Traveller · German roots

Jerry

Six European origins across the Ulcek and Fiedler lines — ranked by how cleanly they fold into the Champagne + Alsace route.

Sides Ulcek / FiedlerOrigins 6 regionsOn the trip +2-day detour

Heritage research The Trier / Mosel detour

On this trip

Mosel & TrierAlsaceSaxony

§ 01On this tripRelationship to the regions

Mosel & TrierPaternal · Maas-Fox

The Maas / Fox (Fuchs) line comes from the Trier–Orscholz–Freudenburg pocket on the Saarland–Rhineland border — a coherent arc between Champagne and Alsace, and a Riesling region squarely on theme. It's mapped as an optional +2-day car-free detour.

Trier Mosel Valley Orscholz / Saar Loop Sankt Ingbert

Alsace · Val d'ArgentMaternal · Wohlust

The Wohlust / Becker line reportedly settled in Alsace after Switzerland; the heritage report points to the Val d'Argent around Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines — the documented cradle of Bernese-Anabaptist resettlement — as the highest-probability landing zone, minutes from the wine route.

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Bernese resettlement

Saxony & Saale-UnstrutMaternal · Fiedler

The Fiedler / Graebner line is from Reichenbach im Vogtland in Saxony; the Wohlust / Becker region near Leißling is Germany's northern sparkling-wine country. Both are a meaningful Tier-2 detour east.

Saxony / Dresden Freyburg (Saale-Unstrut)

§ 02Ancestral linesSurname · parish · records

Surname	Parish	Records	Relation
Ulčík (Ulcek)	Vlčnov, Moravia	b. 1879	paternal grandfather · Karel
Pavelčík	Vlčnov, Moravia	b. 1882	paternal grandmother · Kateřina
Maas / Fox (Fuchs)	Orscholz · Freudenburg (Saar)	Saarland records	paternal · Maas-Fox
Knocke	Lauenberg, Dassel (Lower Saxony)	—	paternal line
Fiedler / Graebner	Reichenbach, Saxony	emig. 1881	maternal · Paul Fiedler
Becker	Sankt Ingbert (Saar) & Baden	—	maternal · Becker
Wohlust	Leißling → Bern → Alsace	to verify	maternal · Augusta Wohlust
Schilstra / Osenga	Friesland, Netherlands	—	maternal · Elsie

§ 03His Europe

Jerry's ancestry, assembled in a purpose-built travel presentation, splits into a maternal side (Fiedler / Becker / Schilstra) and a paternal side (Ulcek / Knocke / Maas-Fox), with six European origin regions across the two (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). This page ranks them by how easily they fit the Champagne + Alsace route.

The strongest fit is the Maas / Fox pocket around Trier, the Mosel and the Saar Loop — a Riesling corridor mapped as a +2-day detour in the itinerary. In Alsace, the Wohlust line's Bernese-Anabaptist tail most plausibly lands at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in the Val d'Argent (source: jerry-alsace.md) — though “Wohlust” itself is not a documented Swiss or Alsatian surname and is likely a corrupted Emmental name (Wüthrich, Wermuth, Wyss…), so treat it as a lead to verify (source: jerry-alsace.md). See Bernese-Anabaptist Resettlement in Alsace (the "Wohlust" research question) and Jerry's Alsace–Saarland Heritage Research (source summary).

Charles Baker Becker et Augusta Wohlust — noces d'or, 1923

John Fox et Anna Maas, de Mosel — avis de noces d'or (racines à Orscholz et Trèves)

Hands holding vintage black and white photos of old houses outdoors.

Explore vintage family photo albums filled with black and white photographs, capturing timeless memories.

Old handwritten letters and vintage photographs spread on a table, creating a nostalgic feel.

Scenic view of European countryside with vineyards and traditional houses in autumn.

Charming river view in Lods, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, with quaint houses and lush greenery.

Discover an elegant wine cellar display with rows of wine bottles in Pauillac, France.

Our notesA corridor, not a village

Unlike Mary's single Alsace homeland, Jerry's roots are a string of origins across Europe. Only the Saar/Mosel pocket and the Val d'Argent fold cleanly into this trip; Saxony is a real but eastern detour.

Six origins; two you can actually reach.

§ 04From the family wiki

Jerry is one of the travelers on this trip. His ancestry, as assembled in Christy's research, splits into a maternal side (Fiedler / Becker / Schilstra) and a paternal side (Ulcek / Knocke / Maas-Fox). Six European origin regions appear across the two sides (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).

This page ranks those origins by how easily they fit the current Champagne + Alsace route. The trip-relevant German regions each have their own place page; far-afield lines are noted here for completeness.

The branches and where they came from

Maternal side

Fiedler / Graebner — from Reichenbach, Saxony, Germany (Reichenbach im Vogtland). Paul Fiedler was born in Saxony and emigrated to the US at age 9 in 1881; parents Franz Herman Fiedler and Bertha Graebner (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). See Saxony / Dresden (Reichenbach im Vogtland).
Becker / Wohlust — Emma Becker's parents were Carl (Charles) Becker and Augusta Wohlust (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).

Wohlust line: back to at least the 1500s in Leißling (Weißenfels, Burgenlandkreis, Sachsen-Anhalt); also Rödgen; Aeschlen and Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland — and then "a few went to France Alsace"; Fulda & Eichenrod, Hessen (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). See Freyburg & the Saale-Unstrut (Leißling / Naumburg).
Verification flag: a heritage-research report finds "Wohlust" is not a documented Swiss or Alsatian surname — absent from the authoritative Register of Swiss Surnames despite the portal indexing comparable "Wohl-" names — and is almost certainly a corrupted/Americanized spelling of a genuine Emmental name (best candidates Wüthrich, Wermuth, Wyss, Wittwer, or Wohlgemuth) (source: jerry-alsace.md). Treat "Wohlust" as a name to verify, not a literal record key. See Bernese-Anabaptist Resettlement in Alsace (the "Wohlust" research question).
Alsace landing zone identified: the Bernese-Anabaptist "went to Alsace" tail most plausibly points to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines / the Val d'Argent (Haut-Rhin) — the documented cradle of the Bernese-Anabaptist/Amish resettlement — with the Sundgau, Montbéliard, and Lorraine as secondary zones after the 1712 expulsion (source: jerry-alsace.md).
Becker line: Baden-Baden and Unteröwisheim (Baden-Württemberg); Reinheim (Hessen); Stadel (Zurich, Switzerland); and Sankt Ingbert, Saarland (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). See Sankt Ingbert (Saarland).

Osenga / Schilstra ("Elsie" Schilstra) — from Friesland, the Netherlands (and Assen). Frisian lakes, sailing culture, and village life; Christy's research also includes an Amsterdam section (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). Far from this trip — noted only.

Paternal side

Ulcek / Ulcik — the family's paternal core, from Vlčnov, Moravia (then Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic). Karel (Charles) John Ulčík born 21 Sept 1879, Vlčnov house #149; Kateřina Pavelčík born 8 Nov 1882, house #205; married in Vlčnov 16 June 1903; Karel emigrated to Racine, WI in 1910, family followed in 1912 aboard the SS Kaiser Wilhelm II from Bremen (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf, Ulcek Family Tree.ged). Vlčnov was a vineyard village famous for the "Jízda králů" (Ride of the Kings) Pentecost festival. Far from this trip — see "off-route" below.
Knocke — from Lauenberg, Dassel, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Germany (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf, Ulcek Family Tree.ged). Off the route.
Maas / Fox (Fuchs) — from the Trier / Orscholz / Freudenburg area on the Saarland–Rhineland border. John Fox (Fuchs) Sr. born Orscholz/Saarburg; Anna Maas (Mauss) born Freudenburg; the Fox/Fuchs and Schmitt forebears born and died in Orscholz (Mettlach, Merzig-Wadern, Saarland) (source: Ulcek Family Tree.ged). See Trier, Mosel Valley, Orscholz & Freudenburg (Saarland / Trier).

Fit with the Champagne + Alsace trip

Tier 1 — directly incorporable (on/near the NE France corridor):

Trier + Mosel Valley + Orscholz & Freudenburg (Saarland / Trier) — the Maas/Fox ancestral pocket sits on the German–Luxembourg–French border, a coherent arc between Champagne and Alsace, and it is a Riesling wine region — squarely on theme. Mapped as an optional +2-day car-free detour in 12-Day Public-Transit Itinerary: Champagne · Alsace · Burgundy.
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines / Val d'Argent — the Wohlust line reportedly settled in Alsace after Switzerland (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). Earlier sources did not name the commune; the heritage-research report identifies the Val d'Argent around Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines as the highest-probability landing zone (the documented cradle of Bernese-Anabaptist resettlement) and recommends it as a heritage stop even before documentary proof (source: jerry-alsace.md). Minutes from the trip's existing Alsace Wine Route destination. See Bernese-Anabaptist Resettlement in Alsace (the "Wohlust" research question).
Sankt Ingbert (Saarland) — a Becker-line town in the Saarland, same French-border belt.

Tier 2 — real interest, but a meaningful detour east:

Freyburg & the Saale-Unstrut (Leißling / Naumburg) — the Wohlust/Becker region near Leißling; Germany's northern sparkling-wine country (a nice echo of Champagne).
Saxony / Dresden (Reichenbach im Vogtland) — the Fiedler region; Dresden, the Göltzsch Viaduct, and Christmas markets.

Off-route (noted, no place page): Vlčnov/Moravia (Czech Republic), Friesland (Netherlands), Lauenberg/Lower Saxony. Christy's research pairs the Saxony leg with a "bonus" Saxon & Bohemian Switzerland excursion (Bastei Bridge, Königstein Fortress, Pravčická Gate) — relevant only if the trip is extended deep into eastern Germany / Czechia (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).