Arnswald.de

A Place by the Name of Arnswald

Wolff I. von Arnswald, who gave his Name to the village Arnswald or Graboven (now at Poland "Grabovo")

Nearly 10 kilometres in the South of the town at Goldap at the map of East-Prussia you will find in the Polish part near the Russian border a place called Arnswald now Grabowo.

At the beginning of the national socialism in the year 1938 the towns and villages in East Prussia with Polish and Russian names got Germanized, and the little place called Grabowo got the name Arnswald. This name "Arnswald" was given by the office-captain at Angerburg, Wolff I. von Arnswald who resided there from 1584 until 1586. He was born before 1560 at Alkehnen and died in 1594 at Wackern in East-Prussia, and he was credited with the founding of several church parishes.

Wolff I. was the Master of the Estates Wackern and Alkehnen in East-Prussia. From the year 1506 until 1723 Alkehnen was in possession of the family von Arnswald. All the purchase contracts from around 1580 were signed by Wolff I.

In 1570 Wolff I. von Arnswald married Gmerentia von Hohendorf, who was born before 1570 and died after 1618. Together they had the children named: Albrecht, Achatius, Anna Christoph VI. and Hans IV von Arnswald. But, unfortunately, we do not know any descendants of these children.

There are to mention the following two events, Hans Dietrich August Franz Hagen von Arnswaldt, * 1905, reported in a letter, on April 20,1955:
1. "Between 1936 and 1938 a record about a business fell into my hands. This firm was situated at Arnswald in East Prussia. I wrote a letter to the major of the village Arnswald and asked him to inform me, where the name of this village comes from. He answered, that this village had another name until recently. (This name seemed to be very Lithuanian, I had forgotten it.) and this name Arnswald now is the name of a captain Arnswald, who had been credited with the founding of several church parishes".

2. "In autumn 1944 I was a soldier in a motorized unity. Our order was to stay in a deep hole at the Rominter heath. In the middle of the night we stopped and I stood in front of a yellow nameplate called "Arnswald". But there was no time to search for the reason of this accident, a village with the same name like mine. Some hours later we got much trouble with our enemies and I thought by the way, a history circle closed itself , a member with the name von Arnswaldt comes back to the village Arnswald".

And when the second world war ended, Hans Dietrich August Franz Hagen von Arnswaldt was still living.

Arranged by Gabi and Peter Arnswald