Johannes Wurster

     Johannes Wurster was born at Freudenstadt, Oberamt Freudenstadt, Schwarzwaldkreis, Württemberg. He married Agatha [—?—].
     Johannes Wurster first recorded date is from around 1753, the first date found in our record the Wursters lived in the section of Germany known as Württemberg near and around the town of Igelsberg, located near the famous Black Forest (in Schwarzwald Kriess), this is a wooded mountain region in the southwestern part of Germany, occupying about two-thirds of Baden and one-third of Württemberg. Its width varies from about 38 miles in the south to about 14 miles in the north, while its entire area is about 1900 square miles. The southern section contains great elevations 4860 ft. The Black Forest gives rise to a number of rivers including the famous Danube and the Neckar and contains numerous lakes. Mineral springs are also abundant and include health resorts such as Baden-Baden and Wildbad. On the plains, agriculture and cattle raising are practiced and there are some vineyards on the western slope. The well known Coo-Coo Clocks that are made in Germany are made here. Up to a height of about 2000 ft. there is a luxuriant growth of oaks and beeches above which to about 4000 ft, is the thick black belt of firs which gives this region its name.
He was a sausage maker. Translation of Michael Ziefle's web page

Igelsberg

     Igelsberg is first mentioned, according to the description of the Upper Office in 1858, in the gift book of the Reichenbach Monastery. In the oldest records of Reichenbach (cod. Reichenbacb 19b 24a 26a) there is mention only of a mountain Iringesberc-Iringisberc, stemming from the man's name Inning around the year 1100. By 1228 there was already a settlement here, which now, however, was called Illensperg.

     Originally lgelsberg belonged to the Count Palatine of Tubingen (Rudolf), who gave it in loan to the Superior Monastery in Strassburg (1228). In 1100 Werner von Salzstetten transferred part of the mountain to the Reichenbach Monastery (Gregorszell) through Count Hugo von Tubingen (Cod. Reichenbach 26a) and in 1289 Konrad, called Burzer, sold the stewardship of the village, which brought in 3 pounds 14 schillings 'Tubingsch' a year, to the monastery, with the acquiescence of Count Palatine Ludwig and Elisabeth, nee Countess Palatine of Tubingen. They relinquished all rights which had been handed down to them by their families.

     Ecclesiastically, the Monastery District of Reichenbach belongs to a parish of the diocese of Constance, which allotted it to the Land Chapter Donistetten (later Horb). In 1603 the district was reformed and assigned to the Deanery of Freudenstadt. The General Office in 1577 was Tubingen, in 1586 Denkendorf, in 1598 Bebenhausen, in 1810 again Tubingen.

     The very old church located at the southern end of the village has a nave that retains some traces of Romanesque architecture, while the choir, which terminates in half an octagon and is adorned with beautifully trimmed lancet windows, is constructed in early Germanic style. The church is surrounded by a burial ground.

     The church is dedicated to St. Niklas, the Saint of the Wilderness. Few peasants attempted to settle on th& sandy, infertile soil of Igelsberg. The only attraction was a pasture (there was a forest also; the village of Erzgrube did not yet exist) and the protection of the Monastery. At the time of the Thirty Years' War there were already 16 families living here.

Source: Sieb, Hermann. Das Klosterdorf Igelsberg: Ein Streifzug durch seine Geschichte und Markung. Altensteig, 1925.

These are Chuck Hayes' comments on Michael Ziefle's web page

Stan,

     The above description, as you have no doubt noticed, is not exactly a model of clarity. Nor is it a good introduction to the village of Igelsberg for those who know nothing whatever about it. The text assumes, among other things, that the reader first of all is versed in medieval German history (most educated Germans are) and secondly already knows where Igelsberg is located. Besides that, it is very poorly written. This is definitely not the kind of history of my hometown that I would put on my Internet site.

     That being said, there is none the less some useful information to be gleaned from the text. Igelsberg literally means Igel Mountain. An "Igel" is a small, prickly European animal a little like a porcupine (but smaller); in English it's called a hedgehog. In other words, the name Igelsberg, translated literally into English, is Hedgehog Mountain or Mount Hedgehog. lgelsberg is apparently a village located on the side or top of a mountain where lots of hedgehogs live or at least used to live. But its primary historical importance and reason for being, it seems, was as the seat of a monastery built there in the Middle Ages. The village probably appeared because of the monastery that was built there first; both seem to have existed by 1228. It couldn't have been much of a village though, even by medieval standards, because by the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618 to 1648), four centuries later, there were still only sixteen families living there (according to the final paragraph). Igelsberg obviously did not attract a lot of people; the poor soil apparently made it difficult to eke out an existence there. Whether the monastery is at the present time still in place or in use is not stated, though apparently it was operating at the start of the 19th century. It may well still be.

     Where is Igelsberg located? That is not explicitly stated, but the text does give clues. Its association with the other towns and cities mentioned would indicate that it is in the Black Forest in the southwestern comer of Germany between the cities of Tubingen and Strassburg. Constance is on the Swiss border, but that's quite a ways south. Since Igelsberg was assigned at different times to the administration of Freudenstadt and Dornstetten, two much smaller cities which are located midway between Tubingen and Strassburg and within close proximity of each other, it is almost certainly located within a few miles of those localities. Freudenstadt is a small city of some 20,000 inhabitants; Dornstetten is smaller. Both are on my map of Germany. Igelsberg, unfortunately, is not shown on any map I have; it is apparently too small to be shown. The last paragraph of the description mentions the village of Erzgrube, which seems to be a neighboring mining town (Erzgrube = ore mine), also too small to show up on my map; more than likely it's on the same mountain. But I think a more detailed map would show both these villages somewhere in the general area of Freudenstadt and Dornstetten.

     After Chuck Hayes wrote this, he was able to find a map with enough detail to show igelsberg, and the map does show Igelsberg to be just where he thought it was. I received the map from Chuck.