I wrote recently about my ancestors Johann Melchior Belzer (b 1831) and Maria Seiler (b 1827), both born in Hesse-Kassel. I found their birth places recorded in their marriage record. Johann Belzer is from Geismar, Kr. Fritzlar, Kur Hessen. Marie Seiler is from Wintraufhausen, Kr. Hersfeld, Kur Hessen. I cannot find any mention of Wintraufhausen. Has anyone heard of it, or knows of a list of abandoned villages in Kreis Hersfeld?

Thanks!

Do you have a scan from the marriage record?

Thank you for your help!

It is very difficult. The only possibility I see is Widdershausen, especially if Marie was protestant. You should ask the church archives in Kassel, the email is archiv@ekkw.de

Thank you for the suggestion. Marie was married in a Protestant church, so I will try the archives and also Widdershausen. It is possible the minister recorded the name incorrectly. The church had members from all German-speaking regions, so perhaps he was unfamiliar with Hesse-Kassel.

I just found in her children's baptismal records that Marie is from Oberufhausen (identified as both Kr. Hersfeld and Kr. Hunfeld in the records).

That's great and there is someone with the name Rauck here, who is looking for Seiler from Oberufhausen too! This person wrote in the Seiler board in 2001, that ancestor Johann Georg Seiler from Oberufhausen married in Geisa Oct. 21, 1710!

Thanks so much for all your help with my search! I contacted Mr. Rauck, and he kindly helped me find the correct records archives (Eiterfeld/Fulda).

I have been researching this branch of the family for many years with little success, and in the past few months I have found so much information via the internet. It has been a wonderful invention for genealogists!

There is also a Unterufhausen in Hessen. It is just a few kilometers away from Oberufhausen. It is very common in Germany to name towns like that Unter- and Ober-, or Klein- and Gross-. According to Google Earth Oberufhausen as a Catholic curch, no church in Unterufhausen and the closest protestant church is in Eiterfeld.

Thank you! I think that "Wintraufhausen" might actually have come from "Unterufhausen." Perhaps the minister misunderstood, or someone else got the name wrong.