Local heritage book of Löhne

The present day city of Löhne, between Bad Oeynhausen and Herford, overlaps almost exactly the territory of the three old church parishes: Gohfeld, Löhne and Mennighüffen. Löhne parish came into existence in 1697 by breaking away from Gohfeld. Mennighüffen is said to be "the oldest parish of the region." Through community restructuring on Jan. 1, 1969, the communities of Gohfeld, Mennighüffen, Obernbeck and Ulenburg were merged to become the city of Löhne.

Simeon church Gohfeld

In 1993 Löhne observed its one thousand year celebration. In the same year the three local heritage books of Gohfeld, Löhne and Mennighüffen appeared. The second edition in the year 2001 was a summary of all three books in one volume combined with a 50% extension entitled "Familienbuch Löhne". The third edition is represented by the text at hand, once again completely re-worked, substantially supplemented, and expanded with the ancestral families of the author's wife. These families are from the area of Minden-Herford, outside of Westphalia. Another refinement of the data, a fourth edition, is in the works.

The data contains persons in more than 11,000 families over the period of 1636 (beginning of church books in Gohfeld/Löhne, Mennighüffen didn't begin until 1695) to 1874 (establishment of civil registry offices).

Sources:

* Transcriptions of the church books of Gohfeld, Löhne and Mennighüffen * Microfilms of the KB originals of all parishes that were researched The author took pains to locate persons who moved to Löhne, and as where possible all children of families who lived in Löhne from time to time. * Visitor registers of the nine farm settlements of these three parishes * Beiträge zur Heimatkunde der Stadt Löhne , Special Issue 1, 1974 * Lagerbücher der Ulenburg (store ledgers) 1668 and 1708, Saelbuch der Ulenburg von 1602 * G. Albert, Die Register der Kirchspieleingesessenen [Gohfeld] um 1730
Abbreviations for the Farm Settlements: (they appear in Ehemann's notes as "Hoflage".)

1. Gohfeld: Bischofshagen (B), Depenbrock (D), Jöllenbeck (J), Melbergen (Mb)
2. Löhne: Löhne-Beck (LB), Löhne-Königlich (LK)
3. Mennighüffen: Grimminghausen (G), Mennighüffen (M), Obernbeck (O) 

Translated by Karen Gebhardt Shepard