Anne

I want to travel to Germany and Austria in the future to do some geneology research. My ancesters came to the US in the 1830's from a town called Biron, Germany. I have been unable to find this town on any current map and wondered if anyone knows where it is or how to find resources for towns in Austria,Bavaria and/or Germany that have been changed. Feel free to email directly as this question doesn't really have much interest for others Thanks!

dan woodlief

I will post here because someone recently asked a similar question. I think the best thing you can do is consult an old German atlas. The ideal would be one from around the 1830's. Are you in Michigan? I would think the University of Michigan would have a good collection. If you are ever in Madison, WI, visit the State Historical Society Library on the university campus. I worked there while in grad school. It is one of the top geneaological research libraries in the country (as well as US history). I would think there might be some resource on the net, but I haven't found it yet.

Mary

Are you sure of the spelling? I found a town near Leipzig called "Bahren".

dan woodlief

Mary brings up a good point. Often a name is simply mispelled or spelled in different ways - even surnames can have vastly different spellings. Someone more familiar with the English language than German could certainly transform Bahren into Biron. If you can find out the region of Germany where your ancestors originated from some other source it may help a lot. I looked at a few sites on German geneaology, and it seems that much information is regionally organized. If you can find a pretty detailed old atlas from 1830, and especially if you have an idea of where in Germany to look, you could find Biron or rule it out. The name looks more French or English than German to me, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is. <BR> <BR>From what type of source did you find out the name of the town?

Anne

Thanks for all the info-please keep it coming. I will check at the U of M libraries. The information I am working from is a city directory from Tiffin Ohio had a short bio on my relative and stated that he immigrated from Biron, Germany. I do know his last name was Marschall and his son born in Ohio has Marshall without the c on his tombstone so it is very possible the town name changed or was misspelled too. I have sufed a bit but have been unable to find any resources in Germany to assist me so far. Thanks for all your responses.

Lucy

Anne,because of the post-WWII changes in the eastern borders of Germany, there is an area of Poland that used to be Germany. There is a significant German-speaking population there, to this day, I believe. My father and his entire family comes from one of those towns, and the old German name of Posen is now Poznan. It is possible that Biron may be somewhere in that area, too. Look on the western border area of Poland near Germany on the map.

Miriam

Hallo Anne, <BR>Iīve never heard the name myself, but I think you should try a certain page called "Internet Sources of German Genealogy". Itīs in English and you will find a lot of links and possibilities to search for names. Please try: <BR>http://www.bawue.de/~hanacek/info/edatbase.htm <BR>Good luck! <BR> <BR>Miriam <BR>

Jochen Aderhold

Anne, <BR> <BR>there is a little town called "Beuron" in south-western Germany. It is in the valley of the Donau ( danube ) river, rougly 30 km north of Lake Constance. The name is pronounced "Boy-ron". Could this be the place you're looking for ? <BR> <BR>Jochen