Groß Wokern or Gross Wokern is a small village in the province of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. When our ancestors left to come to America in the 1870s, the region was called Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Even today, there are only about 1,100 people in the village so it was probably much smaller when August Heiden's (left) family  lived in the village.

August was born in this village in 1838 and he and his wife, Fredericka who he married in 1868, lived there until the family left for America in 1873. Their first three children Heinrich, Ernst and Meta were born in this village. August was a brick mason so he might have had a slightly higher status in the community compared to farm laborers and house servants.

Also born here were the parents of Mary (Rambow) Heiden, wife of William Carl Heiden, son of August. Her father, Heinrich Rambow II (right) was born in Gross Wokern in 1840 and he married Wilhelmina Milhan in 1868 about 6 years before they too emigrated to American in 1874. In such a small town, there is little doubt that the Rambows and August Heiden were well acquainted. After they settled within a few miles of each other in Monroe County, Michigan, August helped build the Rambow's house.

Gross Wokern is about 3 or 4 miles from the larger town of Teterow. Nearby villages of Klein Wokern, Neu Wokern and Nienhagen also figure in the lives of our German ancestors.

1. Christina Maria Aulrich died January14 1823
   
   

2. August Friedrich Anton Theodor Heiden born January 27, 1838 baptized February 4
   

3. Christina Sophia Maria Elizabeth Heiden born October 23, 1807 died November 30, 1887 (August's mother)
   

4. Ernst Car Fritz Heiden born June 10, 1868 son of August and Rika Heiden.
   
   

5. Friederika Sophia Henrietta Heiden born December 31, 1832
   
   

6. Meta Friedericka Henrietta Elisabeth Heiden born December 23, 1870 daughter of August and Rika Heiden.
   
   

7. Carl Christian Johann Frederick Martin Milhan born October 27, 1849 - Emigrated to America and lived near his sister # 12 below.
   
   

8. Christoph Carl August Ludwig Milhan born February 17, 1863 - Emigrated to America and lived near his sister # 12 below.
   
   

9. Fredericka Marie Caroline Johanna Milhan born August 17, 1855 - Emigrated to America and lived near her sister # 12 below.
   
   

10. Johann Joachim Friederick Milhan born July 23, 1823, married November 29, 1848 and  died February 20, 1868. (Mary (Rambow) Heiden's father)
    

11. Wilhelm Friedrick Heinrich Ludwig Milhan born March 20, 1858 - Emigrated to America and lived near her sister # 12 below.
    
    

12. Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Milhan born September 1, 1847 (Mary (Rambow) Heiden's mother)
    

13. Maria Sophia Fredericke Möller born August 10, 1816 died April 10, 1874
    
    

14. Bertha Rambow born December 15, 1872 daughter of Heinrich Rambow.
    
    

15. Friedrich L. Rambow born December 24, 1869 son of Heinrich Rambow.
    
    

16. Heinrich Christoph Jochim born June 12,1799 married November 8, 1839 died May, 1867
    
    

17. Heinrich Ernst Carl Dietrich Rambow II born March 31, 1840 married November 8, 1868 (Mary (Rambow) Heiden's father)
    

18. Henriette Wilhelmine Maria Rambow born before February 2, 1853 died February 2, 1853
    
    

19. Joachim Gottfried Rambow born March 12, 1855
    
    

20. Johanna Henrietta Dorothea Rambow born January 27, 1849
    
    

21. Julianna Maria Dorothea Rambow born June 28, 1845 died July 21, 1853
    
    

22. Maria Sophia Dorothea Rambow born March 4, 1838 died April 4, 1842
    
    

23. Nicolaus Heinrich Rambow died July 27, 1835, he was the father of Heinrich Rambow, Sr.
    
    

24. Friedrich Leonhard Heinrich Stuve born September 23, 1813 residence 1844
    
    

25. Isabe Catharina Sophia Teschenow residence

During my trip to this area of Germany in 1996, I spent some time wandering around this village which was at the center of our branch of the Heiden family.

Gross Wokern is basically a very small town with a main street and a few side streets. It is surrounded by farm land and it was easy to visualize people of the town walking out to the large estates each day to do their work. Unlike in the U.S. Midwest, there are very few houses in the country. There is a large house and farmstead surrounded by miles of open farm land. More on this Topic.

Many of the houses in the village look as if they could have been there at the time of our ancestors. They are well maintained and up to date with neat, but small landscapes. In many European countries, zoning type laws help to maintain the

In the middle of the town in the middle of a boulevard type of street was a memorial to those who died in World War I. The town has only about 1,100 people today so it must have been much smaller back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Still, there were about 40 names of men from Gross Wokern who had been killed in the war.

Listed on one of the plaques was Musk. E. Heiden + 16. 2. 15. This means that someone named E. Heiden who was a Musketier which was the equivalent to a private in the U.S. Army, died on February 16, 1915. Given the small size of this community, it would seem very likely that this person would be of some relation to our ancestors...but we don't know for certain.

This rock, obviously very old, church stands in Gross Wokern. It was probably the church where August, Rika and their children worshiped before coming to America. The Lutheran church always seemed to a big part of their lives and the lives of their children.

There were a few headstones around the church grounds but, like all other churches we visited on this journey, the headstones were all for people who died in the recent several decades. This is because of the burial customs in many European nations which maximize the use of limited amounts of land. For more on these customs, click here.