Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971

For “Born” 6 OCT 1833 of Wenzel Grenenger

Wenzel Gruninger | Baptism 20 October 1833 | Butzbach, Friedberg, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany | Birth 6 October 1833 | Parents Johannes Gruninger, Maria Sophia

HIS EXACT BIRTH DATE, which this tree has never had. The collection holds TWO index rows for the same baptism and only one of them carries the birth date; proposal 2254 cited the row without it, which is why his birth has stood as 'ABT OCT 1833' since. Born 6 October 1833, baptised a fortnight later on the 20th. Provenance: the row was read on FamilySearch in the signed-in browser by the orchestrator and relayed to me as field values; I did not see the page, and the field order above is the relay's, not a transcription of the rendering. It agrees with the German compilation's independent '1833'.

For “Baptized” 20 OCT 1833 of Wenzel Grenenger

Wenzel Gruninger | Baptism 20 October 1833 | Butzbach, Friedberg, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany | Parents Johannes Gruninger, Maria Sophia

Index row read in Chrome, signed in, by the orchestrator on 2026-09-07; the transcription is theirs. This is the record the whole line was missing. 20 October 1833 is the BAPTISM, so the birth is dated ABT OCT 1833 rather than to the day. It agrees with his age at death (78 in November 1911) and with the 'aged 77' I read on the monument.

For “Baptized” 4 JUL 1830 of Anna Katharina Grüninger

Anna Katharina Grüninger | Baptism 4 July 1830 | Butzbach, Oberhessen, Großherzogtum Hessen, Deutsches Reich | Parents Maria Sophia, Johannes Grüninger

Index row read in Chrome, signed in, by the orchestrator on 2026-09-07; the transcription is theirs, and the parents are listed mother-first on this row. Same parish and same parents as Wenzel's 1833 baptism, so she is his elder sister. Nothing is known of her after the baptism — she is not among the Australian Grenengers.

For Johannes Grüninger & Maria Sophia Knabenschuh

Wenzel Gruninger | Baptism 20 October 1833 | Butzbach, Friedberg, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany | Parents Johannes Gruninger, Maria Sophia

The couple were created in proposal 2194 from the given names on their son's NSW death registration alone. This is the parish record that gives them their real names, their surname and their town: Johannes Grüninger and Maria Sophia, of Butzbach in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Three of their children are now attached from the same register.

For Wenzel Grenenger (1833–1911)

Wenzel Gruninger | Baptism 20 October 1833 | Butzbach, Friedberg, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany | Parents Johannes Gruninger, Maria Sophia

Cited on the person for his birthplace and parentage. The parents' given names match his NSW death registration exactly (13941/1911, father JOHN, mother SOPHIA), which is the discriminator that makes this the right Wenzel: Johannes anglicised to John, Maria Sophia shortened to Sophia. It also confirms the surname's German form, GRÜNINGER, of which GRENENGER is the Australian anglicisation, and settles the town — his brother James Ernest's 1886 naturalisation certificate said 'a native of Frankfort a/M Germany' because Frankfurt is the nearest city, 35 km south.