Rotzollen
(Rocol), Kreis Schlochau, West Prussia
Rotzollen is a
very small village at the edge of Kries Schlochau shown on the above 1850 map. The
Rotzoll family was originally from Wusterbarth,
Kreis Belgard, Pommern.
According to
Alexander Treichel, George Andreas Rotzoll (24 May 1641 � 1 January 1714) was
estate manager or tenant on different estates in Pommern before he acquired the
property originally named Pustkowie that eventually became Rotzollen; it was acquired
from Jakob Semerau called Wigray and his wife Ursula (n�e von Kleist) in the
early 1700�s. His son Aegdius Christoph Rotzoll inherited the property upon his
death.
My interest in
this village is that Aegdius Christoph Rotzoll�s son Andreas Georg Rotzoll
married Anna Margaretha Remus daughter of the village head (Schultz) Franz
Remus of Stretzin. The Rotzoll family
attended church in Pollnitz where their many
children were baptized. Franz Remus eventually moved to Rotzollen to join his
daughter and died there in 1797. Click here for the
Rotzoll family genealogy. Click here for
the Franz Remus genealogy.
Here is a picture of a painting of Andreas Rotzoll:
And here is a picture of a painting of his wife Anna
Margaretha Remus:
(This is the earliest picture of a Remus from my
family)
These pictures were
from descendents of the Rotzoll family and very much appreciated.
�
On my trips in
2004 and 2006 I was not able to find it but found the nearby logging village of
Kupfermuhl with a very nice water powered saw mill. On my 2006 trip I talked
with the forest ranger in Kupfermuhle. He said the old village of Rotzollen no
longer exists. There is a tourist camp near the Rotzollen site.
The stones from
the manor house were removed for safety reasons. The ranger noted that there
were pieces of glass from the glass mill that was there at one time.
Fortunately, Professors Lukas and Krystyna Trcinski from University of Lodz
became interested in this family and found a few remaining fragments on site.
Here is a picture of both fragments of the manor house and of the glass
produced by the mill that they found.
The location of the old manor house is shown
on this map with the number 21 towards the right of the map.
The Rotzollen
founding documents date from 1729; you can click on them below. The village
head (schultz) privileg was made to Aegdius Christoph Rotzoll, the father of
Andreas Georg above. The grant was from King Augustus, King of Saxony and
Poland, and may have been as reward for service in the recently ended Great Northern War. This was also
likely to have happed to the Wenskis of Wusters.
Michael Remus of Pollnitz had a similar
grant that may from this Augustus and confirmed by his son Augustus III after
Augustus III won the Polish War of
Succession in 1734. Click on the pages to read the Rotzoll documents (page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8, page 9, page 10, page 11, page 12, page 13, page 14, page 15, page 16, page 17 and page 18). The images may appear too big
on your screen so download them to set your desired mix of size and clarity.
There is evidence of that the Rotzoll family were officers during this period
in the Saxon Army; click here to view that
evidence.
Here is a photo of
a painting of the old manor house at Rotzollen courtesy of Paul Sternberg paulsternberg@msn.com and Joachim Y
Zylka joachim.y.zylka@aexp.com
who are also interested in this village.
In later years,
the children of the Rotzoll family moved to other villages in the area. The
last Rotzoll to live in Rotzollen was August Gottlieb Ferdinand Rotzoll who was
the owner from 1828 to 1853; he is pictured below:
Other estates
owned by this family were at Tempelberg
near Danzig as well as in Rakelwitz, Lottyn and Sternau
in Kreis Konitz, West Prussia.
Click here to go to other West Prussia Villages.
Please
send any queries to Bill Remus at
March
1, 2013