AN INTRODUCTION TO THE RIEDMANN FAMILY

The Riedmann family of Omaha, Nebraska can trace their roots back to the late 1600's and Stetten Germany. Stetten is a small village in a wine growing region of Germany. It is located near (and now incorporated with) Karlstadt, which is near Würzburg, between Frankfurt and Nurnberg. There are still many Riedmanns living in Karlstadt-Stetten, although they may not be related. Today, Rita Riedmann Roehling still resides there. She was born in 1924 and remembers many of our ancestors. She also remembers some of our family who visited Stetten in 1964. The Schraut family, Magdelena Riedmann's family, also still resides there.

The earliest complete records found are those of Georg Riedmann who married Maria Magdalena Hessdoerfer. He was a wagon wheel maker and farmer. In those days most everyone had a trade of some type in addition to being a farmer. Birth records of some of the children show that Maria actually was named Anna Maria. More information about their families can be found on the Family Research webpage. This page includes ancestoral information back to the 1700s.

Georg and Anna had 13 children in all. Their first child was named Georg Michael Riedmann and was born Sept. 11, 1870 in Stetten. Their fifth child was born Oct. 10, 1875 and named Georg Adam Riedmann. (They must have liked the name Georg.) These are two of the three children who immigrated to the U.S. that have been identified in the Ellis Island immigration records. They eventually settled in South Omaha. Adam moved to South Dakota for a short while but decided it was too cold and moved back to Omaha.

Gregor, the ninth child born Jan. 25, 1882, also immigrated to the U.S., but no records have been found of his arrival. Around 1907 he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and lived with his brother Adam. It is believed he moved to South Dakota and resided there for a while. Gregor eventually made his way to Australia where he started a fishing business. The last information received about Gregor was after he died. This may have accord as early as 1908 according to records in Germany. Adam was contacted and asked to come to Australia to collect his inheritance. It is not known how much it was, but Adam was unable to leave. The trip would have been too expensive and too long (by boat, planes were not a common means of travel back then), and he would have lost his job at the packing plant if he left.

Other brother and sisters include Alois Riedmann (#12), was born May 6, 1887. He was a priest, a doctor (Ph.D.) and a professor of Theology. Three of the daughters were nuns: Anna Maria (Sister Wolframa), Maria Thelka (Sister Enswida) and Mathilda (Sister Iphigenia). Another daughter, Margarete Maria married Georg Gerhard. Their descendants still reside in Stetten. German family legend long believed that one son who also emigrated to America died during the trip to America. However, this has been found to be incorrect as all their children can now be accounted for. It is presumed this was Gregor whom everyone lost contact with.

The other children's names (in order) were: Katharina, Dorethea, Johann Phillip, Johann Kaspar, Margarete Maria and Anton.

An historical book, 1200 Jahre Stetten, was written by Edgar Burkard in 1988 to celebrate the 1200 year festival of Stetten. It notes that in 1895 there was a Typhus epidemic in that region. This was thought to have precipitated Georg's and soon-to-be bride Magdelena Schraut's leaving. It is also believed that Georg worked in a private military detail as an aid assigned to Kaiser Wilhelm.

Magdelena Schraut was born on March 20, 1874, also in Stetten. Her parents were named Josef Schraut and Margaretha Deissenberger. Joseph's family owned a mill where they milled grain and were bakers. Some of the Schraut family living in Stetten today are still in the baking business.

Georg Michael Riedmann and Magdelena "Lena" (Schraut) Riedmann were married February 24, 1895, shortly before they boarded a ship for America. They arrived in America at Ellis Island on March 18, 1895 after a 3-4 week voyage. They emigrated from Hamburg, Germany via the Phoenicia. No Ellis Island record exists for Magdelena, however there is a record of a Maria that arrived on the same ship, so it is presumed to be her. It should be noted that Georg came to Omaha, after a short stop in South Dakota, very quickly after arriving in America. In order for that to happen he must have had money to make the trip and he must of had someone here waiting for him. Fred Metz of the Metz Brewing family could have been the person to assist him. It is known that he helped many Germans come to Omaha over the years, and Georg also worked for the Metz Brewery for a while. Georg Michael's brother Georg Adam arrived at Ellis Island June 21, 1902.

Georg and Magdelena Riedmann's children were: Alfred, Matilda, Louis, Anna, Amelia, and Margaret. Alfred was born 2-1/2 months after they arrived in America. It is not clear how and why they came to Omaha but Magdelena must have been a very strong woman to endure all that traveling, especially on a ship, while being very pregnant. In Georg Michael's family picture Anna is not present. (Click here to see picture) She died shortly before the picture was taken when she was 9 years old. Georg was so upset that he never had a picture taken of Anna that he decided to have a family picture taken soon afterward. Margaret was born shortly after this picture was taken. Margaret also died at an early age. She passed away when she was 13 years old.

Meanwhile, John Vacek had married Josephine Roza, or Bobby, of Lucic'e, Bohemia in 1883. John emigrated to America to join his brother and find a home for Bobby and then send for her. After he left she sold the farm and moved to America. She didn't wait for him to send for her. She came over with their first three children, arriving on Jan. 21,1890. Their children were Mary, John, Joseph, James, Frank, Frances Ann, Josephine, Charles and Edward. Frances would eventually marry Alfred Riedmann. She is the grandmother of the family tree this website is centered on.

Other Notes on the Riedmann Family and Stetten Germany:
By Chip Riedmann

Contact with Stetten
Over the past few years I have exchanged emails and had phone conversations with Brigitte Weidner and Robert Hessdoerfer of Stetten, Germany. Brigitte gave me Robert's name as he is related to us. Robert is married to Katrin and they are of my generation. His great-grandmother Margarete Riedmann Gerhard is the sister of my great-grandfather Georg Michael Riedmann who immigrated to America. This makes him my third cousin. The wedding anniversary picture was taken in the courtyard of the house Robert and Katrina live in. (Click here to see picture)

Robert and Katrina are also working on their family's ancestry (Click here to see their picture). They have spoken to Rita Riedmann Roehling who was the last surviving child of Johann Riedmann, Georg Michael's and Margarete's brother. Rita was born in 1924. Robert spent a day speaking with Rita getting as much information from her as possible. This included naming the people in a 50th wedding anniversary picture of my great-great grandparents. The picture was taken on Nov. 23, 1919. She clarified why Georg and Magdelena left Germany. Magdelena was pregnant and they weren't married. Old Georg was very religious and this was considered a disgrace to the family, so they were told to leave the country. Rita gave us the names of all the children of Georg and Maria Magdelena Riedmann. After studying the names and birthdates we were able to determine that contrary to previous stories no one died during the voyage to the US.

One small anecdote about Rita is that she was the 11th of 12 children. When she was born it was said that she looks like Maria Magdalena (her grandmother) in her early years. Her aunts always said: "Du siehst aus wie´s Fraela" (which means you look like Fraela = nickname for old wife). Maria Magdalena died shortly before Rita's birth, and the aunts said that the angels sent "little Maria" from heaven. Rita is not in the wedding anniversary picture since she wasn't born .

Rita has copies of pictures that were taken when Alfred Riedmann Sr. traveled to Germany in 1964 with his wife Mary and his daughter and her husband Madge and Tony Panowicz. It is believed some of the pictures were taken by Mary Riedmann because she is not in most of them.

One of her more interesting pictures was of the weekend house of Fr. Alois Riedmann. In front of his house was the German flag with the swastika. Robert explained that during the reign of the Third Reich everyone, including teachers and religious leaders, had to display the flag to show their allegiance to Hitler -- or they would face imprisonment or death. Thus he had the flag flying not so proudly in front of the house. Fr. Alois wrote three and a half books on Catholic themes. The last one was finished after his death by a colleague. He is also a professor and a doctor (Ph.D.). So he could actually go by the name Prof. Dr. Fr. Alois Riedmann.

Magdelena Schraut Riedmann was born to Joseph and Margaretha (Deissenberger) Schraut. She was born in a house called Neumuehle (new mill), a short distance outside of Stetten. We are guessing the mill was built in 1615. Her family purchased the mill in the 1826. The purchase of the mill was for producing flour for the family's baking business. One member of the Schraut family, Ludwig, still lives in Stetten. They are still bakers by trade. The ancestry of the Schraut family is going to be hard to trace as one of the book of records is missing, and other books were destroyed in a fire.

The home our ancestors lived in are still standing. It is over 400 years old. Back then families would keep their animals on the first floor of the house and the family would live upstairs. The first floor was essentially the barn. Rita Riedmann Roehling lives in the original Riedmann home where Georg Michael and his brothers and sisters were born and raised (Click here to see picture). Eugen Riedmann, unrelated, lives at Werntalstrasse 25, which is next door to Rita. Robert and Katrin live across the street at Werntalstrasse 8.

About Stetten
Stetten is a small village, lying in a valley on the Wern River and surrounded by wine fields. It is in MSP district. MSP stands for Main River-Spessart. The Main River is near Stetten and Spessart is the largest forest in Germany. Stetten is in the Franken region which predominately grows Franken wine. Franken is a sweet, dry white wine, similar to a Riesling or Piesporter. Stetten is in the northern part of the German state of Bavaria. Stetten consolidated (not annexed) with Karlstadt, Germany in 1978. In pictures of the town you can see the wine fields on the hillsides around the town (Click here to see picture).

Würzburg, the nearest city to Karlstadt, is called Germany's Franken wine capital. Most of the wine is consumed within a 150 mile radius. Würzburg is also called the city of 100 steeples because of the large number of church steeples there. It is the capital of Unterfranken (similar to a county), which is part of the state of Bavaria.

Wine production is coming back to the area after years of decline, especially in the early 90's when wine growers generated a glut of Franken wine at the expense of quality. Those who did produce quality wines suffered because they had to lower prices to compete. The whole industry in the area suffered for it.

During World War I and World War II, many of the men of Stetten were inducted into the German army. For some reason most of them were sent to fight in Romania. This included a couple descendants of Margarethe Riedmann. Many died there; some never to be heard from again.

1200 Jahre Stetten
Stetten had its 1200 year anniversary in 1988. A book was written by Edgar Burkard to commemorate the occasion. It is titled 1200 Jahre Stetten. Some people refer to it as the Stetten Chronik because it is a very complete history of Stetten. I was sent a complimentary copy of the book via Robert Hessdoerfer. Several sections of the book include information and pictures about the Riedmann family. They include:
- A picture of Prof. Fr. Alois Riedmann, some family members and other dignitaries of Stetten. The picture was taken in 1942 for the 25th anniversary of his priesthood.
- Several pages are about Alois Riedmann and his becoming a priest in 1917. Pictures include the ceremony, a parade and a family picture of the Riedmann's.
- The mill the Schraut family owned is also discussed. In one picture is Joseph Schraut who we believe is Magdelena's brother. The house/mill does not exist anymore and has been replaced by a house where a member of the Schraut family lives today.

Stetten's Religious History
The town of Stetten is largely a Catholic community. Back in the 1890's Europe had been overtaken by a typhus epidemic and the townsfolk prayed for God to spare them from the disease. In return for his protecting them they promised to make a pilgrimage each year. In 1896, after the epidemic had passed, they started making a yearly 25km pilgrimage to Maria Buchen, which is a pilgrimage church in the middle of a forest. The march, or parade, is made at night on the second Sunday in June. They carry torches, bang drums and sing during the march.

There are five primary families that reside in Stetten today. Gerhard, Hessdoerfer, Burkard, Amthor and one other. Many of the families with the same last name are not related. As can be seen in our family, first names can be repeated a lot. Therefore they were given an additional name to distinguish people with the same name. So they were told apart by their profession or their father's name. For example, in Stetten today there are 13 couples who are named Ludwig and Maria Gerhard. Another example from our family is Johann Riedmann who was also called Kischberles Johann or just Kischberle.

In Gratitude
My thanks go to Ing. Hubert Riedmann, Brigitte Weidner and Robert and Katrina Hessdoerfer. Hubert assisted us in locating the town of Stetten. On his own he made a visit to Stetten and made contact with Brigitte Weidner. He sent several gifts to us from Stetten, including a bottle of Franken wine and drinking glasses. Brigitte put me in touch with Robert and Katrin Hessdoerfer who provided much of the information you have seen and read here. Without their help, much of this information would never have been discovered.