Krieg Family History: Villages in Germany

Photos of Krieg Villages in Germany

Helen Krieg Came has found records indicating that two brothers Krieg - Wilhelm and Friedrich - emigrated to the United States in 1833. We assume their mission was to scout for good places to bring family members, and earn enough money to pay for their trans-Atlantic passage. The next record we have is the 1846 arrival of Wilhelm and his wife Maria in Baltimore, Maryland, and about ten years later the establihment of the Krieg carriage-making shop in Buckeystown, Maryland. (Photos of Buckeystown are linked here.)

Wilhelm Krieg listed Albisheim as his home; Friedrich listed Kirchheim. These two villages are not far from the city of Worms in the Baden-Würtemburg state of Germany. Albisheim is about 13 miles | 22 km. west of Worms, and Kirchheim is roughly 10 miles | 15 km. south of Albisheim. There are several towns named Kirchheim (Church-home) in Germany; this one is distinguished as Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse (on the Wine Road). The reason for this name - and the main product of the area - is immediately obvious if you visit: the hills are clothed with vinyards.

In October, 2021, while in Germany, I had the opporunity to visit these villages and photograph them. As I planned the expedition, I noticed that there is a village named Kriegheim (now part of Monsheim) about 6 miles | 10 km. east of Albisheim. Clearly, Kriegsheim had to be included in the expedition.

In case you're not familiar with German, it's helpful to know that heim is simply the word for "home". So the three village names translate roughly to "Albi's Home", "Church Home", and "Krieg's Home". It seems to have been a charming custom in that region to call towns "home" - there are several nearby villages with similar names. Interestinly, there is another town named Kriegsheim just across the border in France, about 80 miles | 130 km. south the one in Germany, and about 38 miles | 13 km. west of Bad Rotenfells, home of Franzjörg Krieg and the Krieg wagon-making shop there. There may not be many families named Krieg, but we seem to be well-rooted in that part of the world.

I hope you find these ancestral villages as lovely as I did!