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Neumark
After we have done excursions from Saxony and Berlin and as far as Africa, we now go to the Neumark (East Brandenburg).
Margrave Johannes I founded the town of Landsberg an der Warthe in 1257 in order to secure the country. Settlers were invited to consolidate his holdings. These settlers mostly came from the Magdeburger Land and the Altmark!!! (Wikipedia: Neumark (Landschaft).
When the line of the Akanier died out, Brandenburgs interest in the Neumark diminished considerably. In 1402 the Neumark was mortgaged to the Deutsche Ritterorden. In 1433 Poles and Hussits invaded and burnt down numerous villages. In 1463 Frederik II,Electoral Prince of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern bought the Neumark for 40.000 Gulden. After years of consolidation, the 30 year war (1618-1648) led again to great destruction by the Kaiserliche (catholic) and Swedish (protestant) troops.
Only after the foundation of the Prussian state in 1701 did things improve again.
Under King Friedrich I a new wave of colonization started. Many of the immigrants were reformed (protestant) French. But many settlers came out of the Prussian state itself and here quite significantly out of the Altmark.
*from the Altmark = old marches to the Neumark = new marches.
And that’s probably how Grawert’s came to the Neumark towns of Landsberg and Koenigsberg etc. (Landsberg + Koenigsberg are also found in East Prussia)
Maerkische Allgemeine, Brandenburg: About the church St. Kathrinen in Lenzen:
“the oldest monument is the partly gold plated and painted font by master H.Grawert
from Braunschweig made in 1486”.
(He could also be my forefather, if he stayed there).
Die Pastoren im Lande Staargard: (bei Schwerin) Grawert, Isaac Holzendorf 1579-1588.
Hans Grawert, Bad Schoenfliess,Koenigsberg/Neumark 1623
Johann Daniel Grawert, cloth maker, new citizen Koenigsberg 1748
? Grawert, Peetzig bei Koenigsberg 1750
Christian Gottlieb Grawert, Baker, Koenigsberg 1765
Gottlieb Samuel Grawert, Goldsmith, house owner Richtstr. 40, Landsberg
Gottfried Samuel Grawert, “lower middle class house” 159, owner 1879-1913
Carl Grawert, town councillor in Baerwalde near Koenigsberg
Ellen Grawert, Alt Drewitz near Koenigsberg
Martha Grawert, widow 1930
Manfred Grawert lived in Warnick near Landsberg
?? married Clara Grawert (Neumaerkische Zeitung 1925/1926)
The most interesting Grawert’s from the Neumark were Theodor Grawert and his cousin Friedrich (Fritz) Carl Heinrich Grawert.
Both from the village of Zellin / Oder, Neubrandenburg. Already mentioned briefly under Berlin.
Theodor Grawert was born 18.07.1858 in Zellin, Neumark. He came from a highly musical family. He and his brother Hermann were highly popular musicians.
Hermann later took over their fathers farm whereas Theodor began a carreer as a military musician.As from 1910 he was Music Chief of Staff and teacher for military music at the Royal Academy for Music in Berlin.
It was part of his function to develop new arrangements and compose new marches “upon special request” by Kaiser Wilhelm II and to conduct the music corps at “ Kaiser manoeuvres”. He was well loved by the Berlin population, as military music played an important public role at that time.
His brilliant military concerts, appearances at the Circus Busch and his conducts of the “Grosser Zapfenstreich” (engl:tattoo) left him well remembered until the end of the 1920th. “Die Hochschule fuer Musik zu Berlin”, Dieter Schenk 2004.
He was famous for his excellent arrangements. Well remembered are his arrangements of Prussias Glory (composed by Gottfried Piefke).
Beethoven’s five marches incl. three tattoos.
“Luetzows wilde verwegene Jagd”
Steinmetz March (Carl Bratfisch)
Infanterieregiment Grossherzog von Baden (Carl Haefele)
Curious: Kremer’s “Old Dutch Folk Songs, Wilhelm from Nassau” were published by him in an instrumental abridged version as “Army March No. 3”
(S.122 Sammlung preussischer Maersche).
He composed a “Swedish Cavalry signal march” published in 1908 (I have a copy) and the brass band music “To my German country”.
In 1910 he became a professor.
Theodor Grawert died on January 27th 1927 in Berlin and is buried at the Krematoriumsfriedhof in Berlin Wilmersdorf, where his grave is still cared for by the town of Berlin.
His cousin, nine years younger, Friedrich (Fritz) Carl Heinrich Grawert born 08.07.1867, was a world famous inventor and builder of airplane engines and ship motors.
He built the worlds first amphibious plane. On October 17th 1910 the inauguration flight took place from the Tempelhof airfield. Later on there were take off’s from the Tegel lake and the river Dahme near Gruenau (Zelliner Kreiskalender 1972, 20Jg., pages 115-117).
There is quite a funny story about Fritz Grawert in “Neumaerkische Heimatbilder 1936”, that is worth looking up. I found it under google.de
Friedrich Carl Heinrich Grawert died on August 24th 1916 in Berlin.