Traces
Objects · Documents · Stories
Do you own – or know of – an object bearing our coat of arms, a document, a picture or a story connected with our family? Then we would like to hear from you.
Over six centuries our family has left traces: in Melsungen and Nienburg on the Saale, in Köslin and Berlin, on the estates of Parsow, Schwemmin, Trienke and Drosedow in Farther Pomerania, at Rohrbeck and Nordhausen in the Neumark, in South West Africa and in Holstein. Much of it was lost in 1945: the library at Parsow with its four thousand volumes burned, the contents of the houses were scattered, letters, photographs and keepsakes were lost on the flight west or left behind. Some things were saved – above all the Rohrbeck family archive, kept since 1954 at the University of Erlangen. And some are still travelling: in attics, in antiquarian bookshops, at auctions, in Polish museums, in families whose ancestors lived and worked on our estates.
This page is an appeal. We are gathering what remains of our history – not in order to own it, but to understand and preserve it.
What we are looking for
Our arms are easy to recognise: a silver horse rising from flames on a black field, with the same horse on the crowned helmet. They appear on seals and signet rings, on silver and porcelain, on bookplates and library stamps, on letterheads, gravestones and buildings.
We welcome any information about:
- Objects bearing the arms – seals, signets, rings, table silver, porcelain, glass, furniture, heraldic panels, uniform buttons, bindings, bookplates
- Books and library material – from Parsow, Rohrbeck or Trienke – for instance with an ownership inscription, stamp or bookplate of the family
- Documents – letters, diaries, deeds, contracts, estate records, parish-register extracts, certificates, field post, accounts of the flight in 1945
- Pictures – portraits, photographs, drawings, lithographs and postcards of the houses, parks, churches and villages; pictures of family gatherings, hunts and harvests
- Memories – accounts by people whose families lived at Parsow, Schwemmin, Trienke, Drosedow, Rohrbeck or Nordhausen; reports on the years after 1945; information on the whereabouts of gravestones, memorial plaques and church furnishings
- Genealogical material – pedigrees, family trees, obituaries, family Bibles in which a member of our family appears
Even something apparently insignificant may matter to us: a single letter, a postcard, a photograph without a name. It is often the small piece that closes a gap.
What we promise
- We answer. – Every message is read and answered, usually within a few weeks.
- We help to identify. – If you are unsure whether a piece belongs to our family, we will gladly check – a photograph is enough.
- We ask for nothing. – Anyone who sends us a photograph or a scan has already helped. Loan, gift or purchase are discussed only if you wish.
- We preserve for good. – Originals entrusted to us go into the family archive or – for pieces of scholarly importance – into the Gerlach Archive at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where they remain accessible to research.
- We credit you – or not. – Whether your name is mentioned as finder or donor is entirely your decision. Without your consent we publish neither names nor images.
How to reach us
Write to archiv@von-gerlach.com or use the form below. One or two photographs (a phone picture is fine), a short description and, if known, the provenance of the piece are helpful. Please do not send originals before we have been in touch.
On behalf of the von Gerlach family – family association and family archive