This lovely photo shows Bernard Joseph Anstoetter and Lidwina Kramer just after their wedding in Dyersville, Iowa, December 1919. My mother in law, child of Ben and Lydia had one of the rarest surnames I’ve ever researched. Every person in the United States with the surname Anstoetter/Anstoeter was directly related to her within 3 generations. All of them descend from 2 brothers who arrived in the US about 1868. This also appears to be a very rare surname in Germany. It’s always a bit of a shock to search for a name and have almost nothing turn up! However this has its good points. Anything I post or write about the family is sure to be found and read. As a result I’ve just been blessed with wonderful instance of Genealogical Serendipity.
The Anstoetter men hailed from Hummeldorf near Salzbergen Germany. Neither Hummeldorf or Salzbergen are large towns even today. So you can imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from an official of the Historical Society for Salzbergen. She was interested in finding out more about these former citizens of her town. And it turned out she had access to the unmicrofilmed church records of St. Cyriakus in Salzbergen. So a gift from heaven!!! I now know that John Herman and Gerhard Heinrich had at least 2 older half brothers and that they had an aunt, Anna Adelheid (Anstoeter) Ovel who moved to Iowa ahead of them. And almost as interesting, I know the meaning of this rare surname. According to Karin – Ansoteter comes from the word anstossen which means a family or person who lives on the border between 2 countries. In the 19th century the Anstoeter family farm was on the border between the Kingdoms of Hanover and Prussia. And today that same farm (which I’m not sure is still in the family) is on the border between the German states of Lower-Saxony and Northrhine -Westpahlia.
Thank you Karin for your wonderful help and your kind actions.
I too am descended from the Anstöter’s of Hummeldorf, descended from the Anna Adelheid Anstöter Ovel you refer to above.
I’ve also worked with Karin. She’s done a great deal of work linking the families of the old and new worlds. She was most helpful and sent pictures of an exhibition of the Salzbergen auswanders, an event put on by her Society. Karin had also sent to me and a couple of my cousins scans of some letters written by my gg-aunt in Osceola Co, Iowa, who had sent letters to her relatives in Germany. It was amazing that Karin came into possession of them. The world really is quite small.
I had never learned before, though, of the origins of the name, Anstöter. Thanks for that.
Let me know if you want to exchange information.
Thanks for touching base. The Internet has made the world much smaller. If you go to my website http://www.mcwieser.info you can see pictures of your Anstoetter cousins! They are a numerous clan and in no danger of “daughtering our” unlike my own family name. I would love to exchange some information. Give me a few weeks to get through this remodel and I’ll send you some thing on John Herman’s families.