Religious affiliation in Pomerania and West Prussia 1750 -1850
I'm trying to narrow down my Protestant ancestor's possible relatives. Is it reasonable to rule out the families in the area who were Catholic?
Did most people stay with their religious upbringing for life, marry within their religion, and go to their own church for vital events, even if they had to travel to a different town?
The specific areas I am looking at are Landeck, Schlochau, West Prussia, and Gross Kuedde, Neustettin, Pomerania. My ancestor Ludwig Sieg (1813-1863, LJP6-DTG) came from Landeck and later settled in Gross Kuedde, and both towns had Protestant churches. The Landeck records are not available, but Ludwig's family had several vital events recorded in the Protestant Church of Gross Kuedde.
The Sieg surname is rare in this area, and most of the Siegs in the surrounding towns were Catholic. Many of these towns only had one church, so I'm wondering if families usually stayed with their own religion instead of intermarrying or attending the the closest church for convenience.
I'd love some input and guidance on this topic.
Thank you so much for you help,
Rachel
Miglior Risposta
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It is certainly impossible to give an answer that is absolutely true for all cases. Still, my general understanding is the following:
Most of the German population in this area was Lutheran. Changing the religious affiliation (in particular lutheran -> catholic) was very uncommon. It certainly did not happen for practical considerations such as proximity to a church. Intermarriage between Lutherans and Catholics may have occurred and in this case a conversion to the partner's church may have occurred, but not necessarily.
So, as you have found Protestant church records I would assume that the family belonged to the Lutheran church.
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Risposte
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@Ulrich Neitzel
Thank you so much for your insights on this. It really helps!
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