Ferdinand Asmus

August Friedrich Ferdinand Asmus (born April 22, 1859 in Schönebeck , Saatzig district , † 1945 in Kolberg ) was a local researcher and genealogist in and for Pomerania , especially Western Pomerania . He was an avid collector of Pomeranian sagas, myths and legends. He also wrote a large number of genealogical works that document the origins of long-established Pomeranian families. A total of about 42 family chronicles can be traced back to his extensive research. Some research has appeared in books and newspapers.

Life

Ferdinand Asmus was born on April 22nd, 1859 in Schönebeck in the Saatzig district in Western Pomerania. He was the descendant of a family of farmers from Schleswig-Holstein who had settled in Western Pomerania in the middle of the 18th century. He was the son of Christian Friedrich Asmus and Friederike Luise, née Schulz, from Schönebeck.

In 1881, at the age of 22, he became a teacher and worked as such for three years in Zülkenhagen , Neustettin district , and then for six years in Warnin , Köslin district .

In 1890 he finally succeeded his father-in-law Julius Heyer as a teacher in Zwilipp , Kolberg-Körlin district . Ferdinand Asmus had married his daughter Franziska Heyer. In Zwilipp, his interest in regional history, customs and genealogy was given a further boost, because due to the isolation of the village, a number of traditions and customs had been preserved here. Some of the local farmers belonged to a very old farming dynasty. For example, he was able to trace the Henke family back to one of their ancestors, Hans Hanneke, who came from neighboring Damgardt and was born in 1488.

His sources not only included church registers, for example the Zwilipper church register was destroyed in a fire in 1787. He drew his information about the time before from other official sources, such as B. old court records. In 1924 Asmus retired and he retired in Kolberg . But his researching interest continued until his death. During the siege of Kolberg in 1945 by the Red Army , he died alone in the basement of his apartment at Oberwallstrasse 68 at the age of 85. Most recently he was bedridden and was cared for by his daughter Frieda, who also did not survive the siege of the city.

Fonts

Few of Asmus' works have been printed and therefore only a fraction is left.

• 1893: Employee of the "Blätter für Pommersche Volkskunde" (1892–1902 published by Otto Knoop and Alfred Haas in Stettin, later Labes)
• Before 1895: Chronicle of the Gehre family
• From 1895: further chronicles of families of the Kolberg-Körliner Land, a. a. Vahsholz, Henke, Braasch, Kummrow or Rackow
• 1898: F. Asmus u. O. Knoop: Legends and stories from the Kolberg-Körlin district. Kolberg (CF Post) 1898
• 1902–1924: (reported by A. in the "monthly sheets of the Kolberger Verein für Heimatkunde")
  • Village book by Zwilipp
  • Work of a country teacher
  • School Chronicle
• 1915: F. Asmus: The war winter in a Pomeranian village. In: Unser Pommerland , 3rd year (1915). No. 2 (reprint: Kolberger Zeitung 2/1967)
• 1927: F. Asmus: Kolberger Volkshumor. New legends, stories and fairy tales, taunts, jokes and local nonsense from the Kolberg-Körlin district. (= Ostpommerscher Sagenschatz, Vol. IV.) Köslin (Hendeß) 1927
• F. Asmus: Kolberg's sea trade in the French period 1807–1814. In: Kolberg-Körlin home calendar for the year 1927 (reprint: PZ October 2, 1982)
• Without year:
  • Collection of stories and expressions in Low German (sent to the German Department of the University of Greifswald)
  • F. Asmus: Kolbergs Notzeit [about 1st half of the 19th century]. In: PZ November 21, 1981

literature

• Katarina Berger: Stories and stories in Pomerania: 1840 to 1938. Münster 2001.
• Otto Dibbelt : Our helper in Zwielipp. In: Monthly newspaper of the Kolberger Verein für Heimatkunde. Issue 1/4 of August 30, 1924, p. 16.
• Ulrich Gehrke: Teacher Asmus and his stories from Zwilipp. In: Announcements of the association of former students of the cathedral and secondary high school in Kolberg / Ostseebad Pomerania. No. 91, October 2003.
• Hermann Kasten: Ferdinand Asmus. Low German writer. In: Hermann Kasten (Hrsg.): Pomeranian poetry of the present. Verlag des Kösliner teachers' association, Köslin 1906, pp. 1-3.
• Otto Knoop : folk tales, stories, superstitions, customs and fairy tales from eastern Pomerania. Poznan 1885.
• Martina Riesener and Lothar Mademann: local family book with chronicle Zwilipp: Pustar manor, Kolberg-Körlin district. Plaidt: Cardamina 2014, ISBN 978-3-86424-163-5
• Matthias Springborn: Homeland and family researcher Ferdinand Asmus. In: Sedina archive. Family history reports from Pomerania. No. 4, 2007.
• Manfred Vollack: The Kolberger Land. Its cities and villages. A Pomeranian homeland book. Husum 1999. (contains chapter: "Rural customs around 1890 - according to Ferdinand Asmus")