Deuble Ancestors in Treschklingen

Wolfgang offered to take us to the village of Treschklingen on our drive back to Berlin from Mannheim. My grandmother's dad was a Deuble. I'd found Treschklingen, on a birth record in 1798 for our immigrant ancestor, George Michael Deuble. Wolfgang and Andrea got out the map and found the town. It was sort of on our way... if we left early (or drove fast enough) to accommodate the extra miles.

The Deubles were clock and watchmakers. They built the town clock in Canton, Ohio and opened a jewelry store that survived many generations. I'd met some Canton Deubles, but had never gotten back past the immigrant ancestor in my genealogical search.

Treschklingen is about an hour southeast of Mannheim.

We parked near the church and were greeted loudly by the livestock. I was surprised the no one came out of the nearby houses to find out what was going on.


That crest says 1582. Some of these buildings looked pretty old.


We walked a couple of blocks to the town center and met a young boy on a bicycle who pointed us in the direction of the cemetery. It was a very small town so it was only a couple of blocks up the street to the entrance (at the end of town).

No Deubles in the cemetery, but they had some pretty graves.

This cemetery was smaller than the one at Grossteinhausen and the oldest grave we saw was 1968. Gravesites are leased and reused if the lease expires.


Wolfgang discovered a pathway that led from the church to the cemetery. So we walked back to where we'd parked our car by the church. I had to wonder if this path was used for funeral processions. It certainly gave us a feeling for what the village might have felt like during the time my ancestors lived there.

The town was very quiet. We didn't see people out on the street and no shops or restaurants.


Wolfgang knocked on the door of a home to find out if there was someone who could tell us if there were still Deubles in this community. A young woman came to the door and sent us up the street to her mother-in-law's home. Her mother-in-law took us around the corner to the home of Margret Niklaus, who has been compiling family histories in the town.

Frau Niklaus recognized our family name immediately. She invited us into her home and showed the book of families she has put together. Wolfgang translated for us and she gave us photocopies of the information she had, which takes us back a couple of additional generations. It looks like the family didn't live in this town for very long. I need to translate the information but it definitely included our George Michael and his brother who came to Ohio.

No mention of clock or watch makers, but she told us the family had owned a tavern called the Eagle, located on the empty lot shown above.

This sign means, "You are now leaving Treschklingen."

Note how these villages are cut out of forest.

I was the assigned navigator for this part of the trip as we moved further east and then would turn north towards Berlin. There is no speed limit on the autobahn. Need I say more?