I am trying to figure out the name of a town where an ancestor came from. I can definately tell it has "enhofen" in it, but I cannot be sure on the first two or three letters. Possibilities - Ittenhofen, Shenhofen, Sttenhofen, Rittenhofen, or even Nittenhofen. I have attached the marriage document. It is the third paragraph under October, and the first word, third line. They didn't necessarily use capital letting for all proper nouns (notice Austria is lowercase).

Hello,

the only place that would fit the scripture IMHO is uttenhofen. This unfortunately is not in Upper Austria, but in Salzburg (part of Saalfelden). There's only a slight chance that this in past history actually was in Upper Austria, but it's hard to believe .... would take more time to research this in detail.

Where's the churchbook excerpt from? Maybe from a quite distant place where there was limited knowledge on where this place belonged to?

Just my 2 cents
Tilman

there also exist an Uttenhofen in bavarian district Deggendorf, Germany northwest of Passau which is a border-town at bavarian-upperaustrian border. Uttenhofen belonges to Stephansposching.
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/bayern/niederbayern/deggend...
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttenhofen_(Stephansposching)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephansposching
as

Oberösterreich- Superior Austria at Habsburg-times probably means not todays Upper-Austria on your document! i also think so like Tilman Brandl.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ober%C3%B6sterreich_(Habsburg)

in history about Upper-Austria (todays state) is written:
...Wahrscheinlichkeit das Jahr 1260 als Geburtsjahr des Landes ob der Enns. Im Jahre 1264 wurde der Name supra anasum („Ob der Enns“) urkundlich das erste Mal erwähnt .....Zeitgleich galt die Bezeichnung Austria superior („Oberösterreich“), damals noch für Tirol, Vorarlberg und Vorderösterreich.....
so the interesting part tells, that 1260 probably is the birth-year of the country and today austrian state - first time 1264 the name "supra anasum" (ob der Enns-above the Enns)was stated for it at documents. the name "superior Austria" (Oberösterreich)was at time 1406 bis 1665 for Tirol, Vorarlberg and Vorderösterreich(which is not the Upper-Austria-region!)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ober%C3%B6sterreich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrol_(state)

Bei allen habsburgischen Herrschaftsteilungen im Spätmittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit kamen die Vorlande an diejenige Linie, die Tirol beherrschte, gehörte damit zu Austria Superior – Oberösterreich, im damaligen Sprachgebrauch – und wurde also immer von Innsbruck aus regiert. 1490 wurde eine Zentralbehörde für Tirol und die Vorlande geschaffen.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorder%C3%B6sterreich

now 2 possible Uttenhofen, but both never were in one of the "superior Austria"-parts.:o(

this places stated on the document think are not in the Upper-Austria you mean, but some of them possible in former Vorder-Österreich-territories like Baden-Württemberg.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eichelberg
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefenbach

or do you know which Eichelberg and Tiefenbach on document are meant?

otherwise there is a Tiefenbach near Passau, Bavaria not far away of the Uttenhofen (Stephansposching).
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefenbach_(bei_Passau)

all is very confusing..... :o(

Hi, Tilman

You are right, I see it now, the first letter is a "u" so it definately says "uttenhofen".


The church where the record came from is in the town of Tiefenbach (the one near Eichelberg) in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, which at the time was the Grand Duchy Baden.

Perhaps the town has changed names or merged with a larger town. Or - I have found in one document that another ancestor was from the town of Grunbach, which at the time was under the Archdiocese of Austria, but the location was within the Wurrtemberg borders. There were a few "austrian-owned" areas within Wurttemberg that they apparently ended up reliquishing. I know there are a couple Grunbachs still in Austria, but I have found the correct town within Wurttemberg. So, it is possible that Uttenhofen is also in Germany, but at the time was part of Austria. However, I am not able to find a Uttenhofen in Germany yet. I guess it goes back to the whole Holy Roman Empire saga and border-changing.

Hi, Mohnbauerin

Thanks for the added information. I think it is possibloe that the Uttenhofen is now part of Germany, so the one you found near Stephansposching, Germany could possibly be the right town.

There are several Tiefenbachs and Eichelbergs in Germany, but the ones I referred to are neighbors to each other in the Ostringen district in Baden-Wurttemberg, formerly just Baden at the time.

I do know that Wurttemberg and other areas of Germany did have pockets of Austrian-ruled regions/towns within their borders, same with towns along the France-Germany border, so I am rethinking Superior Austria as not meaning Upper Austria, it could possibly be calling Austria Superior out of respect because of it's authority during the Holy Roman Empire. Then again, I could very well be wrong.

Thanks again for your help. I will continue with all this information in my research.

Hello,

while I would think that Austria Superior indeed meant/means Upper Austria of that time, I guess there are two options that can't be ruled out totally without further research:

* the idea of an Austrian enclave in Germany (although I rather doubt it), or even a German exclave
* the possibilty that this was a different place altogether, not the one in Austria.

http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/loctown.asp shows several German Uttenhofen places ...

Tilman

When googling Tiefenbach, Eichelberg and Uttenhofen, one gets quite a few hits. In other words, there is a place called Uttenhofen in the general area of Tiefenbach.

Perhaps superior austria was the Latin form for Vorderösterreich. The Habsburgs lost their possessions on the right side of the Rhine to Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria only in 1805. A good local historian would be able to clarify this matter.

If you change the u(writer didnt know it), it could be Altenhofen (today "Altenhof am Hausruck" in upper austria). For 16xx churchbooks you then should look for Gaspoltshofen.

bey (=near) Linz ??? (with a lot of phantasy, maybe you can read it better on the sheet)