Johann Christof Amelung by Marcine Lohman Table of Contents NGS Quarterly Report of Johann Christof Amelung..............................................2 Descendant Tree of Johann Christof Amelung ..................................................182 Index.............................................................................................................................241 1 Johann Christof Amelung Descendants of Johann Christof Amelung Generation No. 1 1. Johann Christof1 Amelung1 was born circa 1744 in Klein Rhüden, Ganderscheim, Braunschweig, Germany. He married Ilse Marie Hauenschild1 Bef. 1774 in Klein Rhüden, Ganderscheim, Braunschweig, Germany, daughter of Daniel Hauenschild. She was born circa 1744 in Klein Rhüden, Ganderscheim, Braunschweig, Germany2. Notes for Johann Christof Amelung: Other spellings of the name are: Abelang, Amalong, Amelung, Abelung, Armalunke, Amelunke, Amelunxen, Amelong, Amlung, Amelungen, Ameling, Amelang, Ahmling, and Amelunck. This family is currently being researched by Marcine E. Lohman (Amelung), 11285 Deerfield Drive, Firestone, CO 80504 U.S.A.; Phone: (303) 682-3249, E-mail: [email protected] webpage: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~celticlady/default.htm and Carolyn Schaeffer, <[email protected]> Since I haven't found that much research done on Amelung's, I've been collecting any data that I find on all variations of the spelling in order to have the most complete Amelung database. At least it will be recorded somewhere. I welcome any information or corrections you may have to my data. Below are some random notes I've found on the name. HISTORY OF THE NAME Amelung, Amelang, Ameling, Ahmling u.ä.: Amelungen heißen in der Heldensage die Mannen Dietrichs von Bern, auch die Nachkommen der Gotenherrscher, der Amaler, in deren Geschlecht die Namen mit Amal- (»Tatkraft, Energie«) beliebt waren, Amala-ricus, Amala-frida, -berga, -swintha, Angehörige Theoderichs d. Gr.; auch Amelolt, Held Dietrichs, wird im mhd. Gedicht »Rosengarten« C Amelung genannt. Zur Endung -ung siehe Adelung! Um 1100/1300 in Süd u. Nord, bei Adel, Bürgern u. Bauern war Adelung beliebter Name. Noch um 1600 nennt der Kieler Bürgermster. Amelung von Lengerke s. Sohn gleichfalls Amelung! Siehe auch Amelrich, Amelbrecht. English Translation: Amelung, Amelang, Ameling, Ahmling u.ä.: Amelungen as named in the hero's legend, Mannen Dietrich of Berne, known also as the descendants of the Goth rulers, the Amaler in whose gender the names with Amal-(" energy ") were popular, Amala-ricus, Amala-Frida,- berga,-swintha, members Theoderichs d. Gr.; also Amelolt, hero of Dietrich, is called in mhd. the poem " rose garden " C Amelung. For the ending ung see Adelung! , Adelung was a popular name around 1100/1300 in the north and south, with nobility, castles and 2 Johann Christof Amelung farmers. Still around 1600, the Kieler Bürgermeister named Amelung von Lengerke's. son also a Amelung! See also Amelrich, Amelbrecht. ---------------------------------------------- The Amelungsborn Monastery (known also as the Amelunxborn Monastery) is a cherished ev.-luth. Regional church in the district of Holzminden, Germany. The Amelungsborn Monastery was founded in the 12th century when Amelungsborn, based as one of the oldest Evangelic Cistercian monasteries in Lower Saxony, was founded by count Siegfried IV of Nordheim in 1129. By 1145 Amelungsborn became the mother's monastery of Riddagshausen near Braunschweig and from there the "monk's hostel" Doberan was also created in 1171 which became one of the most powerful and richest monasteries of Eastern Germany. In 1568, the monastery accepted the Augsburgische confession [which is the same as the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Pilot Knob, MO]. In 1963 the monastery district, with the big monastic church, Saint Maria, was unveiled. The location of the Monastery, being of a higher altitude, contributes to the heavy-rainfall and also cooler climate where wheat, barley, and beets are cultivated. [Marcine's Note: Amelungsborn is not very far from Holzminden which is where the famous Amelung Glassmakers lived for a time.] ---------------------------------------------- The Amelung Name The name Amelang or Amalungi is one of ancient royal families, mighty kings and fierce queens, there can be no doubt. In German-American Names, by George F. Jones, he describes the family name, Amelung, as originating from a Germanic tribe or dynasty.(1) Not merely Gothic royalty but "the highest nobility" within the so-called "barbarian" world of Roman times. Many of the names of the actual individuals will sound strange and distant to the modern ear, especially those of us who grew up speaking English, a language we Amelangs have used for only a very small part of our long history. Even in our German "Fatherland" major language shifts over the centuries have made the old names sound at least a bit foreign to the modern ear. (5) Any serious student of our family history should read a book called History of the Goths, by Herwig Wolfram, and what follows are a few comments about our early family history discussed at length by Wolfram. Amelang is derived from the ancient tribal name Amal, (pl. Amali) and is the genealogia Ostragotharum, the family of the Ostragoths. The Amal clan was revered among the Ostragoths who assigned divine charisma to their leaders, acclaiming the Amali as Aesir, or of the old Nordic ruling dynasty of Gods. The Roman Cassiodorus (b. ca 484AD) recorded the Amal tribal history of the Goths, and Jordanes (6th Century AD) preserved it for posterity. Early Amal history is both complex and rich in legend. Dietrich von Bern better known in English as Theodoric of Verona, perhaps most famous of the Ostogothic kings, traced the 3 Johann Christof Amelung family origins to Scandanavia. Cassiodorus said that King Berig led the Goths "long ago" from the island of Scandza and as soon as they set foot on land they named their landfall Gothiscandza. From there the Amali marched on settlements along the coastline, making war on the inhabitants and driving them from the land. Theodoric tells us that the Amali made the long trek through central Europe by way of eastern Pomerania and the Vistula to the Black Sea, from there to Panonia and Moesia, and finally to Italy. The long, arduous journey, beginning around the time of the birth of Christ, lasted more than a half a millennium. Some facts can be sorted from the legends surrounding the trek of northern Goths across the Baltic to the Continent by referring to the Amal genealogy, and three of the earliest related tribal founders. Older than Ostrogotha, King of the Black Sea Goths, is Amal, with whom the history of the Amali begins. And older than Amal is King Gaut, and the Scandinavians who called themselves Gauts (or Goths). The Iron One, Hisarna, son of Amal, is an "acculturation" to the ancient Celts, a process that began long before the Amali became Goths and reached the Black sea. Indeed, in the realm of myth and saga the Gothic name disappeared completely; one spoke of the descendants of the Amali, the Amalungi, if one meant the Goths. And, In medieval poetry and historiography the Goths are the Amalungi, the descendants of the Amal Theodoric (Dietrich von Bern). There are several variations of the name. Amelungen is defined in the New Century Cyclopedia of Names as the ruling family of the Ostrogoths (and possibly at an earlier date, before the division of the Goths, of the Visigoths as well) which first came to prominence in the 4th century under their King Ermanric and attained their greatest fame under Theodoric the Great (c. 454-526). (2) The Visigoths were the descendants of the branch of the Gothic race established by Aurelian in Dacia (270). The descendants of the other branch of the race, which remained in Southern Russia, were called Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). (3) The Goths were a Germanic people who probably migrated from southern Scandinavia sometime before the time of Christ. By the 3rd century the Goths had settled in the areas around the Black Sea and were staging periodic raids on Roman territory. Those who settled in the area of the modern Ukraine came to be known as Ostrogoths. Those who settled in the region of the Danube were called Visigoths. (4) During the 4th century the Visigoths coexisted peacefully with the Romans, farming and trading agricultural products and slaves for luxury goods. The Visigoths adopted many elements of Roman culture. Some of them became literate in Latin. In the middle of the century substantial numbers of the Visigoths accepted Arianism. (Source: Grolier Encyclopedia, CD Rom, Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.) The Huns' drive westward pushed the Visigoths into territory controlled by the Roman Empire. The Ostrogoths were conquered (c.370) by the Huns. The resulting conflict culminated in a great Visigothic victory at Adrianople in 378 and led to an alliance with the empire. But the Visigoths were fickle allies; under ALARIC I they sacked Rome in 410 4 Johann Christof Amelung and in 418 settled in Aquitaine in southwestern France. During the last half of the 5th century the Visigoths expanded their control to Spain, but in 507-08 the Franks under CLOVIS drove them from most of Aquitaine. (4) Under Theodoric The Great the Ostrogoths moved west, and Theodoric became king of Italy (493-526). He was succeeded by his daughter Amalasuntha, who was murdered in 535 by her husband and co-ruler, Theodahad. Her allies, the Byzantines, soon attacked Italy, but the Ostrogoth forces held out until 553. The