Season 3 · Episode 1 · The Rademacher family branch · German audio
From Essen to Buffalo: the story of Heinrich August Rademacher and Maria Elisabeth Friemann, their family, and a connection rediscovered more than 140 years later. The episode is spoken in German.
Narrative note: Names, dates, and family relationships are preserved in genealogical records. Historical context is distinguished from the family’s undocumented motives, precise route, and personal experiences.
Family history and emigration
In 1879 the Rademacher family was still living in the Essen area. By 1882, Buffalo, New York, had become their new home.
The episode follows Heinrich August Rademacher of Friedrichslohra and Maria Elisabeth Friemann of Essen-Steele from their marriage in Essen-Katernberg through the years of industrial change to the establishment of an American family branch. Their last documented German residence was Essen-Stoppenberg in 1879; by 1882 the family is documented in Buffalo, Erie County. Why they emigrated and which route they took across the Atlantic remain undocumented.
Context: The Rademacher chapter presents the genealogical facts, the historical background, and the research that reconnected the German and American branches.
Go to the Rademacher family chapter →The documented research and its sources remain authoritative for genealogical details.
Family and historical background
The American Rademacher branch emerged between the couple’s marriage in Essen and the birth of their youngest son in Buffalo. The genealogical trail connects Friedrichslohra, Essen-Steele, Essen-Katernberg, Essen-Stoppenberg, and Buffalo.
Basis: Family Chronicle, Volume 2; church and civil records; and private family correspondence
The episode draws on Family Chronicle, Volume 2, its genealogical material, and later correspondence with a descendant in the United States. “Around 1880” bounds the family’s change of place; no precise route or personal motive for emigrating has been documented. The circumstances of Heinrich August’s fatal accident are identified as family tradition.
Recognize a clue?
If you know of further sources concerning the Rademacher family, their emigration, or the branch in Buffalo, we would be pleased to hear from you.
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