Finding possible clues the other day to the parents of Johannes Holtz and Anna Catharina Schaeffer who married in Barbelroth, Germany in 1691 led me to the Heidelberg, Germany church records for 1669-1670.
However, what I’ve found has me a bit confused.
First, MyHeritage has the following entry in its database for a baptismal record of Johannes Holtz:
The GS Film Number corresponds to a Family History Library film that contains Heidelberg church books that include the 1669 time period.
The first thing that is confusing is the the MyHeritage entry cites “Kirche Christi, Heidelberg.” That gave me pause because the only Christ Church (Christuskirche) that I find in Heidelberg was build in 1904 and I find no mention it replacing an earlier church of the same name.
Johannes Holtz’s entry on FamilySearch cites the same church record:
When I searched the film description, this is what appears:
There is St. Peter’s Church, Schloss Church and Spital Church, but no mention of Christ Church.
Through sheer persistence, I found the record entry:
Johannes Holtz, 2nd Entry on Right
Here is a better view:
I can make out Johannes’s name and those of his parents, but I can’t read the other words.
Look at the upper arrow on the right. Does that word say “Pfaltz” as in maybe the family came from the Pfaltz-Rheinland or Palatinate land? Barbelroth, where Johannes Holtz married in 1691 is part of the Palatinate.
Now look at the lower arrow on the left. In different, darker ink, the minister wrote in Vide 13 Junii – or See June 13 and more words I can’t read.
That later entry is either part of the end of Johannes’ record or placed as the beginning of the following baptismal record, but I don’t know which.
Lastly, I found the first page of this church book on the film, hoping that the name of the church would be written on it:
Again, a better view:
Vor die Kirche (????) (?) Heidelberg
I think the arrowed portion says “For the Church (????) (?) Heidelberg.
A book on old Gothic alphabet variations leads me to believe that the word after Church is Christi.
So, it does appear that this is the church book for Church Christi in Heidelberg, but I am still unable to find anything regarding the history of Christ Church, or ChristusKirche or Kirche Christi that dates back into the 1600s.
Therefore, my help request is threefold:
1. Is anyone able to tell me what the whole baptismal entry for Johannes Holtz says?
2. Does the “See 13 June” inserted comment refer to the entry below? (I can’t look at the entry myself because I need to be in the FHL itself to read this film. Outside the FHL, access is restricted to church members.
3. Can anyone find anything about Kirche Christi that was in Heidelberg, Germany in the 1600s?
TIA.