Birthplace of Max Schmittner

Max Schmittner 

 Born July 18, 1879 ~ Died 1945

Mom always thought Max was born in Freilassing, Bavaria, Germany because family members referred to him as "being from Freilassing." Now we know that "being from" and "being born" can be very different places.

We discovered Max's birth city when we came upon his World War 1 military record. It revealed that he was born in Feichten, Muhldorf, Toging am Inn in Bayern (Bavaria). At some point in time, Max and his mother Anna must have moved from Toging to Freilassing.

According to these military records Max Was born to Simon Boxhammer and Anna Schmittner. So far, we have been unable to locate any additional information on Max's parents. We do believe that Anna is from the area, as we can find numerous Schmittner records dating way back, but do not know the name of her father to verify these records as of yet. As for Simon, he is a mystery. Apparently, they were not married and the Boxhammer name does not return any records when doing a genealogy search.

Toging am Inn is a town located on the Inn River in the Muhldorf district in Upper Oberbayen, Bavaria, Germany. This area is not known for the many Medieval castles that can be found in other parts of Germany. Today it is a small town of approximately 9,000 people, and is known as a fun festival town with many street markets. 

I was able to find an old postcard photo of Toging, but am not sure what year this was taken.

Map of the city layout 

Max and his wife Babette Hillermeier raised their family in the City of Ochsenfurt, Bavaria, Germany. In the photo below from left to right are: daughter-in-laws Centa and Barbel, daughter Rosa, Babette, Max holding granddaughter Hildegard Centa Grunewald (Rosa's youngest daughter). Front row from left to right is Erna and Eleanor 'Lore' Grunewald (Rosa's 2 oldest daughters) 

A second World War 1 military record revealed the names of Max's parents. His mother's name is Anna geb. Schmittner Felben. Anna eventually married a man named Lorenz Felber who was a landlord. According to the same record his father's name is Simon Boxhammer (Boschhammer). We were not expecting to find this information, but records do reveal secrets. Unfortunately, the record did not reveal where Simon was born or lived.  

Max's granddaughter - Hildegard Centa Grunewald Grinnell - described him as a very patient and mild-mannered gentleman. Very kind and big-hearted.