Wendelin Grunewald (1871 - 1933)

Wendelin Grunewald 

was born on September 13, 1871 in the small village of Frickenhausen, Bavaria, Germany.

He was born to:

Wendelin Georg Grunewald (1823 - 1884) of Frickenhausen

and

Ana Margareta Apollonia Hofmann (1822 - 1895) of Frickenhausen

Wendelin was of the Catholic religion.

In 1894 he married Maria Mandel (1870 - 1925) from Marktbreit.

His son Franz Xaver goes on to tell us that his father met his mother Maria 'Rettel" geb. Mandel in the town square in Marktbreit where she was from. He teased her that "she would rather paddle downstream than marry upstream.' This was in reference to the fact that the town of Marktbreit that she was from was a nicer town than his hometown of Frickenhausen. According to Franz, they got along very well. Of his mother and father, Franz said, "They were very ambitious and hard-working people."

Their marriage produced 6 children:

Katinka (1894 - ?)

Barbara 'Barbel' (1896 - 1971)

George Johann 'Schosh' (1897 - 1917)

Franz Xaver (1903 - 1985) our ancestral line

Elizabetha 'Liesel' (1909 - 1992)

Wendelin (1913 - 1986)

From left to right first row:Elisabetha 'Liesel', Wendelin, Barbara 'Barbel'
second row: Wendelin and Franz Xaver

He and Maria geb. Mandel lived on 10th Street in Frickenhausen

Their home was located down Zehntgasse (10th Street)

This was their home that they moved in to around 1895 according to their son Franz Grunewald's memoirs 'Rotlauf.'

Per Franz Xaver's (Wendelin's son) his father Wendelin studied as a mason and later became a foreman. He also acted as the town's police chief, town clerk and mayor all rolled into one. Wendelin was in charge of ringing the town bell and then reading the town news to everyone. The census records that he took recording the towns people and the farm animals they owned eventually ended up in the basement of his son, Franz Xaver's, home. My mother and some of her siblings would play with the large books when they were kids.

He was active in the military and belonged to the 14th Infantry Regiment in Nurenberg. When he left the army his ranking was that of 'master sargeant.' According to his son's memoirs, "He was a sharp man and was loved by all the girls." 

A story from Franz Xaver's memoirs "Rotlauf" about his father is as follows:

"I can remember in 1907 when they put up a weathervane on the top of the hill in Frickenhausen. My father put me in a wagon along with his tools and up the hill we went to put up the weathervane, that he and other towns people had made. My father wrote the year they put it up (1907) in cement at the base of it. When he had finished the job it was real dark and a thunderstorm was coming. He put me in the wagon, along with his tools and off we went back to town. It started to rain real hard and by the time we got down the hill, the wagon was half full of water and lightening was striking everywhere. It looked like the world was coming to an end, but we got home safely. He took me out of the wagon and the water just ran off of me. He said, "Your mother doesn't have to give you a bath today." I remember this story every time I go by the weathervane."

Franz Xaver's wife, Rosa Grunewald geb. Schmittner always referred to Wendelin as a 'peacock' because he was always impeccably dressed and seemed to strut around.

Wendelin died in March of 1933 in Frickenhausen and was buried in the town cemetery behind these gates.