Research by Eduard Strebe..Amsterdam Holland
The following document was written by Ed and Gon Strebe from Amsterdam, Holland on the occasion of the Strebe family reunion held July 27th & 28th 1992 in Wakula Springs, Florida
The origin of the family:
As far as we know today, the Strebes settled in the course of time south of Baltic, in the region that now is a part of Poland.How they arrived there is not documented, so we can only guess. In the early years of the of the 12th century, Poland was a powerful country. Under the leadership of Kinf Boleslaw III (who's nickname was "Wry-face") Poland had developed into a prosperous nation, however the death of KIng Boleslaw was the beginning of disintegration, as his will stipulated that the kingdom has to be divided among his sons. This resulted in continuous loss of territory, owing to the invasion of neighboring, hostile tribes. In order to protect himself against these attacks, the king of one of the northern federal states, Mazowiecki made an alliance in the year 1226 with the German order of the Crusaders, who just returned from the Holy Land, allowing them to settle around the town of Chelmno. A great number of German people followed and settled in that region too. It is most likely that there were also Strebes among them. That they lived there is documented.
1) In 1451 Henrich Strebe was a theology student in Rostock.
2) There is a note saying "Johann Strevius, priest in the 16th century". (Baltic studies Vol. XI, page 120).
3) From a list of exterial apprentices in the trade of collarmaker we read: 1660 Merten Strebe "from Elbong" with Master Tobias Hoppe. Father Daniel Strebe (Elburg is now Elblag in Poland, abt 40 miles east of Gdansk (Danzig).
Why the Strebes left the region is also unknown and again we can only guess as the reason. The people of Poland were always strictly roman catholic, at during the 16th century all sorts of foreign religious influences came in from over the border; the Reformation, the Jews and others. The authorities were very tolerant as appears from the declaration of the Sejm-(=parliament)- deputies of 1573 that promised to keep peace and not to shed blood for religious sake. However, among the ordinary Polish people, who had always lived according to catholic traditions, the tolerant attitude of the authorities had no influence at all. The people of German origin, most of them Lutherians, speaking a foreign language, and who were regarded as heritics by the Polish, must have felt that they were living in a hostile enviroment. his fact and the threat of epidemics and invasions of foreign armies (the Swedes and R ussians) must have made some of them leave the region and settle down in the part of Germany that after the year 1701 was called the Kingdom of Prussia. So did, most probably, also the Strebes. It is unknown whether they were brothers or cousins, or both, whether they were travelling together or separately. The fact is that they settled down in different villages between Magdeburg and Wernigerode. This area was a wasteleand until the year 1200, but owing 0to improvement of tools and knowledge of agriculture, the territory was gradually cultivated from several separate centers. (The German name of these centers is Rodung = rode like in Weringerode). Three of the original concentrations of Strebes are known: Wasserleben (the cradle of the Strebes in Holland and Thuringen), Zilly and Ausleben ( the Strebes in the USA). "Leben" is related to the German word "Lehde" (=uncultivated land). The distance between Wasserleben and Zilly is only 3 miles and between Wasserleben and Ausleben abt. 15 miles.
The name Strebe.
The German word "Strebe" means in Dutch "Stut" in English "prop, stay support". The "Deutsche Namenlexikon" explains the name Strebe/Strubel: Streber, a diligent industrious, ambitious man. The book "Deutsche Sippennamen" gives this interpretation: Strebe (Strebel, Streber, Strebe, Strebel): rebellious, obstinate, recalcitrant, and makes a connection with Strobel, bristly, stubby, shaggy: "Strobelhar" means shockhead. It mentions as origin of the name 1291 in Ohmenheim (Wurtemberg) a farmer called Rudolfus dictus (names) Strobel. In the course of the 17th century, the Strebes named themselves Streve or Stuve. Everything points to the fact that the Strebes in Zilly took the initiative to change their name and that the Strebes in Wasserleben followed their example, as the villages are only a few miles apart. It was Curt Strebe born in 1640 in Zilly, who started to write his as Streve. On September 30th 1730, the parents of Joh. Heinrich registered him as Strebe, as we do now.
V. Wasseleben
Our knowledge of the Strebes of Wasserleben is based on the church records in this place. In the year 1702 a fire in the rectory destroyed the old books. The present books originate from this year and are very accurately registered until about 1870. The dates before 1702 are estimated dates. The years 1808-1814 (the Napoleontic period) are missing. It is the merit of Mr. Reiche, who catalogued these books and brought the dates together in the "Family book Wasserleben". He registered the families in alphabetical order and numbered them. The family Strebe were given the number 287. The following generations were indicated by the letters a, b, and so on. The children of each generation were indicated 1,2,3...
We dispose of 3 completely transcribed families in this book: the family Kohler, Strebe, and Veckenstedt. In total 325 families are registered in the family book. Some families counted more than one household. If we fix the average household at 5 persons (the infant mortality was high), Wasserleben counted 2,000 inhabitants in the 18th century. We have visited the village twice. On August 6th 1989 and on June 8th 1990. The first time the church was being carefully restored, the second timw we were there, we could admire the result obtained with limited means.
The first Strebe we find in the family book is:
Master Hans Strebe (b) approx. September 1655 (d) Wlb 18.11.1707 He was a miller and farmer at Wasserleben. He married twice, the dates of the first marriage are unknown, but there were 2 children.
a1. Anna Lucia (b.) approx. April 1688 (d) Wlb 24.2.1768
oo Wlb 19.11.1709 Christoph Schmidt (Wa 277 F1 a2 1682-1753)
a2 Philip
The dates of the second marriage are also poor. We only know that the old miller's wife died the 23rd of March 1724.She was born appr. August 1661. Hans Strebe was depressed during his last year and on the afternoon of 18th November 1707 he jumped, after several efforts, in the machinery of the mill. His family prayed a lot for him, but in vain: in the evening of that same day he died.
V. Wernigerode
The tourist who is visiting Wernigerode today, finds a lovely medieval town with narrow streets and beautiful houses in the timber framing style. The town is literally dominated by the castle, that lies halfway the slope of the Harz mountains. During the time my ancestors lived there, the castle and it's owners, the counts of Stolberg Wernigerode, dominated the town and it's people also in a figurative way. The history of both the castle and the counts is eventful. It starts with medieval robber knights who built a stronghold on a strategic place in the mountains, but in the course of the centuries the castle became more imposing and so did the counts. Round the year 1800 the counts were devoted protestants, pietists and extremely wealthy. The castle church in which Christian and Elisabeth were married in 1791, was the old baroc church. In the 19th century the whole castle was rebuilt into a magnificient citadel, crowned with an enormous neo-gotic cathedral. Because of mismanagement and waste of money, the family went bankrupt in 1929 and since the castle is used as a museum. It is not certain how strong the influence of the count of the count and countess has been on Elisabeth and Christian Strebe. Fact is that the couple had narrow connections with the household of the count. It is also a fact that the countess protected the son of Christian and Elisabeth, the young Johann Friedrich Conrad, when he became an orphan and that she helped him to emigrate to Amsterdam. The chapter Wernigerode of the Strebe-story begins with the young farmer's son Elias Christian. The reason why he left Wasserleben was in no case a quarrel with his family. Perhaps he hated the farmwork.
287 a2 b4 c2 Elias (Michael) Christian Strebe
(b) Wlb 14.2.1757 (d) Noschenrode (now part of Wernigerode) 18.6.1803
oo 31.7.1791 in the castle church Elisabeth Dieckmann (b) appr. 1763 (d) 19.2.1806
Elias Christian was the coachman of Commissions Rath Lamberg. Lamberg came from a very distiguished family, he was member of the government of the countship. Elisabeth was the foster daughter of the "herrschaftliche Rohrenmeister Lorenz Dieckmann", that means that Lorenz was responsible for the waterworks of the castle. These works were of vital interest, without it the castle was defenceless in time of war. The works were very long and mad of wooden pipes (perforated fir-timber) and0 was called "Wassereise" (Waterjourney). After his marriage, the social status of Elias Christian increased rapidly. He bought the house nr 30 in the Langen Strasse (noe Ernst Thalmannstrasse. The house still exists) and he became a Rohrenbohrer (pipedriller) as well.
The children:
d1 Johanne Henriette Christiane (b) 19.2.1792
d2 Henriette Juliane (b) 1794 (d) 1795
d3 Johanne Dorothea Friederique (b) 1796
d4 Johann Friedrich Conrad (b) 26.7.1800
After the death of her husband in 1803 Elisabeth gave birth to
d5, Joh. Sophie Caroline (born out of wedlock). Elisabeth died 19.2.1806 in the house of Menger, in the Langen Strasse 2. She was at that time very poor and the charity office paid for her funeral. The house of Menger still exists and the family Menger still live in the house. Johann Friedrich Conrad was confirmated in the Evangelic-Lutheran religion in the castle church of Wernigerode in 19.5.1816. Appr. 1820 he emigrated with the help of the countess to Holland.
VI. Amsterdam
The history of the Strebes in Amsterdam is easy to trace.The archives of the Civil Registration and the Register of Poplation relating to the years 1802-1912 are absolutely free to consult. In the 19th century, and still today, the town had the same plan as in medieval time. The first Strebes lived in the narrow alleys and small streets and these places can still be visited today. The removal from Germany to Holland could not be that difficult at that time, because Amsterdam was and is very tolerant and cosmopolitan and there is a liguistic affinity between German and Dutch.
287 Johann Frierdrich Conrad * 26.7.1800 = 29.8.1885 Amsterdam Muidergracht 13, now Hortus plantsoen oo 18.6.1834 Asd Jacoba Meyer * 19.10.1804 Asd = 8.10.1886 Asd
Johann F.Cc was an upholsterer and bed maker. He called himself Karel. He is mentioned several times in "Het Algemeen Andreboek der Stad Amsterdam", a kind of "Who is Who" in the 19th Century Amsterdam. He lived "Leliegracht bij de Keizersgracht 24".
VII. Zilly
The distance between Wasserleben and Zilly is aproxmitaley 3 miles. Today the village looks very unattractive and decayed. The only object of interest could be the ruins of the Watercitadel build in the year 944. Our knowledge of the Zilly Strebes is rather poor. We only dispose of the family history of one farm estate (Stammholf) Zilly no 10/11.
Heinrich Strebe (b) 1585
Jacob Strewe (b) 1610 (d) July 25, 1675. Two housewifes with 11 children.
Hermann Strewe (b) Jan 23,1666 (d) 1749. Three housewifes and 6 children.
In 1703 Hermann married in second marriage Marie Feuerstakes from Langeln, daughter of Hoyer Feurstake, 2children.
Johann Heinrich Strebe (b) Sept 30, 1738 (d) Nov 7, 1798. Four children with two houswifes.
Christian Karl Heinrich Strebe (b) Dec 11, 1769 (d) Aug 14, 1835. Eldest son, studied theology and died as superintentant in Barleban. Two daughters. The youngest son was Carl Heinrich. (b) 1803.
Carl Heinrich Strebe (b) Nov 5, 1803 (d) Oct 7, 1876. Four children. The eldest son studied law and became a district judge. Died childless. The second son became a farmer in the new part of Zilly and the youngest son, Wilhelm Heinrich took over the farmstae Zilly. No. 10/11.
Wilhelm Heinrich Strebe Oct 25, 1841 (d) Dec 12, 1911.
Carl Wilhelm Louis Strebe (b) Feb 10,1870 (d) Mar 23, 1954. He was the last Strebe on the old farm estate. He had two daughters, one of them was Gertrude Strebe. Her daughter is Mrs Almut Borgwart-Essen, to whom we owe these details. Because of the "Bodemreform" ( a communist law of the DDR Government) Carl Wilhelm Louis was expropriated and expelled.
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