Villingen-Schwenningen

History
Prior to (some date), Schwenningen was its own town. After that, it was merged with nearby Villingen and is now called Villingen-Schwenningen.

A border between two former kingdoms ran between Villingen and Schwenningen. Villingen was on the Baden (Catholic) side of the border; Schwenningen was on the Wurttemberg (Protestant) side of the border.

The town was nearly destroyed during the Thirty Years War. Church records (Schwenningen Evangelische Kirchenbücher) from this time period were destroyed. Church records resumed in 1651-52; these are microfilmed by the LDS, film #1658743 through 1658748. Some pre-war genealogical information, however, can be gleaned by looking at non-church records such as land deeds, property taxes and other records. The best such compilation for Schwenningen is:

Reinartz, Manfred, Inventuren-u. Teilungen (c. abt. 1990, 928 pages; German language)

See also Otto Benzing, Quellen zur Schwenninger Geschichte 890-1600, a collection of sources and documents concerning Schwenningen, collected in different archives (Karlsruhe, Stuttgart etc.) and published in this book.

Jillaine Smith has begun a project to document descendants of those who emigrated from Schwenningen, mostly in the mid 1800s. More information about that project may be found here:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jillaine/jauch

Name variations
Villingen-Schwenningen

Notable inhabitants
(Some of the earliest names of the town who are the fore-parents of most Schwenningers)
 * Hanss BENZING (abt 1575-1632)
 * Jakob BENZING (abt 1604-1678)
 * Caspar HALLER (abt 1580-bef 1652))
 * Pallin HALLER (abt 1580-1669))
 * Michael HAUSSER (abt 1585-1635)
 * Hanss JAECKLE (abt 1616-1692)
 * Mathaeus-Theis JAUCH (abt 1500- abt 1570)
 * Bartlin JAUCH (abt 1575-aft 1605)
 * Michael JAUCH (abt 1591-1663)
 * Veit JAUCH (abt 1594-1657)
 * Hanss LAUFFER (abt 1584-1658) - Vogt in Schwenningen
 * Paul LINK (abt 1585-bef 1653)
 * Heinrich MAJER (abt 1610-?)
 * Lorentz MAJER (abt 1624-1680) - Richter in Schwenningen
 * Balthasar MUELLER (abt 1585-bef 1651)
 * Hanss MUELLER (abt 1590-abt 1632)
 * Valentin MUELLER (abt 1603-1673) - aka Vaeblin
 * Christian PALMTAG (abt 1610-bef 1659)
 * Hanss PALMTAG (abt 1570-bef 1653)
 * Hanss QUATTLAENDER (abt 1560-??)
 * Conrad RAPP (abt 1550-bef 1638)
 * Christian SCHLENKER (abt 1580-bef 1653)
 * Erhardt SCHLENKER (abt 1590-bef 1652)
 * Hanss SCHLENKER (abt 1580-bef 1623)
 * Jakob SCHLENKER (abt 1555-??)
 * Martin SCHLENKER (abt 1585-bef 1653)
 * Hanss SCHOERPP (abt 1600-bef 1653)
 * Pauli SCHRENK (abt 1595-1662)
 * Christian SPECK (abt 1575-bef 1629)
 * Balthas WEILER (abt 1600-bef 1653)
 * Georg WEILER (abt 1607-1688)

Genealogy resources

 * Germans to America
 * Schwenninger Heimatverein (Historical Society)
 * Hauser Hofe Hofstatten
 * Schwenningen Evangelische Kirchenbuchs & Familienbuchs
 * Inventuren u. Teilingen
 * Quellen zur Schwenninger Geschichte 890-1600. Otto Benzing.
 * Unsere Vorfahren in Schweningen und auf der Baar (Martin & Otto Benzing, c. 1930s?)
 * Wuerttemberg Emigration Index

Contributors
Jillaine