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Franco Prussian War Document Handwriting Help. Hilfe.

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    Franco Prussian War Document Handwriting Help. Hilfe.

    I am trying to decipher parts of a Franco-Prussian War document. It is an award document that was presented to an individual from East Prussia for the Kriegsdenkmünze für die Feldzüge 1870-1871 (Commemorative Medal for 1870-1871 Military Campaigns).

    An accurate translation of the recipient’s name is what causing me some difficulty.
    It appears that the recipient could be “Wehrmann Gnoryn Jessat”, but my command of the German Kurrentschrift is not the best. The individual is from what was the small town of Plonszöwen later that was spelled Plonszwesen in the district of Pillkallen (Kreis Pillkallen). In 1936 the town was renamed Waldhufen. The town is near the Šešupė River (Lithuanian), then named Szeszuppe in German. Today the town is in the Kaliningrad Oblast. This area at one time was once home to many Prussian-Lithuanians and quite a few surnames in this region were quite different from German ones. One reference to Plonszwesen showed an “Else Jessat” being a resident in 1845. Perhaps she was a relative of the recipient as the town most likely had a small population.

    The document was presented on 1 August 1871 in Gumbinnen, East Prussia and signed by the brigade commander “Olbnitz” ? The script beneath the signature is a bit hard to make out but appears to be the full military title of the brigade commander.

    The Wehrmann probably was assigned to the East Prussian Landwehr-Regiment Nr. 3 which was based out of Gumbinnen (Ostpreußisches Landwehr-Regiment Nr. 3 (Batl. Gumbinnen). Further scouring of East Prussian archives did not reveal any significant leads on the recipient. Perhaps I deciphered the name incorrectly. Any help or further insight pertaining to this document is much appreciated. An interesting piece of history from the far eastern reaches of Imperial German Empire.


    https://www.flickr.com/photos/777046...-BCwHvc-CxBwbJ


    https://www.flickr.com/photos/777046...-BCwHvc-CxBwbJ
    Last edited by Snaiperis; 12-27-2015, 06:40 PM. Reason: No photos

    #2
    The first name is George.

    The last name is difficult because the second last letter is smeared.

    It appears to be Jeschats or Jeschabs. Both are rather odd un-German sounding names.

    Comment


      #3
      Hello,

      I will investigate further. Many Prussian-Lithuanians served in various conflicts dating back to the time of Frederick the Great. Your two surname suggestions definitely make the name be Prussian-Lithuanian. Newspapers in eastern East Prussia where many Lithuanians lived were written in the Lithuanian language with Gothic script. One would see a mixture and Lithuanian in the spoken and written language. My grandfather who served in WWI and WWII spoke German but his Lithuanian had many German phrases in it. If you look at this web site, you will see the names of many Prussian-Lithuanians who went missing. Many of the names are very un-German.

      http://wikide.genealogy.net/Memellan...en_Weltkrieges

      Kindest regards and Happy New Year!

      Arunas

      Comment


        #4
        It could also be 'Jeschak' which makes mores sense and would fit an eastern name better. I've seen 'k' written this way before at the end of words, where it looks like two letters like 'ts', 'ls', 'bs' etc., but is actually only one.
        Last edited by Brian L.; 12-27-2015, 10:29 PM.

        Comment


          #5
          The name of the Wehrmann is:

          George Jessat

          signed by

          von Oelnitz
          Hauptmann und Landwehrbezirkskommandeur

          Comment


            #6
            Jasaitis is Lithuanian surname, example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simas_Jasaitis

            Comment

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