Freinsheim is a small town in the Palatinate (in German, der Pfalz) about 22 km west of Mannheim, 29 km NNW of Speyer and 20 km SW of Worms. The current population is about 5,000.

According to the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim (Freinsheim Community Association), the earliest signs of human habitation in the area date from the Urnfield Culture of the late Bronze Age, 1300 BCE - 750 BCE. The Romans arrived in about 1 AD, bringing with them grape vines and viticulture. Freinsheim is located in the Palatinate wine region, specifically in the Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstrasse (Central Haardt-German Wine Route). The Haardt Mountains to the west shelter the region, making it one of the warmest, sunniest and driest of German wine regions. It's no accident that the Freinsheim's coat of arms depicts grapes.

The name "Frainsheim" first appears in a monastic document in 774. Heim means home. It's a common German place name element. Frainsheim would be Frain's home, but I have no idea who or what Frain was. In pfälzisch dialect, the name of the town is Främsen.

This copper engraving from about 1625 depicts Frainsheim with Frankenthal, 12 km ENE, in the background. The tallest steeple in the centre of town belongs to the Protestant church. The original building dated from the late 15th century.

Medieval Freinsheim was burnt by the French in the autumn of 1689, shortly after the start of the Nine Years' War, 1688-1697. This pencil drawing by Peter Hamman (1624-1692) shows Freinsheim on May 31, 1689, four months before its destruction. The columns in the background represent the clouds of smoke rising from the burning cities of Oppenheim, Worms and Speyer. Oppenheim is 46 km NNE of Freinsheim, Worms is 20 km NE and Speyer is 20 km SE. For comparison with the first image, Frankenthal would be to the right of the line between Freinsheim and Worms, equidistant from each.

The town - including the Protestant church - was reconstructed in the 18th century. This photo shows the southern side of the church. The building at the far left edge of the photo is the Catholic church of St Peter and Paul, built in 1772-1775.

The Availability of Freinsheim Church Records

There don't appear to be any surviving records for births, marriages or deaths in Freinsheim before 1698, a year after the Nine Years' War ended. Presumably any records from 1689 or before were burnt. Records for the next nine years may have been destroyed or, in the chaos of war, may never have been collected in the first place.

Most of the information I have on the Werner, Engel and Sohn families in Freinsheim from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries came to me in 2004 courtesy of Siegfried Barth, archivist with the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim. Where possible I've supplemented it with church records available at FamilySearch.org.

The availability of Freinsheim records at FamilySearch.org has some limitations, notably during the period when Freinsheim was under revolutionary French rule (1795-1815):

Note: Some time between July and November 2018, some 19th century records from Freinsheim became no longer available at FamilySearch.org. These include all burial records and those marriage records that display parents' names. Freinsheim church books are now available at Archion.de but a paid subscription is necessary to view them. It's also necessary to be able to read German script. Stephen P Morse's Converting between old Germanic Print and Cursive in One Step is a lifesaver in this regard. For example, the name Werner would look like:

Freinsheim Families

I'm a descendant of the Engel, Fett, Fuhrmann, Hohl, Messinger, Reck, Sohn, Werner and Willi families of Freinsheim (and probably others, but these are the ones I know about). I've also done research on some other families who tended to intermarry with "my" families: Apresch, Ehrhardt, Michel, Neunzehnhöltzer, Orth, Pirmann, Schaffner, Stocke, Walz, and Weilbrenner.

I've also followed some families to the States:

• The Barth Family of New York - descendants of Anna Maria Ehrhardt and Ludwig Barth.
• The Reck Family of Missouri - stay tuned!
• The Rupp Family of New York - descendants of Barbara Fett and Conrad Rupp. Barbara was the daughter of Elisabetha Engel and Johann Valentin Fett.
• The Sohn Family of Maryland - descendants of Adam Sohn.
• The Weilbrenner Family of Iowa - stay tuned!
• The Weilbrenner Family of Maryland - stay tuned!
• The Werner Family of Rye, New York - stay tuned!
• The Willy Family of Pennsylvania - descendants of George Willy.

There are many, many other stories to tell, and you're welcome to jump in.