On our way back to Frankfurt, we stopped in Biberach, about 5 miles north of Leingarten. My 2nd Great-grandma, Maria Magdalena Justine Schelle, b. 15 Dec 1833 was born here. She married Leonhard Heinrich Laemmlen b. 1836 in Brackenheim. They settled in Grossgartach and raised their family there. I have other family lines that come from Biberach. I wanted to walk the streets here and feel this place. (I have to mention that there are 2 Biberachs, one is Biberach am Riss, about 2.5 hours away. That’s not the one my family comes from.)
In the last several weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of family research in Biberach, gathering 100s of names. I felt those people calling me to come and see where they lived.
Wikipedia: In 1806 Biberach became an independent village in Württemberg , where it was part of the Heilbronn district . In 1840, the population was only 1,305; this population figure changed very little over the next 100 years. Population growth stagnated, particularly due to high levels of emigration; between 1850 and 1950, Biberach lost 259 people as a result. In 1950, Biberach had 1,734 inhabitants. The large new development areas surrounding the historic town centre were built in the 1960s. At that time, the structure of the town also changed from an agricultural to a commuter housing estate for the nearby city of Heilbronn, which doubled the population. Today there are more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Our first stop was the old cemetery.
There is some interesting history told here. Not many headstones remain. All burials since about 1970 are in the new cemetery.
Next we walked through the town and visited the old church.
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 