I’m traveling with the German-Bohemian Heritage Society. The majority of our members--and everyone on this tour--have ancestors who cluster migrated to Minnesota. These ancestors were ethnically German but living in Bohemia (today’s Czech Republic). Emigrants left the Czech border lands and settled all over the world: Minnesota, Kansas, Brazil,..... Most of the German-Bohemians from the New Ulm area have ancestors from Kreis Bischofteinitz and Taus (Kreis is similar to “county” in the United States).
World War II changed this region forever. The end result saw the German-Bohemian people forcibly expelled from their homes. Everyone who was living in these villages was forced to leave their homes behind.
These expellees did something extraordinary though--they started holding reunions to preserve their connections to friends and family.
That’s what we’re here for: the Bischofteinitz Heimatkreistreffen. the Fest Hall has many tables with village names, so old friends and neighbors can connect and Minnesotans interested in family history can make new ones. Read on to hear about our experiences in the homeland....
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