St. Rochus and Catherine in Niederofflingen, and Rhineland Palatinate, Oberscheidweiler, Germany, is a Branch church of the St. Hubertus Parish of Niederscheidweiler, Niederofflingen, and Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. The church serves a village community of approximately 200 people located in the Eifel on the edge of the Vulcaneifel, a plateau between the Alf and Sammetbach valleys.
Although the village was first settled in 1144, the name, Oberscheidweiler, came into customary use in 1794. The village lay under French rule until 1814 when it was assigned as part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Since 1947, the village has been part of the state of the Rhineland-Palatinate.
The St. Rochus Church was named to honor, Saint Roch, one of the plague patrons who tended the sick during the middle ages. The church has been extended several times since its construction in the 18th century.
Ancestors of the Peiffer and Steilen families were parishioners in this church and received spiritual benefits through sacramental blessings. Hand-written ledgers documenting these blessings are in Latin, German or French and are available at the church, diocese office, or other archives. The next two paragraphs on this page reference Pfeifer and Steilen ancestral family records discovered at these locations.
Translation: “On 13 March 1812 was born and baptized on the same day, Joannes Pfeifer, legitimate son of Mattias Pfeifer, farmer, and Angela Bastgen, his wife, from Oberscheidweiler. Witnesses were Joannes Pfeifer, farmer in Hontheim and Maria Eva Hordelmann, from the Mill in Obersheidweiler.”
<1360> Johann Peiffer marriage to Maria Katharina Steilen in Niederofflingen on 18 February 1841. Johann was born in the village of Oberscheidweiler, and Maria Katharina was born in the village of Strotzbusch.
Sources:
“DE_BATr_Abt72_Niederscheidweiler_Kb3_S2.jpg,” translation; Niederscheidweiler, KB 3,P. 2, Bistumsarchiv Trier, Jesuitenstrasse, 54290, Bundesrepublic Deutschland, Germany.
Familienbuch der Burgermeisterei Niederofflingen, 1798-1902, Oehms, Karl G., 2015, page 344.
Photo by Edward J. Pfeifer, 2017.
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