Ludwig and Katharina Graf Rittel - Family History Overview

When we lived in Kansas, I did quite a bit of research on my great grandfather's family history. His parents (German colonists from what is now the Ukraine / Moldova area) settled in east central Kansas and I was able to visit the places they worked and lived, as well as their gravesites. I have only one remaining relative in Kansas that I know of: Jerry Rittel, owner of Rittel's Western Wear in Abilene. I met him in the autumn of 2002 on my first trip to Marion and the surrounding towns.

The Rittel family story (what little is known, anyway) is quite fascinating; I only wish I had more details of how the family came to America and what their life in the old Russian Empire was like. The story of the German colonization of the Black Sea area has been well documented (see this site for a good general description), but I wish my family had been more interested in preserving their family stories. I get the feeling that my great grandfather didn't want to have much to do with the culture of his immigrant parents, preferring the anonymity of American individualism to his parent's traditional ways....

Continue Reading 3 comments October 1st, 2006