(Tranlated from Alfred Behrens January, 1952 study): Hans Hinrich Behrens, Farmer in Wienhausen, 1775-1865.
At his birth the following was entered in the church book of Wienhausen: "Wienhausen. On the 19th of August Hans Hinrich Behrens' wife Anna Ilse Dorothea Thielen bore him a son. On the 27th of August he was baptized and named Hans Hinrich. The godfathers were Jürgen Öhlmann in Wienhausen, Hans Hinrich Willigs in Langligen, Hans Hinrich Thiele in Schepelse.".He was married twice. First with Cathrina Dorothea Heise from Wienhausen, 1786-1819, whose father, as has already been mentioned, is recorded in the Closter-Gutsmann church register. After her early death from chest ilness the widower took Louise Eleonore Giese, 1789-1867, for his wife. The first marriage resulted in 1 son and 4 daughters while the second marriage gave an additional 2 sons and 2 daughters.
(Translated from Alfred Behrens January ,1956 study): Hans Hinrich Heuer Behrens, 1744-1833, about whom we read in the 1744 entry: "Wienhausen. Baptized on January 5 Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens son, born on the 1st day at 10 am, Hans Hinrich Heuer. With 4 P."
He married Anna ilse Dorothea Thiele of Langlingen, 1756-1848, which gave him 9 sons and 4 daughters. At the wedding he was recorded as Houseowner, while in the record of his death he is mentiond as someone that came from the Old People's Home that has died of old age. In 1865, when his oldest son died, his occupation was recorded as Farmer. One must remember, that a system of farmer ranks and associated titles developed over the centuries which ran from someone who owns a large farm and a lot of land to a farm hand or, in German: "Vollhöfner, Kötner bezw. Großkötner, Brinksitzer, An- bezw. Abbauer und Einwohner oder Häusling". The Behrens farm in Wienhausen was large and, as a result of its size, was a "Großkötnerstelle". We meet Hans Hinrich Heuer Behrens in the following registers:
Money register of the Bailiff of Eicklingen 1779/80:
"Garden tithe Wienhausen Hans Hinrich Behrens 9 Mariengroschen."
Money register of the Bailiff of the Wienhausen church:
"Taking from the rented Länderei III of the big Sunder-Camp near Wienhausen..... 7 pieces to 18 Himbten from Hans Hinrich Behrens in Wienhausen 9 Reichstahler 9 Groschen".
Money register of the Bailiff of the Wienhausen church:
"Taking from rented land. The Heid-Camp between the Wienhaüser Feldflur namely 10 pieces 10 Himbten Roggen from Hans Henrich Behrens 2 Reichstaler 9 Groschen."
(Translated from Alfred Behrens January, 1952 study): Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens, 1718-1758. He married Ilse Hedewig Mohwinkels from Oppensen, about which the "Kopulations-Register" speaks in 1741: "Wienhausen. The 22 of December. Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens, son of Hans Hinrich Behrens, and Hedewig Mohwinkels, daughter of Peter Mohwinkel."
She gave him eight children, 5 sons and 3 daughters. For unknown reasons Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens was not born in Wienhausen but in Oppernshausen. We read about this in an entry in 1718 in the church book: "On November 2, in Oppernshausen, Hans Henrich Behrens and Mrs. Catharina Marie Diercks had a son. The child was baptized on November 6 and named: Hans Henrich Simon. The godfathers were Hans Henrich Marten, Simon Lüthers, Hans Jürgen Krusen, Jürgen Henrich Diercks."
Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens only became 40 years old. 172 people were buried in Wienhausen in 1758, which was an unheard of number for that time. It was during the 7-year war (1756-1763). French troops occupied Wienhausen and Celle and typhoid fever was rampant among the troops. The village inhabitants were not spared. We can guess, that Hans Hinrich Simon Behrens was one of the victims. His eight child saw the light of day after his death. The widow married Johann Berend Utzmann from Osterloh a year after his death as entered in church records on March 2, 1759.
(Translated from Alfred Behrens January, 1952 study): HAns Hinrich Behrens, 1688-1742. His wife was Catharina Maria Dircks from Beedenbostel, 1695-11758. In the Beedenbostel "Kopulations-Register" read a 1716 entry:
"On November 11, Hans Hinrich Behrens, son of Hinrich Julius Behrens from Wienhausen married Catharina Maria Diercks, daughter of Bunkenburg houseowner Jürgen Diercks."
4 sons and 2 daughters were laid in their path.
(Translated from August Behrens January, 1952 study): Heinrich Julius Behrens, 1655-1720, appointed master purchaser ("Schafmeister") for the Wienhausen church bailiff according to the following record made at the baptizing of one of his children in 1696:
"Wienhausen. Hinrich Julius Behrens master puchaser for the church bailiff had a son born to him the 20th of November 9pm that was baptized on November 27th as Hinrich Julius. Godfathers were Mr. Hinrich Diederichs, grain accountant for the principality of Celle and tenant of the bailiffs office in the same place, Hans Hinrich Krusen from Wienhausen, Hinrich Bock, master purchaser for Offensen.
Heinrich Julius married Ilsabeth Hasselmans, 1664-1729. When Jurgen hinrich Laue in Wienhausen's daughter Ilse Magdalene was baptized, the godmother was registered as the wife, Ilsabeth Hasselmans, of the son of the master purchaser. In the church records over deseased persons the following is written:
"Wienhausen. The 24th of May Ilse Behrens, wife of the master purchaser, 65 years old."
The 1697 records of the cloister mentions grass lands in use by Behrens . He built the tithe well ("Ziehbrunnen") that still stands on the Behrens farm in Wienhausen. Under a few unreadable signs the following is chiseled on the front part of the edge of the well: "Hinrich Juls Berns, Anno 1690".
The current family farm will be discussed later. Also this couple had several children: 3 sons and 2 daughters.
(Translated from Alfred Behrens January 1952 study): Hans Berens, 1610-1692, called the Bailiff of Wienhausen, as the church book records the following in connection with his death: "The Bailiff of Wienhausen buried Wednesday after domini quinquagesimae 1692, 2 years old".
We do not know the name of his wife,1616-1671, as the church book only says: "the wife of the bailiff of Wienhausen buried 14. after trinitatis 1671, 55 years old".
Hans Berens also steps toward us from other records.
The money register of the bailiff of Eicklingen of 1652/53 says:
"Rental of meadow land by Hans Berens, bailiff, 2 schilling."
In the county of Eicklingen's storage book from 1669 we read:
"Hans Berens, bailiff. An inherited small landholders lot yields nothing, neither does it offer any service for the Wolf hunt as the prince has released (the landholder) from such duty. Shown in Eicklingen's records for rental of meadowlands: 12 schilling, rental of garden: 8 schilling.
Owns: 1 house, 1 barn, 1 bakery.
Land owned: 15 pieces located beyond the sound.
Meadow lands: The oxclint meadow, the coal meadow."
Finally we find him once more in the 1688/89 money register for bailiff of Eicklingen:
"Rental of garden: Hans Behrens, the bailiff, 9 mariengroschen"
The marriage yielded four children, two sons and two daughters.-o0o-
Hans Berens is the earliest member of this branch of the Behrens family of which written church records exist.
In addition to the text specific to each individual, Alfred Behrens, in his January 1952 study, offers the following preamble:
THE BEHRENS IN WIENHAUSEN
(A contribution to the research of the family history of the
Lüneburger branch of the family)The Behrens belong to the oldest farming families of the Lüneburger lands. The name of this family is very old and goes back to germannic forefathers. The root "Behr" is old high german "Bero", middle high german, "bere" the same as bear ("Bär"). One can interpret Behrens as the son of Bernhard or as the son of someone strong as a bear. Wienhausen, in the old Flotwedel area, is known from the earlier cisternian convent which was founded in 1233 by Agnes von Meißen, the wife of the Count Palatine Heinrich and sister-in-law to Heinrich des Löwen, for the souls of herself and her deceased husband. The village itself, in earlier centuries called Huginhusen or Hugwinhusen, was first mentioned in the Hildesheimer notices. It acqired the right to excise duty, to print money and to hold public markets in 1053. One can presume, that a nearby ferry and the boat traffic on the Aller river gave the area its importance.
The connection between the village of Wienhausen and the convent lasted several hundred years. Most of todays farms can probably be traced to the properties of those times. These properties were owned by the convent people which had a duty to serve the convent. The Behrens farm became independent before the 30-year war (1618-1648) and at that time no longer belonged to the convent people such as Heise, Wienecke and Havekost. From the books of the bailiff of the convent of Wienhausen it is apparent that the Behrens farm had rented land from the convent. Further the Behrens appear as transporters ("fuhren") for the convent. They occasionally transport people from the convent to Celle and to other places and were paid for this service. The oldest accounts payable register of the bailiff for the convent, started in 1411, has the following entry:
"luchardo berndeß pro 1 plant lign 10 ß lüb."
This is abbreviated latin and means: that Behrens obtains for the delivery of 1 canvas cover, that is 1 piece of canvas (or linen?), 10 schillings from Lübeck.
The aforementioned transport of convent personnel resulted in many notes in the 15th century convent register concerning payments to Behrens. It is unfortunate that church records were not kept in those days as it is only with their help that the unbroken family line can be traced back in time. After the reformation the Lüneburger church order decided that the nobility should establish baptismal-, marriage- and death-registers. This was expanded with a communion-register. Pastor Johann Heinrich Uchländer, which held the office from 1651 to 1695, and whose picture hangs in the church, began keeping these church records as follows:
1661 - the register of the baptized and the deseased,
1669 - the register of the newly married and
1673 - the register of the newly confirmed.
The oldest existing register of communion or evening meal guests is from 1740 when Franz Wilhelm Francke was the pastor loci. From then on the entries about the Behrens family are much more detailed. In the princedoms of the those times farms were inherited by the oldest son. The Behren's small-holders farm was no exception. In the following I construct the main family branch defined by the oldest male lineage and append to it some information about other branches that are of interest to those alive today.
August Johann Heinrich Alfred Behrens
Alfred's letter to Elsa Steuch of October 1956, with his study of the Lüneburger Behrens family of January, 1952, is the main source of information for the entries in this family tree of the parental ancestors of Elsa Steuch, born Behrens.