Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907) Archives

POST 173: HISTORIC REMAINS OF A FAMILY “CASTLE” IN SOUTHWESTERN POLAND

Note: In this post, I discuss a so-called “castle” presently located in southwestern Poland that was once owned by the noble von Koschembahr family. My great-granduncle Wilhelm Bruck married into this family and adopted his wife’s matronymic. The manor house which survives in dilapidated condition was once the home of his father-in-law’s two widowed sisters.

In Post 115, I introduced readers to Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907) (Figure 1), one of my great granduncles, who married Margarete von Koschembahr (1860-1948) (Figure 2) on the 14th of September 1884 in Berlin, Germany. Wilhelm was the younger brother of my great-grandfather Fedor Bruck (1834-1892) (Figure 3), the second-generation owner of the family business in Ratibor [today: Racibórz, Poland], the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel.

Figure 1. My great-granduncle Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907)

Figure 2. Wilhelm Bruck’s wife, Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr (1860-1946) around the time she got married in 1884

Figure 3. My great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck, the second-generation owner of the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel and older brother of Wilhelm Bruck

Upon their marriage, Wilhelm added his wife’s matronymic to his name. The unusual adoption of a wife’s surname most typically happened when the wife was a so-called peer, that’s to say, was a hereditary titled noble in her own right. The result was that Wilhelm and his descendants became known as “Bruck-von Koschembahr,” though the Bruck surname was dropped entirely upon the family’s arrival in America.

By all measures the von Koschembahr descendants are my distant relatives though until the year before last I’d never been in contact with any members of this branch. While my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck was particularly impressed with links to nobiliary members on our ancestral line, took special pains to note them in his hand drawn ancestral trees, and may even have been in touch with members of this branch, this has never been of explicit interest to me. Regardless, in December 2023, I was contacted by an American descendant of this offshoot of my family, Christopher von Koschembahr. Christopher mentioned his mother had stumbled upon my blog. He also explained he was the son of Dieter von Koschembahr (1929-1995), who I knew to be one of the grandsons of Wilhelm Bruck and Margarete von Koschembahr.

As an aside, during our exchanges, Christopher asked when my father changed his surname from “Bruck” to “Brook.” I didn’t know at the time. However, in connection with my ongoing German citizenship application, I’ve since learned my father became Gary Otto Brook upon becoming an American citizen in July 1955. I think Christopher’s question stemmed from the fact that he serendipitously named his daughter “Brookes,” so had the original surname been retained, she would have been known as “Brookes Bruck.”

In March 2024, Christopher mentioned to me his intention to visit one of the former family estates currently located southwestern Poland, a short distance northeast of the German border town of Görlitz. Embedded in this email was a message from my third cousin, Kurt Polborn, to Christopher with some of the historical background on the property and the name of the Polish town where the estate is located, Żarki Średnie. Like Kurt and me, Christopher and Kurt are third cousins. A brief digression before I discuss what I know of the von Koschembahr family property and its former residents.

As I explained in the previous post, Post 172, upon learning that Christopher’s family once owned a “castle” in what is today called Żarki Średnie, Poland (Figure 4), I turned to a comprehensive 1893 map of Silesia once sent to me by Paul Newerla. I had discovered the town was called “Kesselbach” during the Prussian era, though was unable to find it on the detailed Silesian map. This is when I turned to the 1:25,000 scale “Urmesstischblätter” military maps discussed in my prior article. (Figure 5) After learning Żarki Średnie/Kesselbach was located 7.5km or 4.66 miles northeast of Gorlitz, I located it on map number “4756-Penzig/Pieńsk.” (Figures 6a-c)

Figure 4. Modern-day boundaries of Żarki Średnie, Poland

Figure 5. “Urmesstischblätter” maps for the area around Görlitz, Germany near where the von Koschembahr “castle” is located

Figure 6a. 1946 “Urmesstischblätter” map number “4756-Penzig/Pieńsk,” located to the northeast of Görlitz

Figure 6b. Section of 1946 “Urmesstischblätter” map number “4756-Penzig/Pieńsk” showing the distance between Penzig/Pieńsk and Kesselbach/Żarki Średnie

Figure 6c. The section of 1946 map “4756-Penzig/Pieńsk” showing Kesselbach/Żarki Średnie

I was unable to find Kesselbach in the meyersgaz.org database even by using “star as a wildcard” in the “Search” bar. This points out the advantage of having several different map sources one can turn to. It was only after I found an old postcard on eBay referring to the castle as “Schloß-Mittel Sohra” (Figure 7) that I found “Mittel Sohra,” in meyersgaz.org. (Figure 8)

Figure 7. Historic postcard of Mittel Sohra showing the von Koschembahr family castle (upper left)

Figure 8. Map from meyersgaz.org of Mittel Sohra with a flag pinpointing the town’s location and showing Görlitz towards the bottom

Based on the picture in Wikipedia of the von Koschembahr “manor house,” as they refer to it, the mansion appeared to be maintained and in very good shape. (Figure 9) Other pictures found online seemed to corroborate this. (Figure 10) This was a grand illusion as Christopher discovered when he visited the former family estate in July 2024. (Figure 11) While the structure is still standing, the floors and roof are collapsing, the windows and doors are missing or broken, and roots are growing through the foundations and openings. (Figures 12a-b) When Christopher used hand gestures to communicate with Polish laborers working nearby on the day he visited, they gesticulated that tossing a hand grenade into the building would solve the problem.

Figure 9. Screen shot from Wikipedia of Żarki Średnie showing the manor house and the location of the town within Poland

Figure 10. Undated picture of the von Koschembahr castle in Żarki Średnie appearing to be in restorable condition

Figure 11. Christopher von Koshembahr in July 2024 at Żarki Średnie, Poland with the dilapidated family castle in the background

Figure 12a. Photo of Schloß-Mittel Sohra as it appeared in July 2024

Figure 12b. Another photo of Schloß-Mittel Sohra as it appeared in July 2024

As a retired archaeologist I have come across multiple such historic structures over the years while conducting pedestrian surveys on the public lands in the western United States. This is one reason the deteriorating mansion holds a peculiar fascination for me, different than it may for the average reader. Adding this to the history that my cousin Kurt Polborn told me about the place, I’ve been able to relate it to specific individuals who lived there. This is not always possible even with recent historic era ruins.

Let me relate the part of the story I’ve been told and connect it to historic documents I’ve uncovered.

I told readers at the outset of this post that my great granduncle Wilhelm Bruck married Margarete von Koschembahr and added her matronymic to his surname. Margarete’s father was Leopold von Koschembahr (1829-1874) (Figure 13) married to Amalie Mockrauer (1834-1918). (Figure 14) As a quick aside, my Bruck ancestors are related by marriage to Mockrauers over several generations, but that’s a story for another day.

Figure 13. Leopold von Koschembahr (1829-1874) in around 1860

Figure 14. Amalie Mockrauer (1834-1918) in around 1904

Leopold von Koschembahr was Kurt Polborn’s great-great-grandfather. According to Kurt, Leopold filed for bankruptcy on a few occasions, and his large family would likely not have survived without the help of his mother and his Jewish in-laws. Amalie Mockrauer wrote in her diary about the financial disasters of her married life.

As a reflection of the self-perceived “superiority” of the nobility vis a vis the bourgeoisie, upon Wilhelm Bruck’s death in 1907, his widow Margarete dropped the Bruck surname and reverted to her maiden name.

Returning to the ruined manor house in Żarki Średnie, according to Kurt, Leopold von Koschembahr’s had two sisters. The older one was Julie Leopoldine Anna von Koschembahr (1827-1883), referred to as “Anna”; the younger was Isidore Mathilde Helene von Koschembahr (1833-1887), familiarly called “Isidore.” Though they were six years apart, both got married the same year in 1859. Anna married Adolph von Blankensee (1812-1871) (Figures 15a-b), while Isidore wed Major Otto von Heugel (1826-1871). (Figures 16a-b)

Figure 15a. Screen shot of the 1859 marriage register entry for Anna von Koschembahr and Adolph von Blankensee showing they got married in Breslau, Germany

Figure 15b. Marriage register entry for Anna von Koschembahr and Adolph von Blankensee showing they got married in 1859 in Breslau and providing vital data for each

Figure 16a. Screen shot of the 1859 marriage register entry for Isidore von Koschembahr and Otto von Heugel in Glogow, Germany

Figure 16b. Marriage register entry for Isidore von Koschembahr and Otto von Heugel showing they got married in 1859 in Glogow and providing other vital data

Their respective husbands fought in the Franco-Prussian War, also known as the Franco-German War of 1870-1871. Both died during this conflict in France within weeks of one another. Adolph von Blankensee died from Typhus on the 11th of January 1871, while his brother-in-law Otto von Heugel died on the 29th of January 1871 in a place called La-Queue-en-Brie (Figures 17a-b), a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Following their husbands’ deaths, the widows apparently lived together in the family manor in Kesselbach until their deaths. Both are recorded as having died in Görlitz, the largest nearby town.

Figure 17a. Screen shot showing that Otto von Heugel was a casualty during the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871

Figure 17b. Major Otto von Heugel’s name listed as a casualty in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871

The only known depiction of Anna von Koschembahr is an endearing painting from ca. 1830 standing alongside her younger brother Leopold. (Figure 18) The original of this painting is owned by the descendants of Kurt’s recently deceased uncle, Clemens von Koschembahr, Chistopher von Koschembahr’s uncle. In Post 75, I wrote about this Biedermeier-style painting because my third cousin, Agnes Stieda, née Vogel, owns a replica of this painting. (Figure 19) How a copy of this painting came to be made is unknown.

Figure 18. Ca. 1830 Biedermeier-style painting of Leopold von Koschembahr and his older sister Anna as children. This copy is owned by Christopher von Koschembahr’s family

Figure 19. Copy of the same painting as in Figure 18 owned by my third cousin, Agnes Stieda

No images are known of Isidore. However, given the extensive von Koschembahr family, it is probable that a likeness of her survives among the family’s ephemera. It is my hope that one of her von Koschembahr descendants may stumble upon my blog and scrutinize their family photos.

The history of the von Koschembahr manor house is unknown. Discovery of the so-called “grundbuch,” the German land register that records property ownership and other details that would have been maintained by a special division of the local court, would provide details on the castle’s construction and ownership. Whether the grundbuch survived the devastation of WWII is also unknown.

I can only surmise what happened to the manor house following Isidore’s death in 1887. Neither Anna or Isidore had any children, However, a younger von Koschembahr sibling, Erich Wilhelm Adolf von Koschembahr (1836-1890), had two daughters, and one may have inherited the property. I would posit the estate continued to be owned by Anna and Isidore’s descendants since titled families tended to own multiple estates around the country. Regardless of what happened to the property following the death of the two widows, there can be no doubt the family lost ownership of the estate at the end of WWII when the family fled the area as the Russians were approaching.

Pictures of the manor house, including the one on Wikipedia, show the shell of the castle still in restorable condition. These pictures, probably taken in the last 10-15 years, suggest that someone lived in and maintained the property until shortly before then. I strongly suspect I’ll eventually write a postscript to this post as I learn more about the history of the von Koschembahr manor house.

The dilapidated remains of the von Koschembahr castle in Żarki Średnie holds a particular appeal to me as a retired archaeologist. Because most historic era remains found throughout the United States are not related to titled families or known individuals and are assuredly not connected to my family, learning of a surviving structure that is piques my interest. I’ll leave it at that.

POST 115: THE BRUCK VON KOSCHEMBAHR BRANCH OF MY FAMILY TREE

Note: In this post, I introduce readers to my great-grandfather Fedor Bruck’s youngest brother, Wilhelm Bruck, who in 1884 married a noblewoman, Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr. This resulted in the nobiliary particle “von” being added to the Bruck surname in merged form as “Bruck von Koschembahr”; in the subsequent generation the “Bruck” part of the surname was dropped altogether. I also talk briefly in this installment about German nobility.

POST 114: EDWARD HANS LINDENBERGER, A DISTANT COUSIN: MIGHT HE HAVE SURVIVED BUCHENWALD?

In Post 113, I acquainted readers with Oskar Bruck (1831-1892), the oldest of my great-great-grandparents Samuel Bruck (1808-1863) and Charlotte Bruck née Marle’s (1809-1861) nine children. This provided an opportunity to discuss Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Consul in Lithuania at the outset of WWII, one of Yad Vashem’s “Right Among the Nations,” whose courageous actions helped save one of Oskar’s daughters, son-in-law, and grandson. Then, in Post 114, I discussed Samuel and Charlotte Bruck’s eighth born child, Helena Strauss née Bruck (1845-1910), one of whose daughters, son-in-law, and grandson were likely murdered in either Auschwitz-Birkenau or Buchenwald. The fate of Oskar and Helena’s descendants could not have been more divergent.

Figure 1. My great-grandfather Fedor Bruck’s youngest brother, Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907)

In the current post, I will focus on the youngest of Samuel and Charlotte Bruck’s children, Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907) (Figure 1), along with his descendants. Happily, their destinies had a more favorable outcome. In this essay I will switch gears and introduce readers to a custom that was occasionally followed by German bridegrooms upon marriage to a woman of German nobility. Such is the case with Wilhelm Bruck who on the 14^th of September 1884 married a Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr (Figures 2-3), a noblewoman eleven years his junior. Wilhelm Bruck was a “Justizrat,” justice counsel, and he and Mathilde had five children (see vital statistics table at the end of this post).

Figure 2. Wilhelm Bruck’s wife Margarethe von Koschembahr as a child in around 1863 with her mother, Amalie von Koshembahr née Mockrauer (1834-1918)

Figure 3. Wilhelm Bruck’s wife, Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr (1860-1946) around the time she and Wilhelm got married in 1884

Let me begin by quoting from a page of a much larger document (Figure 4) explaining the transition of the Bruck surname within this branch of the family, first to Bruck von Koschembahr, then subsequently to simply von Koschembahr as the Bruck part was unofficially dropped. The citation below appears to be from a history of the von Koschembahr family probably written by Gisela von Koschembahr (Figure 5), the oldest daughter of Wilhelm and Mathilde’s first-born son, Gerhard Bruck-von Koschembahr. I found several pages of this longer document on a family tree on ancestry.com attached to Mathilde’s profile, and am trying, as we speak, to obtain the complete account:

Figure 4. Page from a much larger history on the von Koschembahr family describing how the “von Koschembahr” surname was merged with the “Bruck” surname, then subsequently dropped

Figure 5. 1939 photo of Gisela von Koschembahr, Wilhlem Bruck von Koschembahr’s granddaughter and Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr’s eldest daughter, believed to be the author of the von Koshchembahr family history

“By virtue of his father, Wilhelm Bruck, our father (‘Vati’) was born Gerhard Bruck. Through ‘adoption’ by an unmarried aunt, Mathilde von Koschembahr (his mother’s sister) (Figure 6), he added his mother’s maiden name to his father’s name in 1924. For several years thereafter, our family was officially known as Bruck von Koschembahr (and Vati’s mother called herself that also), until by the time our family moved to Switzerland (1934), the Bruck was quietly (not officially) dropped altogether.”

Figure 6. Wilhelm Bruck’s unmarried sister-in-law (his wife’s sister), Mathilde von Koschembahr (1866-1931) in March 1914, who caused the “von Koschembahr” surname to be added to Gerhard Bruck’s surname in 1924

In this context, I will briefly explain German titles of nobility, surnames of the German nobility and what is referred to as the nobiliary particle. As in the case of the von Koschembahr family name, most surnames of the German nobility were preceded by or contained the preposition von (meaning “of”) or zu (meaning “at”) as a nobiliary particle, simply to signal the nobility of a family.

The prepositions von and zu were occasionally combined (meaning “of and at”) In general, the von form indicates the family’s place of origin, while the zu form indicates the family’s continued possession of the estate from which the surname is drawn. Therefore, von und zu indicates a family which is both named for and continues to own the original feudal holding or residence. Case in point. An example of this can be seen in the vital statistics table at the end of this post for Wilhelm Bruck von Koschembahr’s eldest child, Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr (Figure 7), who married Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch. (Figure 8) As a related aside, since Gerhard already had the nobiliary particle von as part of his surname, he had no need to adopt his wife’s surname upon their marriage in 1914 (Figure 9), unlike his father.

Figure 7. Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr (1885-1961) on the 21st of March 1914 when he married Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch

Figure 8. Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch (1891-1954) on her wedding day, the 21st of March 1914

Figure 9. Gerhard Bruck and Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch’s wedding party on the 21st of March 1914

Perhaps because I am only half-German and not in contact with any descendants of the von Koschembahr branch of my family, the attachment of the nobiliary particle von to my surname is remarkably uninteresting. That said, my good friend Peter Hanke, the “Wizard of Wolfsburg,” who often assists me and others in their ancestral searches, is regularly asked whether he can confirm the noble descent within a questioner’s family (i.e., “My grandmother said. . .”); the desire for a family coat of arms or an affiliation to a noble branch comes to the fore, as Peter says, which both he and I find odd.

This said, I have a few of my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck’s surviving papers, including a schematic and much abbreviated diagram of his family tree. (Figure 10) The only one of his grandfather Fedor Bruck’s eight siblings he shows on this simplified tree is Wilhelm Bruck who married Margarethe von Koschembahr (i.e., who my uncle identifies as “Grete v. Koschembahr”). Then, as if to further stress the importance he placed on connections to nobility, the only one of Wilhelm and Margarethe’s five children he shows is Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr who, as noted above, also married a noble, Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch, identified by my uncle as “Freiin v. Zedlitz & Leipe.” “Freiin” means Baroness in German.

Figure 10. My uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck’s schematic family drawing incorporating the noble connections to the Bruck family

Continuing. Gisela von Koschembahr, whose family history I cited above, describes the position of her family in the order of German nobility, and, again, I quote what she has to say:

“It may be useful here to delineate the relative position of the von Koschembahrs in the order of the German nobility—(or ‘Adel,’ a Medieval German word meaning ‘edel’ or noble). The German nobility, as that of other countries, originally comprised the most able-bodied and distinguished (in the service of a king or prince=‘Fürst’) families in the nation; later it came to mean a class endowed with special personal property and tax privileges. While these official privileges were abolished in Germany (and Austria) at the end of World War I, the nobility continues to be—regardless of the individual family’s financial status—highly regarded, socially prominent, and exclusive among themselves. The order from top down is as follows:

Herzöge (dukes)
Fürsten (princes)
Grafen (counts)
Freiherrn (barons)
Uradel (genuine nobility)
Briefadel (nobility by letter)

(The writer acknowledges there may be another category ‘Adel’ between Uradel and Briefadel.)

The von Koschembahrs belonged to the next-to-last category, the Uradel, hereditary nobility since the 10^th century, including in modern times all families whose origins as nobility are recorded in public documents before 1350. Uradel, like Freiherrn and Graf, was bestowed by a duke or prince upon a member of his entourage who was especially deserving for services rendered or distinguished in some other way. Land grants and/or decorations usually accompanied bestowal of the title of the title (although less extensive or valuable as for higher grades of nobility), and the family’s name was henceforth preceded by ‘von.’ The last is also true of the ‘Briefadel,’ but it was bestowed by letter; in more recent times, and unlike the other forms of nobility, could be purchased with money from a sovereign in need of funds. Due to the Uradel’s greater age, the meaning of the family names is usually unrecognizable.”

Without getting too deeply into it, let me briefly emphasize and supplement what Gisela von Koschembahr wrote about German nobility. They along with royalty were status groups having their origins in medieval society in Central Europe. Relative to other people, they enjoyed certain privileges under the laws and customs in the German-speaking areas until the beginning of the 20^th century. Historically, German entities that recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Emperor (A.D. 962-1806), the German Confederation (A.D. 1814-1866), and the German Empire (1871-1918). As Gisela alluded to, the sovereigns had a policy of expanding their political base by ennobling rich businessmen with no noble ancestors. Germany’s nobility flourished during its rapid industrialization and urbanization after 1850 as the number of wealthy businessmen increased.

The monarchy in Germany, as well as in Austria, was abolished in 1919. In August 1919, at the beginning of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), which would eventually be displaced by the Nazis, Germany’s first democratic government officially abolished royalty and nobility, and the respective legal privileges and immunities having to do with an individual, a family, or any heirs. In Germany, this meant that legally von simply became an ordinary part of the surnames of the people who used it. According to German alphabetical sorting, people with von in their surnames, both of noble and non-noble descent, were listed in phone books and other files under the rest of their names (i.e., in the case of Gerhard von Koschembahr, had he returned to Germany after WWII, his surname would have been found under K in the phone book rather than under V).

In closing I would simply note that among some members of my extended family descended from Wilhelm and Mathilde’s children, the “disappearance” of the Bruck surname in this branch of the family is a persistent irritant and constant source of ancestral confusion. Their descendants would be my third or fourth cousins, one or two generations removed, but since our surnames are different mostly because of a random decision, I have no contact with this branch. So, I ask myself, “What’s in a name?”

VITAL STATISTICS FOR WILHELM BRUCK, HIS WIFE, AND THEIR FIVE CHILDREN

NAME (relationship)	VITAL EVENT	DATE	PLACE	SOURCE OF DATA

Wilhelm Bruck (self)	Birth	23 February 1849	Ratibor, Germany [today: Racibórz, Poland]	Family History Library (FHL) Ratibor Microfilm 1184449 (births)
	Marriage (to Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr)	14 September 1884	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany marriage certificate
	Death	15 February 1907	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany death certificate
Mathilde Margarethe von Koschembahr (wife) (FIGURE 11)	Birth	28 November 1860	Posen, Germany [today: Poznan, Germany]	Ancestry.com “Germany, Select Births & Baptisms, 1558-1898 (database on-line)”
	Marriage (to Wilhelm Bruck)	14 September 1884	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany marriage certificate
	Death	19 October 1946	Boston, Massachusetts	Von Koschembahr Family History pages uploaded to Mathilde’s profile on ancestry.com by “LynnKabbelWeissgerber”
Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr (son) (FIGURE 12)	Birth	28 July 1885	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany birth certificate
	Marriage (to Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch)	21 March 1914	Dresden, Germany	1939 “Declaration of Intention” Immigration & Naturalization form; 1914 wedding photo
	Death	3 October 1961	Westchester, New York	U.S., Find-A-Grave
Charlotte Bruck (daughter)	Birth	17 August 1886	Berlin, Germany	3 May 1906 Berlin, Germany marriage certificate to Walter Edward Stavenhagen
Charlotte Bruck (daughter)	Death	5 June 1974	West Haven, Connecticut	“Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2012”
Marianne Johanna Bruck (daughter) (FIGURE 13)	Birth	31 July 1888	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany birth certificate
Marianne Johanna Bruck (daughter) (FIGURE 13)	Death	21 September 1975	Munich, Germany	Kurt Polborn (grandson) ancestry tree
Friedrich Wilhelm Bruck von Koschembahr (son)	Birth	15 December 1889	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany birth certificate
Friedrich Wilhelm Bruck von Koschembahr (son)	Death	14 March 1963	Haag, Germany	“Report of Death of American Citizen Abroad, 1835-1974”
Heinz Leopold Bruck (son)	Birth	17 July 1892	Berlin, Germany	Berlin, Germany birth certificate
Heinz Leopold Bruck (son)	Death	April 1915	Ypres, Belgium	Kurt Polborn (grandson) ancestry tree