The Anhorn Family History-From My Perspective

Researching family history opens doors to self-discovery, creates newly found relationships and a greater appreciation of each person’s unique place in history.

My Grandparents, John Anhorn and Lydia Anhorn (nee Weiss) were of German extraction but both were born in South Russia. The Anhorn German ancestral home, which dates back to the 1700’s, was in and around Wittenberg, which is now in Southern Germany.

Wittenberg, (officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg) is a town in north-central Germany, which lies on the Elbe River, southwest of Berlin. The town is known for it’s close ties to Martin Luther, a religious leader, who lived and preached there. It was on October 31, 1517 that he nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, which is historically credited as being the start of the Protestant Reformation and the establishment of “ Lutheranism” and the Lutheran Church.

My great-great-great Grandfather, according to research conducted by dad’s brother, William Paul Anhorn, immigrated to Bessarabia, Russia via Poland in 1808.[1] Despite my grandparent’s respective birthplaces, we always considered that we were of German ancestry. To understand this anomaly, a history lesson is required surrounding what was known then as “Bessarabia”. READ ON

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