1707 Jacob Mollinger received the rights to his estate in Ruchheim [1]. Jacob was hereditary lessee of one fourth of the Hemshof [2].
1707-1716 Jacob Mellinger was listed in records at Ruchheim in 1707, 1715, and 1716.
1720 Jacob Mellinger was of Ruchheim when he bought land in Hemshof in 1720. He was a Mennonite. [3]
1724 Jacob Mellinger was listed as age 64 in 1724 when he was living at Hemshof.
Research Notes:
Hemshof is in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Ruchheim is 11 kilometers west of it. The Mennonite congegrations of Hemshof and Ruchheim and other towns have been incorporated into the Friesenheim congregation. [6]
Friesenheirn, formerly a village in the Palatinate, Germany, now incorporated into Ludwigshafen, has since the beginning of the 18th century been the seat of a Mennonite congregation, which was in the 1950s called the Ludwigshafen-Friesenheim congregation. At first the Mennonites living in the adjacent villages of Ruchheim, Oppau, Hemshof, Gräfenau, Petersau, Scharrau belonged to this congregation.
The membership has remained constant in spite of several emigrations to America: in 1820 there were 103 members; in 1825, 109; 1834, 120; 1923, 130. In 1784 the congregation suffered severely in a flood; the same fate (Heimatsblätter für Ludwigshafen a. Rh., 1915, No. 5) befell them in 1824 and 1882-1883 because of a broken dam (Heimatsblätter, 1915, Nos. 6 and 7; also Mennonitische Blätter, 1883, 8 and 15).
Originally Hemshof and Gräfenau belonged to the Mannheim congregation. It is not known when they joined Friesenheim. It was perhaps the work of Heinrich Ellenberger, who was the first minister to serve the Eppstein and Friesenheim congregations for a salary. These two churches seem to have long been united (Müller, Berner Täufer, 211). The Ibersheim resolutions of 1803 are signed by Johannes Möllinger, minister of Ruchheim, for the "Ruchheim and Friesenheim congregation."
Son Johann Jacob Möllinger (1695–1763) was a well known German watchmaker, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, the Palatinate privileged watchmaker. [7] [8]
Clock Maker: Jacob Möllinger. As a Mennonite craftsman.
The practice of a handicraft was usually not permitted to the Mennonites. In the year 1717 they placed a request with the Elector's Prince to release it from the laws at which it opposed the practice of a handicraft. The application was rejected. It is amazing that still associated to a Mennonite church Branchweilerhof a clock maker could settle in Neustadt. He must have had a special permit by the elector. Jakob Möllinger was born on 4 December 1695 in Dühren by Sinsheim A.D. Elsenz and died on 17 January 1763 in Neustadt. In Frankenthal he probably learned the craft of clock making. After 1721 he moved to the Branchweilerhof. In 1727 he acquired the property in Neustadt the Anwesen Hintergasse 26, which still stands today. Möllinger had six sons, who like their father worked as clock makers. But none achieved the skills of their father. His clocks are widespread and even went to the USA. There is still one from Branchweilerhof from the year 1754. Möllinger employed up to ten men. From his workshop the two following clocks were crafted. The "Altpörtel" in Speyer, as well as the clock of the Trinity church in Worms. (The latter is now in the Museum of Worms). When Jacob Möllinger died after a rich life of recognition and success, his widow continue operating the workshop until 1787. The son Johannes was the official watchmaker of the Earl of Wartemberg. Jacob Möllinger brother Joseph also operate in Neustadt as a clock maker, where he was called to be the head clock maker to the Duke of Zweibrücken.
Another brother David Möllinger (1709-1786) was an extraordinarily successful farmer in Monsheim, and was called the "Father of the Palatinate agriculture".
Another summary:
13. Jacob Möllinger in Neustadt/Palatinate related to the Kinzings and probably an influence. Distinctive style and influenced many others. His son Christian Möllinger became court clockmaker in Berlin. The movement above has a form of quarter striking whereby the single hammer is used for both bells. It is tilted by an extension of the quarter rack.
The founder of the dynasty, Jacob Möllinger, also trained other notable clockmakers such as Jacob Braun from Eberbach in the Odenwald east of the Rhine where other clockmakers soon took up the trade so that the Odenwald longcase clock can be accepted as a regional type.
Ulrich Mellinger, shown here as an uncle of Jacob, has alternatively been named as the father of Jacob. We seek further documentation about the parents of Jacob Mellinger. [9] [10]
[1] Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com Family Notes, Mellinger B1, [Website].
[2] C. Mervin Mellinger, Some of the Descendants of Benedict Mellinger (1982), 3.
[3] Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com Family Notes, Mellinger B1, [Website].
[4] Scott A. Mellinger and Philip T. Mellinger, "The Mollingers/Mellingers of the Cocalico Valley" Journal of the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley 33 (2008), 8-10, person C.
[5] Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com Family Notes, Mellinger B1, [Website].
[6] Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Friesenheim_(Rheinland-Pfalz,_Germany), content subject to change, [GlobalAnabaptistEncyclopedia].
[7] Wikipedia article about List_of_watchmakers, content subject to change, [Wikipedia].
[8] Website for Branchweilerhof, [URL].
[9] C. Mervin Mellinger, Some of the Descendants of Benedict Mellinger (1982), 3.
[10] http://thewatchmaker.eu/Mollinger/stammbaum.html, Accessible on the WaybackMachine