Friday, January 27, 2012

You're what? From where?

I got to thinking about nationality and ethnicity, and how they don't always mean the same thing. They sometimes do - my Irish ancestors are from Ireland, my Norwegian ancestors are from Norway, my English ancestors are (as far as I know) from England. But my German ancestors, they're from all over:

My Wagner line seems to come from Mecklenberg, now in northern Germany.

My Sitzman/Zitzmann line comes from Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic.

My Joseph line comes from Ulanowka, near Zhitomir in Ukraine, and from Kepa Kikolska, Poland

My Beilstein line comes from the Grand Duchy of Hesse (now the state of Hesse in central Germany).

My Waechter line comes from Alsace-Lorraine (now part of France).

My Kruger ancestors gave their country of origin as Prussia and Mecklenberg. Not sure about the distinction (if there is any) between the two, or where exactly they were from.

Anyways, I think you get the point. Maybe other ethnic groups are just as complex, I don't know. But it seems to me that you can't just say your ancestry is "German" when there are so many different places those Germans seem to come from!

And in case you were wondering, yes I am more German than anything. As far as I know so far, at least. :)

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