Bavarian Residence

The Flag of the Kingdom of Bavaria

Naturalization records indicate that the Aumen family had to renounce their allegiance to Prince Edward of the Kingdom of Bier in order to become citizens of the United States.

The "Kingdom of Bier" is present-day Bavaria, called "Bayern" by the Germans, and is located in the southeastern corner of Germany.  Bier/Bayern/Bavaria is also the largest of the German states.

There is only one "Prince Edward" to be found that would be similar to their former monarch, and that would be "Heinrich Eduard, Faust von Schoenburg-Hartenstein."  This "Faust" (the German word for "prince") lived from 1787 until 1872, and began his rule of Schoenburg-Hartenstein in 1842, the year that Cornelius Aumen was born.  Schoenburg-Hartenstein is the area near present-day Lauf in Mittelfranken, which is near the city of Nuremburg, all located in Bavaria.  Heinrich Eduard ruled for thirty years until his death in 1872.  The Kingdom of Bavaria was still ruled by King Ludwig I (r. 1825-1848) when Prince Edward began his rule.

Heinrich Eduard von Schoenburg-Hartenstein, Fuerst zu Schoenburg (1787-1872, r. 1842-1872)

Ship records examined in the National Archives by ancestry.com member dandj488 indicate that Bernhard Aumen and his family arrived in the port of Baltimore on September 7, 1844, after sailing from Bremen Germany.  The ship's master, named Higgins, recorded 148 passengers on the manifest who boarded in Bremen.  Passenger 112 is Bernhard Amend, aged 33 from the town of Aura, and passenger 113 is his wife, Margaret Amend, aged 27.  Other passengers have children listed with them, but Bernhard and Margaret do not.

Here is where discrepancy arises. Passenger 107 is Margaret Kintsler, aged 30, from Mittelsinn. She is traveling with her children, passengers 108, 109, and 110. They are Margaret Kinstler, aged 5, John Kinstler, aged 3, and Adam Kinstler, aged 2.

These three children must be the three oldest children of Barnabas Aumen and Annie Margaret Kintzler.  The baptism records at Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Littlestown, Pennsylvania record that on August 17, 1851 Margaret, John, and Adam Amend, the children of "Bernardi Amend" and "Margarethae Kindsler" were baptized "under condition." Their siblings Francis and Catharine were baptized on the same day.

The towns listed in the ship manifest are Aura im Sinngrund and Mittelsinn, which are not more than three miles from each other. They both lie in the district of Main-Spessart in Bavaria, Germany.

In the year 1844, Barnabas, a pregnant Annie, a six year old Margaret, a four year old John, and a nearly one-and-a-half year old Cornelius Adam commenced a nine day journey from their residence in the area of Aura im Sinngrund and Mittelsinn, Bavaria, to the port of Bremen located on the northern border of Germany.  They gained passage on a ship that sailed from Bremen, Germany, to Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America.  After leaving their port in Bremen, their journey took them into the North Sea, through the English Channel, into the Celtic Sea, and the across the Atlantic Ocean to the city of Baltimore.  Either during the nine day trip from their Bavarian hometown to the port of Bremen, or during their passage across the Atlantic Ocean, their fourth son, Francis Joseph, was born on the 28th of June, 1844.

Economic and Political Unrest in Germany: In 1848, "The Revolutions of 1848 in the German States," also called the "March Revolution," engulfed their former homeland of Bavaria in a period of political upheaval, four years after their immigration to the United States.  No doubt the growing tension, as well as famine and shortage of farmland, had contributed to the Aumen family's move to Pennsylvania.  In Bavaria the situation was described as such:

"In Bavaria, King Ludwig I lost prestige because of his support for his favorite mistress Lola Montez, a dancer and actress unacceptable to the aristocracy or the Church. She tried to launch liberal reforms using a Protestant prime minister, which outraged the Catholic conservatives of Bavaria. On February 9, the conservative public of Bavaria came out onto the streets in protest. This conservative protest on February 9, 1848 was the first demonstration in that revolutionary year of 1848. However, this was an exception among the wave of liberal protests in 1848. The conservatives merely wanted to be rid of Lola Montez. They had no political agenda or demands for change. Nonetheless, liberal students took advantage of the Lola Montez affair to stress their demands for political change. All over Bavaria, students started demonstrating for constitutional reform, just as students were doing in as in cities all over Germany. Ludwig tried to institute a few minor reforms but they proved insufficient to quell the storm of protests and on March 16, 1848, Ludwig I abdicated in favor of his eldest son Maximilian II. Ludwig complained that "Govern I could no longer, and to give up an underwriter I did not wish. In order not to become a slave, I became a lord." Ludwig was the only German prince forced to abdicate in the 1848 revolutions. Although some popular reforms were introduced, the government regained full control." (Wikipedia, 3/29/2014)

Ludwig I von Bayern, circa 1830 (1786-1868, r. 1825-1848)

Brigitta, Carl, Matt, and Mary Aumen all had the privilege of visiting the Aumen/Amend hometowns of Aura im Sinngrund and Mittelsinn in May 2019. It is about an hour drive from the Frankfurt airport, and in the middle of a gorgeous countryside. Some of the pictures that they took are below for you to enjoy.

Aura im Sinngrund

There is a steep ascent up a hillside in Aura, and overlooking the town are the Catholic and protestant churches with the town cemetery in between them. In between the cemetery and the Catholic church, there is a memorial devoted to all the town's citizens who died in World Wars 1 & 2.

Aura im Sinngrund Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund inside Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund inside Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund inside Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund inside Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund inside Catholic Church

Aura im Sinngrund Catholic Church, view from War Memorial

Left view from War Memorial, cemetery and Protestant Church

Right view from War memorial, Catholic Church

Center view from War Memorial, Aura im Sinngrund below