Wiesental is a small village of 8500 people in south-western Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The map of Germany on the left gives a general sense of where it is in the country. There is also a more detailed map showing the surrounding villages if you would like to know precisely where it is. In 1975, the neighboring villages of Waghäusel, Kirrlach, and Wiesental banded together into the community of Waghäusel, so Wiesental is now properly called Waghäusel-Wiesental. Wiesental was founded in 1297 and celebrated its 700th anniversary with a great festival in July 1997. The crest of Wiesental is shown above on the right.
Much of Wiesental has been rebuild in recent years, so it is hard to get a sense of what it was like back in the 1800s, although a few older buildings, such as the one on the right, still exist. In the 1800s, Wiesental was part of the Grand Duchy of Baden. This was a difficult time and wars raged across central Europe almost continually. Many people decided to leave their ancestral home and emigrate to South America, Australia, and especially to the United States. In the 1850s, several families left Wiesental and settled in the area around my home town, Springville, New York. They must have liked what they found, because they were followed by many others. I know of over 100 people who emigrated from Wiesental and settled near Springville and the neighboring village of West Valley between 1850 and 1900. Many of these people are described in this genealogy. The emigrants from Wiesental to the Springville area include the Amann, Bremiller, Dahm, Eichenberger, Gentner, Heft, Heiler, Knebel, Mahl, Metzger, Reuter (Rider), Salzler, Scharf, Schumacher, Schweickert, and Seider families.
There is a web site for Heimatverein Wiesental, the local history museum in Wiesental, where you can learn a little more about Wiesental. The web site was created by Gerald Schäfer, who lives in nearby St. Leon-Rot.
Most of my genealogical research on the families from Wiesental has been based on the records from St.Jodokus Roman Catholic church in Wiesental, shown on the left. These records cover the period from the early 1700s to the early 1900s and are available through the LDS library in Salt Lake City.
For more information on emigration from Wiesental to Springville, see the book The Wiesental-Springville Connection.
Prepared by Don Gentner - 24 Jun 2002