44 – Spirits

In "37 – Prosperity" I blogged about my great-great-grandmother Elise Steiger coming to America on a first class booking in 1864. Tracing her lineage back, we quickly come to Erbenheim, Germany, where her father Johann Heinrich Steiger was born in 1801, and where this Steiger line can be traced back to the mid-1600s. Erbenheim was once a town in its own right but now it is just a part of Wiesbaden in the German state of Hesse. 

The Erbenheim marriage of Johann Heinrich's parents Johannes Steiger b. 1771 and Christiana Elisabetha Schrumpf b. 1777 is an interesting study of intermarriage in such small towns. When tracing their lineage back, I discovered that Johannes Steiger's parents were second cousins once removed on the Steiger line, both descending from my 8th great grandparent Johannes Steiger who died sometime before 1678. Christiana Elisabetha Schrumpf's parents Johann Andreas Schrumpf b. 1743 and Anna Catharina Göbel b. 1750  were also second cousins, sharing great-grandparents Johann Conrad Reinemer b. abt. 1656 and his wife Margaretha. Johann Heinrich's parents were themselves 4th cousins and 3rd cousins once removed on two other lines, descended from ancient Stein and Giebermann forbears in that town.

Visiting Erbenheim in 2015 with my wife Patti, I was introduced to a Klaus Steiger, who was able to point out where my Steigers had lived in the town. Later we determined that we are 8th cousins on the Steiger line, both descending from a 7th great-grandfather Georg Caspar Steiger b. abt. 1656 and son of that ancient Johannes Steiger who died sometime before 1678 (we are also 7th cousins on a Schrumpf line).

Klaus sent me excerpts from a book on Erbenheim's houses published in 1952, with an interesting account about our ancient Johannes Steiger who had lived on what was listed as House Number 5, on Ringstraße, Erbenheim. This involved how they had determined that Johannes had died by 1678, and the Steiger origins in Rambach (translated into English):

The family comes from Rambach. In the register of Rambacher subjects from 1630 a Johann Peter Steiger is mentioned, whose son is Johann Steiger of Erbenheim. This Johann Steiger is the progenitor. His signature as Oberschultheiß from 1663 is still available today. He is also mentioned as mayor in 1668 in the Erbenheim field book. 

The year of his death has not been determined, but he must have died before 1678. At a witch trial that year, a 75-year-old woman who was tortured as a witch accused the late mayor Steiger of Erbenheim, among others, of having been the witch king at a witches feast. After further torture, the old woman reported the most incredible things. A lady named Reinemer from Erbenheim seduced her and promised to make her rich. There were even more people from Erbenheim at the eating and drinking of the witch's feast. The poor woman, Christine Gumpf from Wiesbaden, was beheaded and burned on August 3, 1676. [Krag, pages 61-62]

Johannes Steiger was deceased and not able to defend himself from this charge, but then he also didn't take part in the sham trial; I also had two 8th great grandmothers who had married Reinemer's and were definitely around at this time – perhaps one of them was the one accused by the woman in the story above. This is a reminder that witch trials were not just held in America during this time, but were also happening in Europe. Given the intermarriage in Erbenheim, most of the people in that town with old surnames probably have a bit of witch blood in them.

Our 2015 trip included a visit to the local history museum (Heimatmuseum Erbenheim) where we found a photo of the old city hall. Perhaps this is where Mayor Steiger performed his duties. 

The old city hall in Erbenheim (photo in Heimatmuseum Erbenheim)

Much of the city was destroyed during the Allied bombing of Wiesbaden toward the end of World War II. The book by Krag notes that the Steiger home was badly damaged during the war. Klaus showed us a memorial in the church to those who died, including his great aunt and her young daughter who were killed in that bombing.  

Memorial to Gerda and Tilli Steiger

My Steigers were blacksmiths for several generations here in Erbenheim. Then my 3rd-great-grandfather managed to get into a school for veterinary medicine and used that degree to move up in the world, and out of Erbenheim to Limburg. I just wish our ancient Johannes Steiger had bequeathed us a book of spells. 

Local article on our 2015 visit to the Erbenheim Heimatmuseum

Sources

Krag, Emil Adolph. 1952. Erbenheim: Die Häuser Und Ihre Besitzer. Wiesbaden-Erbenheim: W. Hörner.