it was controlled by the Voegte of Cologne. Gumprecht II then transferred the rule its nephew Gumprecht of Neuenahr. Until 1602 it remained in the possesion of the Counts von Neuenahr, thereafter the Counts von Bentheim, through the French occupation 1794-1815. It fell by inheritance (Princess Amalia, Countess to Neuenahr and Limburg) to the count Arnold von Bentheim, who was the husband of the Magdalena of Neuenahr, The oldest seal of the town showed the a bishop (either the bishop of Köln or the local saint St. Ulrich) on a throne, with the present arms at his feet. The arms were also shown on some smaller seals of the city. On the hill, at the east entrance of the town, are small wall remainders of the castle, the castle ditch and barrier are still clearly recognizable in the meadows. Hello, here a few greetings from Germany to all HAACK's in America, which are related to me. Greeting Patrick Saturday, February 7, 1998 at 20:30:57 Looking for connections to the Schleswig-Holstein Haacks. Am going to that part of Germany in the fall. Will visit Rohmhusen, Sankt Michaelis Donn, Eddelak and Hamburg among others. Anything that I canfollow up on for some Haack? Bob
Robert
Haack
