The following is information I received from

a Genealogist I have helping me in my research.

The following cutaway farmground records are about the property of a small farmland belonging to the house Nb 10 at the settlement of Hadinec (Ottendorf)

Source: Statni oblastni archiv (The State Regional Archive) Vs Rokytnice, Os Rokytnice, Gruntovni kniha ( The Farmground Book) Nb 1209 Hadinec

On the day 24 th of December 1823 Tadeas Wolkmer bought a house Nb 10 at Ottendorf and moreover to it: 1 joch (jitro-morgen) 1 568 square fathoms of fields 5 joch 1 041 square fathoms of forests 1 joch 584 square fathoms of meadows (1 Austrian jitro - morgen is about 0, 57 hectare) He bought the farmland for 1 595 golden coins. The range of this small farmsteading can be seen in the cadaster map.

The following record is from the same Farmground Book (page 69)

As the protocol record from the 7 th August 1837 has it the dead farmer Tadeas Wolkmer´s farmland Nb 10 at the village of Ottendorf is being sold in the auction. The field gardener´s farmland is being sold including all the buildings for the sale price of 1 127 golden coins. ( the lands are the same as they were in 1823 when they had been bought by Tadeas Wolkmer). The farmland was sold to Frantisek (Franz) Peschel to his using without any limitation. 1. He is oblidged to pay imperial-royal taxes and dues (that means to the state) 2. He has to pay 4 golden coins to the gracious suzerain ( the owners of the Rokytnice domain were the counts of Nostic - Reineck) every year (one half when saint George, the second when Whitsuntide) 3. he must give over the tithe to the vicar 3 dry measures of rye 3 dry measures of oats the flax - the quantity is not known 4. He has to work at repearing and building new roads at the Rokytnice domain 5. To provide a retire house by the house Nb 10 for the widow Wolkmer till her death. 6. Other rights except those ones mentioned above are not valid 7. An incoming householder will pay all the dues connecting with this record. Registration in the books is permitted 21 st August 1837

Now you know the content of the records about the farland Nb 10 at Ottendorf. There are no other farmgroud records. They are written in German (in the origin). There will be made a copy from the record from the year 1837. One more farmland belonged to your ancestors at Ottendorf - the mill - house Nb 1 - as the framground book Nb 1209 on the page 173 has it: In the year 1782 Kaspar Rinelt bought the mill Nb 1. Because he died - probably- in the year 1809 the wife of the dead miller Johana Rineltova transfered (sold) the mill to their son Josef Rinelt for 1 761 golden coins 20 kreutzers. The contract was signed on the 23rd December by Johana Rineltova, the widow, +++ ( she was illiterate). Water saw-mill belonged to the mill, Josef Rinelt owned it as early as in 1780. There were 6 jitro (morgen) - 1 376 square fathoms of fields (that means 2 lands) and 2 jitro - morgen - 340 and 1/2 of meadows by the mill. Together about 8,5 hectares of lands. An incoming miller Josef Rinelt got 1/4 of the inheritage, the widow Johana Rineltova 1/2 of the inheritage and a sister of the new householder,

Johana(Jana) also 1/4 of the inheritage. Johana (Jana) Rineltova is a future wife of Franz (Frantisek) Peschel.

Accordig the record from the 13 th July 1817 Josef Rinelt sells the mill Nb 1 at Ottendorf to Jiri Knol.

Let´s go on with telling something about people and the region round Rokytnice in the Orlicke Hory mountains. All the villages where your ancestors lived are situated in the Orlicke Hory mountains among the hills. There is a lack of the arable land in one place, in the other one there is none. Only the forests and meadows. There is a lot of snow here in winter. The tops of the hills suffer from losing the forest because of „the acid rains". The view „Ricky v Orlickych horach" shows the winter sports center which is quite near Rokytnice. The hills in surroundings are almost 1 000m high. The small town of Rokytnice in Orlicke Hory mountains came to existence by consolidation of the three villages. Among them there is Niederdorf (Dolni Rokytnice). In the centre there are ancient houses to be seen. But most of the houses are quite new ones. Near the centre of the town there is the castle of the counts of Nostic-Reineck ( a great building in the middle of the aerial photograph. The former village of Niederdorf can be seen at the left edge of the aerial view. The place where your ancestors´ houses were situated is ouside the aerial view. Prospectus „Kulturní památky na Rokytnicku" is in German and Czech. A few words for explanation: There is a church of Whitsuntide at Rokytnice on the cover of it. Your ancestors from Niederdorf had been baptized there. The church of Nejsvetejsi Trojice inside the prospectus was the church of the castle, there is a family tomb of the counts of Nostic-Rieneck. The pilgrimage chapel of Saint Anna at Hadinec (Ottendorf) stood originally high above the place on the Annensky hill (991 metres above sea level). It was built in the year 1880. It was brought to Ottendorf before the Second World War to prevent from restraining in building garrisons against Germany. Nowadays the chaple is the only building at Hadinec (Ottendorf). The monument to the victims of the world´s wars contains the German names only. The Czechs almost do not live here before 1945. The monument was restored 1998. The reconstruction was financed by the former inhabitants - the Germans living in Germany. The church of Saint Filip and Jakub at Nebeska Rybna is quite new (about from the year 1850). But it has no parishioner and it became dilapidated. There is torso of the church at Neratov (Barenwald). The church is not old (the 18th century). In the year 1945 there was a conflagration (it is almost sure the regitries we need burnt out in the fire). The construction was repeared in a makeshift way but the roof fell in some time ago. Since the year 1991 there are church services „in the open air" from time to time. The upland dead region round Rokytnice did not allure Czech farmers - they settled the good down-country not far from here. That is why the Germans came here from the other side of the Orlicke hory mountains. The new settlers came to the mountains hundred years ago. They stumped a piece of forest in the wild region using it as small fields and pastures. They were earning their money for living as woodcutters, workers in iron-mills and glassworks. The colliers as well. The names of the villages show the type of the region: Ottendorf means the place full of snakes Barenwald means the Bear forest

People were extremely poor and underbred here. Nearly they were all Germans. When your ancestors - the Peschels - left for the USA the main purpose for leaving was misery. In any case they did not think those days they were desirable nation. My ancestors both Czechs and Germans lived in the same mountains not far from here. I know this situation from my parents narration. My ancestors - the Germans became the Czechs among the czech majority. But in the year 1918 Czechoslovakia came into existence and the Germans in the borderland became a part of it. Then Hitler came to sway in Germany (1933) and the Germans wanted to join the regions they lived in to Germany. First Hitler unstuck the german borderland from Czechoslovakia in the year 1938 and then he beastly occupied (1939 - 1945) of the rest of Czechoslovakia. After the war the Germans took their luggage and went where they longed for: to Germany. The country remained - partly deserted. Suddenly Ottendorf - high in the mountains - was without any inhabitants. The living conditions did not allure new inhabitants - the Czechs. The only one house cannot be found in the whole small village. Nobody has his residence here for permanent living There are two weekend houses and a chapel left. All the area of the former village, the small fields and meadows is forested. The accsess to Ottendorf is on foot only. When the Germans were forced to leave Nebeska Rybna (Himmlisch Rybna) in the year 1946 there left their houses nowadays almost used as weekend houses. There is a creaky church (it can be seen in the prospectus as well as in my snap) and a deserted graveyard. There are only German inscriptions in the graveyard. Also the Jung family´s graves. There are pastures round the village only.

Rokytnice is the centre of the region. It is a small town that came into existence by the mergence of the villages among them plus Niederdorf. Rokytnice is situated lower and there have been built a lot of new houses. The former inhabitants - the Germans very often came here. They also payed the recovery of several old monuments (the chapel, the monument) So this is reality about the authentic inhabitants of the Rokytnice region and about their homes. I do not know if I am succesfull in finding information about Rokytnice region including old photographs from one of the Czechs whose ancestors lived there before the year 1945. Two villages further to the south-east I am looking for the ancestors for the American client, too. There lived the Czechs there, the houses are tenanted and the owners of these houses are the same as they were centuries ago (the families). The villages of Himmlisch Rybna, Sanflos and Kohlhan belonged to the domain of Rychnov nad Kneznou. Send booklit on the stock Kolovrat´s castle at Rychnov contains the information about the castle. Your ancestors had to work for its building and for the comfortable conditions of its lords.

Cutaway records from the farmground book about the transfering farmsteads among your ancestors from Niederdorf will follow. All the records are written in German in the farmground book. Later I would have one record copied and I will send it translated into English.

Source: Statni oblastni archiv Zamrsk (The State Regional Archive Zamrsk) Vs Rokytnice Nb 1215

Niederdorf house Nb 38 Jan Blumel buys this peasant farmland for 5010 golden coins. According to the contract from the 1st January 1808 Vaclav Blumel buys the farmland Nb 38 from his father Jan Blumel for 1 000 golden coins. The farmland has got 32 jitro-morgen - 1 100 square fathoms of fields and 1 jitro - morgen . 1 532 square fathoms of meadows that means more than 19 hectares of lands. The contract is signed by Jan Blumel +++.

At Niederdorf lying down the hills there were more fields than meadows.

Niederdorf house Nb 39 The farmland of another Jan Blumel from Niederdorf was much more smaller. This Jan Blumel was just a field gardener that means he had a house and small lands. The householder was to work for his lord in the manual corvee - that means ha had no horses.

Niederdorf house Nb 34 According to the agreement from the 2 nd January 1811 between the retired Vaclav Burggraph and his older daughter Barbora the father sold her a house Nb 34 and moreover 835 square fathoms (0,3 hectare) for 150 golden coins. Katerina - younger daughter of Vaclav Burggraph was your ancestor. She had been getting off for Vaclav Blumel , the peasant from Niederdorf 38, for 10 years by that time.