DeutschBy Uli Axthelm:
Dear members of the Axthelm clan,
Following our clan gathering on May 30th in Ostramondra, I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who attended. After a ten-year hiatus, it was a great joy to see so many members of our extended “Axthelm” family again, to welcome over 20 additional Axthelms for the first time, and to spend a wonderful, memorable day together.
For many, a highlight was undoubtedly the walk to the clan memorial, the original clan stone, and the clan linden tree on the Gartenberg in Ostramondra (or Rettgenstedt?), complete with numerous photo stops, as well as the many personal conversations, encounters, and family stories shared along the way.
We were all especially delighted by the attendance of Christopher and Joshua Axthelm (with their children) from the USA, and Rolf Axthelm with his wife Lione from Brazil—all of whom undertook long journeys to be there. Unfortunately, Sonja Ruthe (whose grandmother was born an Axthelm) from Canada had to cancel due to her husband’s sudden illness. We also received an email from Denmark (specifically the island of Bornholm). Even after the event, several Axthelms from Germany got in touch to express their regret at having missed the gathering for various reasons. There are also well over 50 other people sharing our surname in the USA whom I contact regularly; there is even a Gisela Axthelm in Melbourne, Australia!
This gathering demonstrates once again just how vibrant our family community is and how valuable the connections spanning generations and national borders remain.
To ensure that these stories, memories, and insights are not lost, I have recently received great support from Sebastian (“Basti”) Axthelm, who will be taking on a more active and comprehensive role in managing our family website moving forward:
We would therefore like to warmly invite you to share interesting anecdotes, memories, or accounts from our family history with us. Personal reflections on what it means to you to be an Axthelm are also welcome. You are welcome to email your contributions to Sebastian at seb.axthelm(at)gmail.com. We would publish them—naturally, after consulting with you first—on our family website. Please make frequent use of our website to stay up to date; there, you can already find research reports, historical information, and other interesting content regarding our extended family’s history. Additionally, every family member can download their own personal coat-of-arms certificate there.
At the same time, we want to actively shape the future of our clan and are looking for family members who would like to get involved in this work. Participation is, of course, possible on a small scale—every bit of support helps. Assistance is particularly needed in the following areas:
- Preparing and helping organize future clan gatherings
- Maintaining the clan monument
- Assisting with genealogical research and documenting our history
- Helping to further develop the family website
- Maintaining and managing our family tree data
Please feel free to contact us if you can imagine getting involved.
Around the time of the Axthelm clan gatherings about 100 years ago, Ekkehard’s father, Pastor Heinz Axthelm, played a pivotal role in systematically recording our family trees. About a century has passed since then, and the sprawling Axthelm family tree has continued to grow.
A note from Sebastian: That is precisely why it is important that existing information is not lost and that the knowledge held by our older family members is documented. Attached, you will find a four generation ancestor chart. We kindly ask you to fill this out as completely as possible and return it to seb.axthelm(at)gmail.com at your earliest convenience. With your support, we can update and complete our family trees. In many cases, we even succeed in linking up with previously researched family lines and creating a pedigree chart that goes all the way back to the 17th century.
Personally, I would be delighted to see the younger generation gradually take over and carry on the responsibility for our family history work in the coming years. I am especially pleased that Antero, Kai, and—in particular—Sebastian have already shown interest and are actively involved. It would be wonderful if other family members joined in as well, ensuring that the tasks and responsibilities ahead can be passed on to younger hands for the long term.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to you now for your support, your interest, and your bond with our family.
Warm regards and best wishes,
Yours, Uli Axthelm
