Johann Michael Getinger, son of Sebastian Getinger & Anna Maria Wind, was born 6 April 1716 in Adelshofen, a village in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg. He married Eva Marghareta Müller in Adelshofen on 24 May 1751.
They had 2 sons, each born in Adelshofen: (1) Johann Leonhard born 26 March 1753; and (2) Georg Michael born 15 August 1757.
Michael Hettinger and his family immigrated to Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein) in 1762. They joined the migration to Russia in 1765.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Dönhof on 21 July 1766 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 6.
Leonhard Hettinger and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Dönhof in Household No. Dh034.
Leonhard Hettinger, son of Leonhard Hettinger, is recorded on the 1811 census of Dietel in Household No. 39 along with a note that he had arrived in Dietel from Dönhof.
The death of Leonhard Hettinger in 1834 is recorded on the 1834 census of Dietel in Household No. 55.
In Danish records, Michael Hettinger is recorded as coming from "Adelshofen, Herrschaft von Graf von Neipperg Ritterlicher Kanton Kraichgau, Schwäbischer Ritterkreis." This Adelshofen is located in what today is Kreis Heilbronn, near Schloss Schwaigern (Schwaigern Castle) where the Counts of Neipperg reside.
Historical documents record a variety of spellings for this surname including Hettinger, Getinger, and Gedinger.
- 1811 Dietel Census (Household No. 39).
- 1834 Dietel Census (Household No. 55).
- Eichhorn, Alexander, Jacob & Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766 (Deiningen, Germany: Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, 2012): 447.
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Dh034, Dh043.
- Parish register of Adelshofen.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis; 1999): 342.
Wladimir Böhm
Brent Mai
Adelshofen parish register entry recording the birth and baptism of Johann Michael Getinger on 6 April 1716. Source: Wladimir Böhm.
Johann Michael Hettinger recorded on a marker in Schleswig commemorating the Volga Germans who had settled there before immigrating to Russia.
Source: Jorgelina Fischer.