Wittgenstein Revisited - Part 1
From The Dreisbach Book, pp. 39-40 with a few corrections made 8 Sept 2014:
Correspondence between certain Dreisbach descendants and Wittgenstein was renewed in the 1970's and early 1980's. In at least two instances the connection was made by chance: a Dreisbach, mentioning Wittgenstein to a European acquaintance, was surprised to hear that yes, the person knew where Wittgenstein was, and yes, there were old church records in the town of Feudingen.
In the 1970's inquiries about Simon Dreisbach arrived in the Feudingen pastor's office from Cara Nordbruch (later Cara Skeans) of Tacoma, Washington, of the Monroe County Conrad Dreisbach line, and from Jane Jordan, nee Heffelfinger, of Whitehall, Pennsylvania, of the Simon Dreisbach line (Simon Jr.), followed by Ardis Grosjean, nee Dreisbach, at the time living in Copenhagen, Denmark, of the Simon Dreisbach line (John-Henry-1800 Henry).
However, some years before these inquiries were made, a descendant of late nineteenth century immigrant Christian 'Oscar' Driesbach, John Gustave Dreisbach, had already visited Wittgenstein! He seems to have been the first Dreisbach descendant from our day to have made the journey in the opposite direction, from North America to Wittgenstein. With the assistance of German genealogist Dr. Kurt Günther, John Gustave was able to trace his ancestry to the Berghausen Dreisbachs. In 1969 John Gustave made a first visit to Berghausen, causing a flutter when he announced he was a descendant of the New Miller. In 1992 he made a return visit. For a time, the relationship between the Dreisbachs of Berghausen and those of Balde had remained conjectural, but in the summer of 1997 strong evidence of family ties was brought forth by Gustav Schneider, making it possible to connect the two lines.
Have other Dreisbach descendants also visited Wittgenstein in modern times? There is no record of any members of the first Dreisbach Family Association (1910-c1930) having made such a journey. It is possible that the above-mentioned Cara Nordbruch, while in Germany with her husband, a military man stationed there, may have gone to Wittgenstein, but this is speculation.
One such trip is certain. In the early summer of 1982 Donald Dreisbach, of the Simon Dreisbach line (John-Henry-1800 Henry), visited Europe with his wife Darlene, traveling by train. With some difficulty, they managed to get to out-of-the-way Oberndorf, once the home of emigrant Simon Dreisbach.
Two years later the Rev. Charles Dreisbach (of the Simon Dreisbach line) corresponded with Wittgenstein historian Gustave Schneider, the author of this book's Foreword, and received genealogical information from him. In 1987 Father Charles visited Wittgenstein, and Gustave took him on a tour of the villages where Simon Dreisbach and his forebears had lived. This was a most significant return visit of a Dreisbach to Wittgenstein, for out of it grew the (renewed) Dreisbach Family Association. Nine years later, Father Charles would lead a group of descendants of Simon and Martin Dreisbach back to Wittgenstein. Before this could take place, however, a new Reunion had to be organized-- a nationwide gathering of persons bearing the Dreisbach name in its many forms.