TEXT FAMILY TREE & HISTORY
This history was abstracted from the Ahnentafel, Chronik, and Genealogy noted elsewhere. The old German script is difficult to read, but by comparing equivalent parts of different documents I was able to develop this history. I kept the German abbreviations as they are found in the original documents: "geb." (gebornen meaning born. Used for both date of birth and to indicated a woman’s maiden name.), "verh." (verheiraten meaning married, the date of the marriage.), and "ges." (gestorben, meaning date of death.) I also kept some German words for months and so on that are very similar to the English word. The references often give the religion, either Lutheran or Evangelish, which would indicate which church kept the records. We often describe the city of origin as Heidelberg, however many of the records cite Kirchheim, which is today a district of Heidelberg. Wikipedia reports that Kirchheim has a population of 350 in 1766 and 2000 in 1861. Today the Kirchheim district has a population of about 15,000.
About names and spellings: The records are clear that the original spelling was “Rimler” with one “m.” Also, that after about 1900, all the records say “Rimmler” with two “m’s.” Before that, the records are mixed, often the same person has the last name different in different records. This is interesting because of near-universal literacy in Germany at that time there must have been many written records. At any rate, someone doing further reasech would need to search both spellings. Here I used the spelling most common in the records. Regarding first and second names, again there are some spelling inconsistencies, and also, many of the people used their second name, probably because so many of the first names are the same. Also, some childred died very young and their names appear in some records and not in others.
The first Rimmler we have note of is Johann Philip Remler (1714-1782). [The author has this in notes from Heinz Rimmler and notes Elizabeth Perkins made from documents read by Lana Orth. Family tradition has it that the Rimmlers were Huguenots, that is, French Calvinists, who fled from religious persecution. These persecutions lasted over a hundred years, but the greatest exodus would have been in the years following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Thus the parents of Johann could have migrated from France.] Johann Remler died on 10th of [unclear], 1782. He married Josepha Margareta Speiss on June 8th, 1736; she was born in 1710 and died 20th [unclear] 1772. Johann Philip Remler is the father of Heinrich Rimler.
The "GenealogieFamilin Rimler in Kirscheim" starts the genealogy with a HEINRICH RIMLER, a citizen of Kirchheim (near Heidelberg), who married Eva Katharina geb. SCHNEIDER, both Lutherans, but the rest of the writing is unclear, there are no dates. Elizabeth’s notes from Lana indicate Heinrich was born 27 February 1736 and died 14 March 1792, and that Eva was born January 1736 and died 22 March 1809 and that they were married 16 August 1763. HEINRICH RIMLER was the father of:
JAKOB RIMLER (spelled with one "m" in the genealogy, but two "m"s in the "Ahnentafel".) Webermeister [master weaver] in Kirschheim born 6 March (or 16 May) 1775, died on 11 June 1835, married in October 1798 JAKOBINA ULRICH, born 1774, died 24 August 1842, daughter of Jakob Ulrich and Katharina born Braun. Both were Evangelish.
Jakob and Jakobina had 7 children:
• Heinrich, geb. 11 Jan 1799 (more below),
• Maria Barbara, geb. 27 Jan 1801, ges.9 July 1867, veh 16 Aug 1829 with Nicolaus Sauter.
• Jacob, geb. 1804,
• Jahan Melicor, (no birth date, married three times) veh 8 Jun 1839 with Eva Elizabeth Kram??, who died in 1845. In 1846 he married Maria Elizabeth ??,who died in 1850 , and finally with Katharina Barbara Herzog in 1851.
• Philip Lorenz, (no birth date) married Eva Rosina Geiter in 1838.
• Georg Michael, geb 1809, married Katharina Barbara Windisch in 17 October 1839.
• Dorothea, geb. 1819, ges 30 April 1822.
HEINRICH RIMLER, Polizidienst (police service) in Kirschheim. Geb 11 Januar 1799, ges. 13 Mai 1863, verh in 2 Dezember 1824 mit ANNA BARBARA ROSTOCK in Kirscheim, geb 6 Dez 1796, ges 7 Sep 1864. Evang. The family bible that follows the genealogy gives Heinrich's status as "Burger and Gemeindediener zu Kirchheim (Citizen and a minor church official (in English a beadle))." Heinrich and Anna Barbara are the common ancestors of the “Philipp and Lana Rimmlers” and the “Fritz Rimmlers.” Heinrich and Anna Barbara had 10 children:
• Jacob, geb. 1821
• Johann Martin, geb. 1822
* Michael, geb. 22 April 1825, (Michael is the forebearer of Heintz and Philipp Rimmler and Lana Orth.).
• Margaretha, geb. 1825, (may have been twin of Michael),
• Maria Katarina, geb. 1830,
• Melchior, geb. 1831,
• Susanna Margaretha, geb. 1833,
* Christoph, geb. 22 Feb. 1836, (Christoph is the forbearer of Karl Fredrich and others, see below.)
• Christina, geb. 1838,
• Georg, geb. 1842.
Here we follow first Christop's line, according to the Ahnentafel, to the parents of Karl Fredrich, then follow Michael's line from the Familien Chronek. Also, since so many of the names are the same, I'll indicate the year of birth in parenthesis after names that are likely to be confused.
CHRISTOPH (spelled without the final "h" in the "genealogy") geb 23 February 1836 in Kirchheim, was a schreinermeister (master carpenter.) [The Ahnentafel give his date of death as 1860, but this is certainly a misprint, since that is the same date as his marriage, so his date of death is uncertain.) In 21 Jun 1860 he married ANNA MARIA HERZOG in Kirchheim, both were Evangelish. (I don't have a record of the other children of Christoph and Anna Maria, except for Philip (1862) whom is Karl Fredrich's father.) Regarding Anna Herzog:
ANNA MARIA RIMMLER, geb HERZOG, geb in Kirchheim 24 Mar 1838, ges. 4 Mar 1910. Her father was FRANZ HERZOG, Landwirt (farmer, implies larger landowner than the word "Bauer" which also means farmer.) geb. 21 Dez 1808, ges. 14 Jun 1874. Son of Martin Herzog, Landwirt, Kirchheim (?), who was born August 1790 in Sandhausen and ges. 10 Feb 1820. Martin's wife was Barbara, geb. Bach on 1 Sep 1780 and ges. on 11 Dez 1854.
MOTHER: ELIZABETH SCHWABLER (may be schmabler), geb. 21 Mar 1809, ges 8 Mai 1877. Daughter of Jahan {?} Georg Schw(m)abler, also landwirt in Kirchheim, geb 15 Aug 1783 and ges 26 Mar 1854. His wife was Dorotha geb Schmitt from Nekarhausen, ges. 1835.
Philipp Rimmler (1862) married Katharina Susann Schweigart. They are the parents of Karl Friedrich. Katharina died relatively young in 1908. Philipp later remarried Antonia; they had no children. At the marriage of Philipp and Antonia, a family bible was given to the couple. Antonia later gave this to Louise Hagner. This bible is much newer than the other "Reinhard Bible" discussed elsewhere, but has details about the Philipp Rimmler family.
PHILIPP RIMMLER, geb 14 Jan 1862, in Kirchheim and died on October 17, 1939, in Heidelberg. . His occupation was listed as "Werkstatten Vorsteher A.D." which means a foreman or supervisor in a machine shop. The A.D. stands for "ausser dienst" which could mean retired or not active in that occupation. [I asked Lena Orth on that point and she indicated he was “sickly.” Lena’s memory would be prior to 1920, or so. My mother does not recall any health issues and he was healthy during visits to the US in the 1930’s.] He was Evangelish. On 3 Jan 1885 (or January 27, 1864) in Heidelberg he married:
KATHARINA SUSANN SCHWEIKART geb 28 Jan 1864 in Heidelberg and ges 19 Marz 1908. (The Ahnentafel has "Susann", the Bible has "Susanne".) Katharina died in March 19, 1908. Philipp married Antonnine Zimmerman in Wissbaden on December 16, 1916. She was born in December 21, 1863, in Werkheim
The parents of Katharina Schweikart were:
FATHER: JOH. GEORG CHRISTIAN SCHWEIKART a Burger (citizen) and Weingartner (vintner) from Heidelberg. Jon. Georg geb. 26 Aug 1828, ges 19 (or 17) Jul 1912. He was the son of a Martin Schweikart and Rosine geb Fischer.
MOTHER: ANNA ELIZABETHA REINHARD geb 15 Feb 1830. She was the daughter of Johan Sebastian Reinhard and his wife Anna Katharina who was geb Gerlach from Handshuhsheim. Anna Elizabetha died 11 Apr 1908. The “Rimmler Family Bible” we have is actually the Reinhard’s and the writing lists a Sebastean (b. 1816), Anna Maria (b. 1822), Johan Michael (b 1827), Eberhard (b 1827), Anna Elizabeth (1830-1908) and Eva Katerina (b.1832). We have the confirmation certificate of [Johan] Michael in 1840; Anna Elizabeth “volkschule” diploma in 1843; and some similar documents of this generation. Family tradition has it that Anna died of heartbreak after the death of her daughter.
Before returning to the generation of Karl Friedrich, let us continue the descendants of Michael Rimler (geb 1825). Michael married MAGDALENA GOTTSELIG geb 7 Mar 1828. Verh. 15 Feb 1852. Her father was Andreas Gottselig and her mother was Johanna geb. Weis. Michael and Magdalena had six children listed in the "Familien Chronik", including Heinrich Rimler (listed with only one "m" in the Chronik.) who was born 16 Oct 1867. The story of building the house is by Michael. It alludes to a wife who died and Magdalena would be his second wife. Thus Margaretha below would be by this first wife. Heinrich Rimler is the father of Philipp, Heinz and Lana. The Stammtafel has his death as 1935. These are the children of Michael (1825) and Magdalena:
• Margaretha geb 4 Oct 1849. She married a Martin Kocher in 1871 and they had two children Elisabeth geb 3 Mar 1872 and Urbanus, geb 10 Jule 1873.
• Christina Rimler, geb 13 Jul 1853,
• Johann Martin Rimler, geb 14 Feb 1855,
• Elizabeth Rimler, geb 25 Aug 1857,
• Susanna Rimler, geb 6 Apr 1860.
• Heinrich Rimler, geb 16 Oct 1867.
Based on the "Stammtafel der Familie Rimmler":
Heinrich Rimmler (now with the standard 2 "m"s) (1867-1935) married (1892) Anna Christian Heck (1870-1958). They had seven children:
• Martin 1893-1916, may have died in World War 1.
• Philipp 1894, who married Katherine (“Kitty”) Schellenberger; their children Philipp, William and John.
• Kathe (umlaut on the "a") 1896-1940, She was in a mental hospital and may have been killed under the Third Reich’s attempts to rid the state of handicapped people.
• Wilhelm 1897, who may have died young.
• Freidrich 1898-1917
• Magdalena (Lena) 1900, who married Alouis Orth. Their children: Margaret and Gloria.
• Heinz 1911, who married Ingrid 1931-1989. Their children Ingo (b. 1958) and Uli (b. 1961). (Ingrid was Heinz’ second wife. He had a daughter by his first wife. I don’t have any other information on this.)