The 7th Gathering 2008 took place on Saturday August 30th in the Langenwolmsdorf inheritance court.
Here the participants next to the inheritance court
Photo: Matthias Hasspacher
The Sächsische Zeitung wrote about our gathering on September, 1st 2008 in its edition for Sebnitz
You can see plenty of pictures from the 7th meeting in 2008 on the homepage of
Langenwolmsdorf and there on the home page “Forker family association met again”.
Here finally the long-awaited minutes of the 7th meeting.
MINUTES of the 7th FORKER GATHERING in the restaurant “Erbgericht” to Langenwolmsdorf on August, 30th 2008
| Teilnehmer | ||
| Leitung | Prof. habil. Dr. Armin Forker (Leipzig) | |
| Referenten | Joachim Forker (Düsseldorf) Lutz Forkert (Dresden) Jürgen Forkert (Dresden) | |
| Kirchenvertreter | Pfarrer i.R. Ernst Richter Kirchnerin Frau Siegrid Bürger | |
| Ehrengäste | Herr Uwe Steglich, Bürgermeister der Stadt Stolpen Frau Romy Roch, Chronistin für den OT LWD | |
| Presse | Herr Matthias Haßpacher, Sächsische Zeitung Lokalredaktion Sebnitz Herr Robert Forkert (Sohn von Jürgen Forkert) Web- Master/aktuelle Betreuung von SZ.SEBNITZ@DD-V.DE | |
| Kultur / Schule | Frau Katrin Barowski (Ehefrau von Ortsvorsteher Jan Barowski) sowie Schülerinnen und Schüler der 4. Klasse der Grundschule Langenwolmsdorf | |
| Protokoll | Klaus Forker (Lohmar) | |
| Familien | angemeldet bis 21.08.08 entschuldigt gefehlt ohne Mitteilung ferngeblieben unangemeldet erschienen anwesend | 47 3 5 4 43 |
| Familienangehörige | angemeldet bis 21.08.08 entschuldigt gefehlt ohne Mitteilung ferngeblieben unangemeldet erschienen gesamt anwesend | 89 Pers. 10 “ 9 “ 20 “ 86 “ davon 10 Kinder |
Program items and procedure
i. Welcome, 2:00 p.m. – 2:10 p.m
Armin (Leipzig) is the name of the Ev. Luther parish church in Langenwolmsdorf, the Forker families and guests were warmly welcomed. He offers some thoughts on church attendance, which has become an integral part of the lives of local Forkers. They were baptized, confirmed and married in the church, which is a listed building. The bereaved mourned the deceased. The ceremonies were accompanied by the respective organist on the Herbrig organ, which of its kind can only be found 9 times in the Langenwolmsdorf area.
The commemoration of the ancestors should initiate the family reunion.
Concerns and hopes related to the maintenance of the church building arising from the responsibility for the preservation of monuments are expressed.
ii. Commemoration of the ancestors, 2.10 p.m – 2:30 p.m Pastor retired At the beginning, Richter intones a song that invites you to linger in the church. Contrary to usual practice, no hymnals were laid out. The lyrics of the song can be read on a large screen that has been projected there from proki foils. Mrs. Agnes Rudeck (daughter of Rev. Richter) accompanies the singing of the congregation with the guitar.
In his speech, Rev. Judge refers to statements in the second book of Moses of the Old Testament, which describe the eventful life of the Israelites. The mentioned life experiences of this tribe would also apply to the clan of the Forker. You changed your living space and went through good as well as difficult times. Between birth and death, everyone is actually on the move. However, death does not mean the end, but security with the Lord. This point of view leads to the commemoration of Hans-Georg Forker (Refrath). The honorary president of the family association died in March 2007, 2 months after completing his 91st year. Rev. Richter turns again to general considerations. Many believers who are subject to the hustle and bustle of fast-moving times seek support in the church today. The covenant between God and the people mentioned in the book of Moses is renewed again and again through baptism and confirmation. The covenant with God has to be strengthened and perhaps a way of turning back on the practiced way of life has to be found. The miracles also announced in the second book of Moses were realized by God through life, death and resurrection. Thoughts and wishes accompanied every human being constantly through life.
A sung Our Father with the refrain “Father, our Father, all glory to Your name; Father, our father, until the end of time, Amen”, which Fr. Richter complements musically on the guitar, as well as Armin’s thanks and spiritual blessings, conclude the prayer service in the church.
As bells ring, participants gather in front of the Forker plaque to pay tribute to the ancestors. As a greeting, a bouquet of sunflowers and a bouquet of gladioli with winter asters are placed at the memorial.
iii. Obligatory family photo in front of the entrance to the church grounds, 2:40 p.m. – 2:45 p.m
see above.
iv. Drinking coffee together, 3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m
The Nestroys and their nimble employees quickly serve coffee and cake ala carte. Armin thanks you for your attention to the physical well-being of the guests. He once again greeted everyone present, in particular Birgit from Adelaide and her partner Andrew Fores. Both had traveled from Australia and are on a Europe tour. Curious about the family reunion, they had coordinated the dates so that they could also attend with great expectations. Joachim presents Birgit with a gift typical of the region to commemorate the memorable visit.
Armin continues to send greetings from Paula in Uruguay.
Then the past moves into the present. Armin describes the curriculum vitae and the work of the deceased Honorary President Hans-Georg (Refrath) and also mentions the contributions of his ancestors to the founding of the family association and its continuation. With Hans-Georg, the family association loses a personality who decisively shaped the fortunes of the community through inventiveness and assertiveness. All deceased members of the Forker families are included in the commemoration of Hans-Georg.
Mayor Steglich devotes his observations to the present with a look at future projects. He conveys the greetings of the local council and the mayor, Jan Barowski, who has responsibilities elsewhere.
BM Steglich appreciates the loyalty of the family association to hold the meetings regularly in Langenwolmsdorf. This would contribute to the maintenance of tradition. He was pleased to see so many children among those present.
There have been some changes in Langenwolmsdorf since the last Forker meeting. Budget funds of 2.4 million flowed into the expansion of the middle school, the parish was able to carry out the necessary repairs to the church roof and the monument to the fallen of World War I – the names of two forkers are immortalized there in stone – was erected sanitized.
The establishment of day-care centers is particularly close to his heart and is at the top of the list of priorities. From his point of view, it is worthwhile to continue holding the Forker meetings in Langenwolsdorf. He appeals to the listeners to maintain the practiced tradition and wishes a pleasant Saturday.
Birgit receives a chronicle of the castle town of Stolpen from him.
Armin congratulates BM Steglich on the recent re-election and for the warm and committed speech.
Inge (Düsseldorf-Unterbach) received special recognition for putting up the numerous genealogical tables.
v. News from the Forker family history, 3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m
Joachim admits that interest in family research has now developed into a hobby that requires a lot of time, patience, tenacity and a high degree of determination. He is currently concentrating on the core questions “How do the Forker families relate to one another?” and “What are the connections?” He documents the descendants of top ancestors in a descendant table, which shows “Where does the individual Forker stand in the family group”. The differences are clearly illustrated using two diagrams. The numbers on the name tags handed out help to find oneself on the relevant family tree and to determine how one is related to one another. A diagram shows the earliest Forker occurrences found so far in Germany, e.g. around Stolpen (14th – 19th century) and in Silesia (also Forkert, 1584 Grünberg).
vi. Administrative, 4:10 p.m. – 4:35 p.m
Armin reminds that the expenses for the work in the family association are financed exclusively through donations. After three years, it’s time to feed the cash register again. Jürgen (Seevetal) made himself available as a collector and will address those present in this regard. The friendly encouragement – don’t be petty – leads to a respectable result.
Some participants still take the opportunity to inform themselves at the genealogical tables.
vii. Administrative, 4:10 p.m. – 4:35 p.m
Armin reminds that the expenses for the work in the family association are financed exclusively through donations. After three years, it’s time to feed the cash register again. Jürgen (Seevetal) made himself available as a collector and will address those present in this regard. The friendly encouragement – don’t be petty – leads to a respectable result.
Some participants still take the opportunity to inform themselves at the genealogical tables.
viii. The Forkerts in Germany, 5:08 p.m. – 5:20 p.m
Lutz would like to thank you, also on behalf of Jürgen, for the opportunity to present some of your knowledge and insights about the name Forkert. A sentence on the homepage of the family association would have given them orientation, stating that the tribes of the Forker and Furker, the Furkert and Forkert have a common root.
Since Jürgen’s root is already occupied, he will primarily talk about the Forkert in Germany and the world. Meanwhile, he himself would like to describe his very personal search in the jungle of names in the regional church registers.
Both only met each other 17 years ago because his name was on a door in Dresden City Hall. This was opened one day by Jürgen, who asked if they happened to have common ancestors. Although they have not been able to find any to this day, they have been friends since that incident.
Above all, the common interest in the origin and history of the family name proved to be the binding force. He assumes that this also applies to a certain extent to the members of the family association.
The search initially encountered a number of obstacles. In the GDR, family research was frowned upon because of some tainted terms from the Third Reich, such as “ancestral passport” or “Aryan descent”. Since he did not have any relevant documents, his only clue was a piece of paper on which it was written that his great-grandfather, Friedrich Wilhelm Forkert, was born in 1850 in Roehrsdorf near Stolpen. This would probably have remained his top ancestor for all time if there had been no contact with the contact point of the family association. Joachim encouraged and supported him in his research to the best of his ability, even when he was still living in Portugal.
From a distance of 3000 km, he started inquiries at parish offices. The names and dates of the parents and grandparents of the great-grandfather could be found there. They once lived in Eschdorf, a neighboring village to Roehrsdorf. There the name Forkert in its current spelling from 1799 is detectable. From that year onwards he repeatedly encountered the conflict between the written German and the spoken Saxon of the rural population, which caused numerous name variants. Despite the name change, he hopes to make progress in determining the origin. Thoughtful remarks on the subject of “dealing with the ancestors in the present and future” end his presentation.
Jürgen’s manuscript consists of numerous projection images that contain the following essential statements.
The origin of the development history of the Forkert family can also be found in Langenwolmsdorf. By 1734, his grandfather’s efforts to explore further ancestors ended. He had found out that the identified ancestors came from this town and were called Forker.
This fact reinforces the thesis that the Forkers have spelled themselves differently, but are ultimately related to each other. In Germany there are 188 telephone book entries for the name Forker and thus approx. 501 people with this name. They live in 61 cities and counties. In Dresden there are 31 connections; Saxon Switzerland follows with 18. There are 240 telephone entries in Germany for the name Forkert and they record around 640 people. They live in 88 cities and counties. 27 connections are reported in Saxon Switzerland; Berlin follows with 20 and Dresden with 18.
About 260 Forkers and Forkert live in Saxon Switzerland and in Dresden; that is about 22% of all Forker/Forkert families living in Germany. In the Free State of Saxony there are approx. 312 people and 27%.
The Forkert have a second Silesian line that stretches from Grünberg across the Oder region, Berlin to Mark Brandenburg. However, Saxon Forkerts can also be found in Berlin and the surrounding area.
The Forker / Forkert families primarily immigrated to the USA and New Zealand. On the other hand, more than 60 forkers / forkerts emigrated from Great Britain. In the years 1870 to about 1957 the USA immigrants came mainly from Germany, Scotland and Holland.
Many immigrants in New Zealand and Australia are from the Silesian line. As special features can be mentioned, a Peka nut species is called Forkert, in New Zealand there is a Forkert Road and in Denmark “forkert” means wrong.
ix. To the end
Quite a few voices state that the family meeting in 2008 is one of the successful events and that we are looking forward to the eighth meeting in 2011. Armin thanks everyone involved for the diverse contributions, whether active participation, unobtrusive support or patient and interested listening. Anyone who wasn’t there missed something.
He hopes everyone stays healthy and wishes them a safe, happy return home. Ms. Roch encourages people to settle down in Langenwolmsdorf.
Birgit draws attention to the fact that the City of Adelaide is looking forward to celebrating its 175th anniversary.
The meeting officially ends at 5:25 p.m.
Correspondent Klaus Forker
