Marsha - I think I didn't follow Tilman's advice yesterday and thus this email didn't get posted in this thread properly. I hope I am now doing it right. Here 'tis:

Marsha - Thank you so much for the information. Yes, I think we are definitely related. I just talked with my father's sister, my Aunt Emma, who is 91 years old and still living in Wisconsin Rapids. She recalls my Grandpa's sister Carrie (Richter) often visiting the farm when she was young. Carrie lived in Minnesota. She also knew a Michael Brandl had a farm just South of Auburndale and he was my Grandpa's brother. She couldn't recall Theresia other than to say that there was a headstone in the Auburndale cemetery for a Michael and Theresia Brandl. She couldn't confirm these were her Grandparents but it sure would seem to fit. George was not a name she knew. She did say that she thought my Grandpa was the youngest.

Emma also said that his mother raised him exclusively because his dad Mike wasn't around. I think that's where I got the abandoned story, although I do recall my mother saying that Grandpa didn't know his birth date, and had virtually raised himself from the time he was young.

My father's name was Martin and he was born 9-27-1913. His siblings were Alyda, Emma (both older), Ruth and Rudolph. My mother's name was Henrietta Ter Maat born 9-11-1919 and they were married in 1942 I believe. My brother Jim was born 2-6-1943, married to Sue Spaans in August 1965, and I was born 11-29-1949 and married Donna Crotteau 12-30-1967.

Do you have birth dates, marriage dates, immigration information and death dates on any of these folks? Or any other information?

We did not know about Eisenstein Austria, although I had always guessed it was near Vienna and close tot he CZ border. Thanks again!!

.. Bill Brandl ..

Hi! I just discovered this list. Here is some info about "my" Brandls off the top of my head. My father is Earl Brandl (b. 1926, d. 1980). He came from Sheboygan WI, where most of our relatives still live (or nearby). His father (my grandfather) was Joseph Wolfgang Brandl married to Anna (?). They died young in a train wreck leaving 13 children --- my father the oldest. Evidently Joseph Wolfgang and Anna immigrated to the US --- seemingly from Bohemia originally, but by way of Germany, but the story changes. Joseph Wolgang was the oldest of 17 kids. Evidently also, the name "Joseph Wolfgang" was traditionally given to the oldest son of each generation --- my father's name being something of an odd exception. My dad and mom moved from Sheboygan to Pekin Illinois, where I grew up. I then lived in Chicago and elsewhere, now in Switzerland. I'm a fine artist (painter), so I'd like to think that I'm related to Petr Brandl the German-speaking late Baroque painter from Prague!

I have also discovered a bit about the name "Brandl" which may interst you. We may not all be THAT related, as it is a sort of "place" name originally. When German-speakers moved into a wooded region way back when, they often burned out a clearing for a small farm courtyard or home area. This was called the "Brand." There are still many of these areas in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland. (One just a skip from where I live in the mountains in Switzerland now.) The "L" on the end of "Brandl" is the diminutive --- in Hoch Deutsch that's "-chen" now. It is "L" in Austria and Bavaria and Bohemia, often "-LE" or "EL" elswhere and "-LI" in Switzerland (often adding an umlaut to the "a"). The man coming from this "Brand" clearing was often called "Brandl" or "Brandel" or "Brändli." Somewhat like "Underwood" in England for the man living next to the wooded hill. Too bad I don't live in that place in my village, because I would be "der Brandl im Brand." I like the potential translation of our name though --- since "Brand" means "a conflagration" or "big fire" and "L" is the diminutive, then "Brandl" means "Little big fire."
(My art is at: www.markstaffbrandl.com/ .)

Good luck with the list. i'll try to check back in now that I have discovered you!

Mark - Thanks for the interesting information on our name! My fathers family, Martin, is from Auburndale, WI and my grandfathers name was Anton. My mothers family are all from Sheboygan County, the dutch villages of Oostburg and Cedar Grove.

I will definitely chcek out your web paintings!

.. Bill ..

I think we are second cousins in a very large Brandl/Brandel family based on your information.

Joseph Wolfgang Brandl (father to Earl) was born in New Ulm, Minnesota 10 June 1904 to Joseph Brandl and Mary Schreiner, and was one of 17 children (or possibly 20 children depending on who is telling it). I have only 17 names. Joseph W. Sr and Mary moved back to Cato, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin from New Ulm.

Joseph Wolfgang (father to Earl) married Anna Springstube in 1926 in Clarks Mills and they did live in the Sheboygan area. One of your cousins from this direct line is working on this part of the family and has a great deal of information. So hopefully she has seen your post.

Joseph's father Joseph W. Sr. was born in Cato, Manitowoc County, WI in 1879 and Joseph W. Sr.'s father Wolfgang came from Eschlkam around 1867 (age 11 born 1856). Eschlkam is very much on the Bohemian/Bavarian border. Wolfgang emigrated via Bremen but I do not know what ship; he did not know the ship's name when he did the paperwork for naturalization in the 1920s. The paperwork is on file at the UWGB Cofrin Library. I also have a copy from the library.

Wolfgang's father Joseph Sr. immigrated here (mother was Theresa Kercher - do not know if she came; his stepmother Theresa Schuepel is the only one I find over here) and possibly an Aunt also came. Jospeh Sr. 's death certificate gives his father's name as Mike.

There is also an estate court case from 1890-1894 which I have a copy of but have yet to transcribe from nearly 100 pages of longhand script. Brandl is spelled two ways within the estate case; Brandl and Brandel. You will find it spelled differently across first cousins in our family.

We have not found a precise relationship to three other immigrant Brandl families but some of us suspect there is one because of repeating first names - Michael Brandl who went to Brown County Minnesota via Wisconsin, Anton Brandl who went to Northern Wisconsin via Manitowoc Rapids, Johann Brandl who settled in Sheboygan contemporaries of Joseph Sr (b. 1821-1826?) There are also a Wolfgang & Barbara Brandl who settled near Manitowoc but I cannot clear up their relationship to us if any.

Your post is interesting because you heard a similar oral history regarding the naming convention to what I was told by my grandparents as a child. I also appreciate the discussion of the last name spelling.

Mike/?=>Joseph Sr/Theresa b1821-26?=>Wolfgang/Katherine b.1856=>Joseph W./Maria b.1879=>my grandfather Victor R. (b.1914); Joseph W.-Anna (b.1904); et. al.=> Earl (b.1926)

I hope that you have found www.2manitowoc.com as you will find helpful resources there. I have also visited the Manitowoc Public Library and they have a good microfilm collection of old area newspapers, some in German and an excellent local history collection.

Hello Mark,

it's been a long time since I last heard of you. Welcome to our message board!

Your 'Brand' - 'Brandl' surname explanation is quite correct as far as I know. In Europe settling by clearing land through fire was a common thing in the early days. Around where I live (near Vienna) I guess it started even before 1000 and continued through the middle ages.

Like you say, from that explanation we have reason to think that there may have been many people who later went by the name of Brandl, without being related.

But let me add a second explanation, one I've probably posted earlier somewhere around here:

Brandl in Old High German is said to have been a small sword, while brand would simply have meant 'sword'. This form is still present in different old German names like e.g. Hildebrand(t). (source still to be checked)

Finally there may be a lingual relation between Brand/Prant (= sword) and Brand/Prant (= fire/place of a fire) since Prant has also the related meaning of 'burning pain' (caused by a sword?). Here too I'll hopefully find the source again ;-)

http://www.ahnenforschung-benz.de/namen.htm has the following (in German):
Brand, Brandt und Brant is derived from the (patronymic) name 'Hildbrand'. Brandl and Brantl would be the Southern German versions. He also mentions early occurences of Brandl derived from a homename 0r dwelling (named after a clearing by fire) as far back as in the 14th and 15th century.

Actually in what was later to become Germany surnames did only come in use in the 1200s I believe.

Tilman

Hi LB!
Thanks for the info --- I knew almost none of it, my "closer" cousin researching this hasn't contacted me yet --- but since my father Earl B. Brandl was the eldest of 13, his father Joseph Wolfgang Brandl the eldest of 17 and many of my uncles and aunts had around 6 kids, I have more than 100 first cousins alone. Only one sister, though, Marcia Brandl Willhite. Check out my website sometime (I'm a fine artist) www.markstaffbrandl.com/ I'd love to hear more about other Brandls.

Thanks for the extensive info! A new piece of Info:
<br><br>
I just discovered that the village that "originated" our family, Eschlkam in 1994 made some "sister-village" parnerships with two Czech villages right nearby --- Kdyne und Vseruby-
<br><br>
Všeruby was called Wscherau bei Pilsen in German. I recall my maternal Grandmother once telling me that my paternal family came, ahe thought, from ther (which I had always mis-heard as "Wascherau" --- which may be a Hochdeutsch form of the name anyway, as this is similar to Swissgerman, which I understand, and "Au" means something like "meadow," but many villages have that in their name in the "Suddeutschraum" (Southern Germanophone Area --- Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland).
<br><br>
So The family probably originated as German-speakers in Wscherau, and then with the troubles hopped over the border into Eschlkam.

Hello,

I believe that the German name for the Vseruby near Eschlkam was Neumark. There is a 2nd town named Vseruby near Pilsen. Both towns appear on current maps. Wscherau bei Pilsen was the German name for the 2nd town. Is it possible that the Vseruby at the border with Eschlkam was also called Wscherau? I have jpg maps of both towns if interested. Thanks for info. Here is a link to a 1934 letter regarding Vseruby near border mentioning Neumark as German name.
http://www.jewishgen.org/austriaczech/towns/vseruby.html

Regards,
Kevin

Your Father Earl was my father Dan's oldest Brother. My father was 7, I believe, when their parents, your grand parents and my great grand parents, were killed in a car accident.

I have recently found out about alot of the relatives on my father's side that was missing.