Re: The Beechler family
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In reply to:
The Beechler family
Thomas Beechler 11/26/07
Tom,
Here's what I learned about the pronunciation of the name BUECHLER (in German the U would have the umlaut and the trailing E would be absent).Büchler, in German, if you're computer correctly displays the u with the umlaut.
In formal German, called Hoche Deutche or High German, the pronunciation would sound like "Buke-ler" with a long u, like in the word ‘glue’ or ‘stew’.This would be recognized by any German-speaker in Germany.
But in each village in Germany they have a few words (or sometimes many words) that they pronounce differently amongst themselves.They call this "dialect" (pronounced "dee-a-lect") but it means the same thing as in English - a local dialect.
When I visited Germany the last time, in a different village from my Buechler ancestors, I was telling my distant cousins about my Mother's grandfather Karl Buechler.I had earlier asked them to teach me the correct pronunciation in German and they taught me to say "Buke-ler".
But later I heard my cousin telling his parents about what I had said and I heard him say "Karl Bickler".When I asked him what he had said, he replied "I was telling my Parents about your Mother's grandfather Karl 'Buke-ler'."I replied, "You said 'Bick-ler' to them, not 'Buke-ler'."He said, "Oh yes, amongst ourselves we speak 'dialect', and in our 'dialect' Buechler is pronounced 'Bick-ler' instead of'Buke-ler' as in High German."I said, "Ulrich, you have just solved a 30 year old mystery for me."
For 30 years I had wondered why, in Baltimore, my Mother's Buechlers had pronounced their name "Beek-ler".It certainly wasn't spelled that way.Now I know that in their village in Baden they must have pronounced their name "Bick-ler" in their own dialect.When they came to America "Bick-ler" became transformed into "Beek-ler".Say “Bick-ler” fast several times and you can see how it can be transformed into “Beek-ler”.
Apparently this dialect pronunciation and this transformation to "Beek-ler" are fairly common in the US.
By the way, my BUECHLERs come from Rinklingen, a little east of Karlsruhe in Baden.Karl and August came to Baltimore.Their mother Caroline Geisler Buecher came to Baltimore about 1898 after her husband died in Germany, presumably.The other family of BUECHLERs in Baltimore, related to me by marriage but not by blood, descended from Ferdinand Buechler of Hessen.They pronounce their name ‘Buke-ler’ with the u pronounced like the word ‘you’ and not like the German pronunciation.
My wife’s pedigree has a Büchler ancestor from the vicinity of Habitzheim.Thanks to Warren Brenner, who is responsible for this research.You can see his messages in this forum.
Where do you think your Beechlers came from in Germany?
John Vanko
More Replies:
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Re: The Beechler family
Thomas Beechler 3/01/08
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Re: The Beechler family
John Vanko 3/01/08
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Re: The Beechler family