The LAUBENHEIMER SCHEMBS

Return to the Parents of Peter Schembs II (1816)

Peter Schembs II (1816 - 1883)2.4.5

Peter Schembs II was born in Laubenheim 11.05.1816. His uncle Johann Peter Schembs was godfather at his baptism. Peter was confirmed in 1830 at the age of 14 years.

Birth Record of Peter Schembs II, Laubenheim 1816

Peter Schembs II was married 06.03.1803 to Catharina Dexheimer (1813, + 24.06.1872). His wife Catharina Dexheimer came from Schafhausen bei Alzey. Peter died 06.06.1883 in Laubenheim. In the record of their marriage his occupation is listed as day laborer. Where they lived in Laubenheim is not known.

In 1816, the year of Peter Schembs II's birth, Laubenheim, with a population of 510, came to be a part of the Grand Duchy of Hessen. This resulted from the agreements of the Viennese Congress (1815) between Austria, Prussia and Hessen following the so-called liberation wars (1812-1813) and the defeat of Napolean's troops at Leipzig (the "Völkerschlacht"). Laubenheim remained from that time until the mid-20th Century a part of Hessen. The affiliation to Hessen was ended in the year 1947 with the creation of Rheinland-Pfalz state.

Painting of Laubenheim, ca. 1856

In 1816 there was another catastrophic flood in Laubenheim. The Grand Duchy of Hessen government developed a Rhine dam in 1822, which proved to be inadequate and led to future catastrophes in 1824, 1851 and 1882.

By 1826 the population of Laubenheim had increased to about 750 inhabitants. In Mainz the population was 30,000. The town center of Laubenheim lay at the hillside. The most easterly building of the town was the Mainzer Hof, a former farm. The last remaining damaage from the French-time, especially at the church and school, could finally be remedied after years. Then in the 1840's Laubenheim jumped its old village wall. From this time also comes the so-called "Schott'sche Villa", in which in 1862 Richard Wagner spent the night. The contruction of the railroad from Mainz to Worms (1846-1853), until 1869 a single track, was laid out beginning at the present-day Hans-Zöller-Straße from 3 Stichstraßen (Talstraßen) with small worker sub-divisions. Later followed houses along the present-day Oppenheimer Straße (old B-9). In 1857 the still operating business Firma Pelzer was established there. Also the community park already existed. The business Kupferberg Sektkellerei was founded in 1850, which today is headquartered in Mainz.

Besides many political events taking place in this time, e.g. the German Revolution, which in 1848 led to the Frankfurt National Assembly in Paul's Church and to a German constitution, technical innovation was also moving ahead:

Invention of the dynamo and electric motor, a milestone in the utilization of electricity (1831)
First typewriter with character levers/keys (1832)
Invention of the first lightbulb (1834), which became useful with the later innovations
of Thomas Edison
First railroad in Germany between Nürnberg and Fürth (1835)
Invention of photography by Daguerre (1837)
First narcosis during operations by inhaling of ether (1846)
Semmelweiß conquers the dreaded childhood disease Kindbettfieber (1847)
In Bavaria the first German postage stamp appears (1849)

Famous contemporaries of Peter Schembs II. were, for example:


Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)	Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)	Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)	Guiseppe Verdi (1813-l9ol)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)	Werner von Siemens (1816-1892)
Carl Zeiss (1816-1888)	Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Dostojewski (1821-1881)

Children: (3)

Johann Schembs IV (*11.07.1845 Laubenheim +23.02.1913)2.4.5/1

Johann Schembs IV was married twice. On 07.05.1878 he married Christine Hoß (1852-1892). After the death of his wife Christine in 1892 he married again on 13.05.1894 to Christine "Chrischtene" Rüger, the widow Bitz (1857-1939). By profession Johann Schembs was a wine grower. He also was a district council-member and community collector.

Children: (4) two from the first marriage, and two from the second

4.1.....Maria Anna Schembs (*01.04.1879 Laubenheim)


Wedding of Maria Anna and Jakob Stenner III	Maria Anna with son Hans Stenner

Maria Anna Schembs lived in her parent's house in Laubenheim on Dorfgraben; which later became the family home of the Heubergers. She married the cooper/barrelmaker Jakob Stenner III.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Hans Stenner

Hans Stenner

Hans Stenner married the daughter of the Laubenheimer teacher Enders, Anna Enders. Hans Stenner, following his career examinations, worked in the local and city administrations in Mainz. He died in the Second World War.

The family lived in Laubenheim in the home of the parents of Anna Enders on Riedweg.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Hans Jakob Stenner (*1938)

2.2.....Hiltrud Barbara Stenner (*1940)

Barbara Stenner is married to Klaus Hinnenberg (*1940). The family lives in the family home of Barbara Stenner on Riedweg.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Barbara Hinnenberg (*1967)

2.2.....Christian Hinnenberg (*1971)

4.2.....Peter Schembs VI (*29.05.1880, +04.02.1950 Laubenheim)

Peter Schembs VI married Magdalena Stenner (*21.04.1883 +14.06.1941). By profession Peter worked at the post office.

Peter Schembs VI. lived on the Rheinstraße (next to the house of Willy Mohr). Diagonally across from him lived his Uncle Peter Schembs III, who was also his godfather. The entire family, but especially Peter Schembs VI himself, were the victims of a heavy fate. At the age of 12, Peter Schembs lost his mother. His brother Wilhelm died as a young man in World War I. His sister Catharina died at age 17. Even the children of Peter Schembs died at young ages.

Peter Schembs VI, Magdalena Stenner, Elisabeth Schembs, Wilhelm Schembs

His son Wilhelm, with whom Peter had an especially close relationship and whom he particularly loved, died in the Second World War at the age of 22. Peter Schembs VI was installed in the mayor's office, where one delivered to him the news that his son Wilhelm had fallen in the War. Peter, in this moment, must have been in a terrible condition. It is related that from this moment on Peter Schembs was a broken man. Three years later his daughter Elisabeth died. She died at the age of 36, also in the War. Peter Schembs VI., according to oral history, was a quiet man, but, when he opened up, good natured and humorous.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Elisabeth "Else" Schembs (*13.01.1909, +1945)

Elisabeth Schembs was married 02.05.1931 to Johann M. Knab, Gau-Bischofsheim. Johann Knab lived in Mainz on the Flachsmarktstraße where he operated a successful office machine business. After the War it was continued by his son "Hans Knab" on Augustinerstraße.


Elisabeth Schembs and husband Johann M. Knab	Elisabeth Knab

Elisabeth Schembs died 22.07.1945 together with her child Günther Knab during an Allied plane attack upon the business of her husband on Flachsmarktstraße. It is

Gravestone of the Peter Schembs Family
in Laubenheim

reported that Elisabeth, in contrast to her husband, was withdrawn and very proper. She also was terribly jeolous of her husband. He is described as a very lively, humorous man who like to go out. He was also a good trumpeter, and would play for others to dance. Anna Stenner, nee Enders, reported that she often took Johann Knab on Sunday trips to Ginsheim. The transit over the Rhine took place in a small fishing boat. Johann Knab would give the ferryman on the opposite side of the Rhine hand signals, and he would then pick them up in Laubenheim. Anna Stenner was always afraid, for the boat teetered so. After contemplation then, in the evenings they would make their way back from Ginsheim to Laubenheim the same way.

Children: (3)

3.1.....Hans Knab (*1933)

Hans Knab married Rita Gläser from Zornheim.

Hans Knab, ca. 1941

Hans Knab lives today on the Rheintalstraße in Laubenheim. The tragic deaths of his mother and his brother, Hans had to experience as a child. At the time of the plane attack in Mainz, Hans was on his bicycle in Bodenheim, picking up sausage and sausage soup. When he arrived back to their home in Mainz with his small jug of soup, the family's home lay in ruin and his mother and brother were dead.

Children: (4)

4.1.....Petra Knab

4.2.....Cornelia Knab

4.3.....Ute Knab

4.4.....Sabine Knab

3.2.....Günther Knab (+1945)

Günther Knab

Günther Knab as a four year old had a severe accident. He was hit by a street car in front of the family's business on Augustinerstraße, and lost his leg. Then in 1945, together with his mother, he died in a Allied bomb attack at their home.

3.3.....Ruth Knab

Stepsister from the second marriage of J. Knab. She lives in Bodenheim.

2.2.....Wilhelm "Willi" Peter Schembs (*11.06.1920, +19.07.1942)

Wilhelm Peter Schembs died 19.07.1942 as a German soldier fighting in the Ukraine. He is buried in the cemetery at Charkow/Ukraine (Block 10, Row 47, Grave 5572).

A picture of Willi is on the plaque for those who died in World War II at the Community Center in Laubenheim.


Wilhelm "Willi" Schembs	Obituary of Willi Schembs Click to enlarge

Du schriebst uns stets in Deinen Briefen
Auf baldig frohes Wiedersehn,
Vom Schicksal war Dir nicht beschieden
Die Heimat noch einmal zu sehn.
Die Trennungsstunde schlug zu früh,
Doch Gott der Herr bestimmte sie.
Wir können Dir nun nichts mehr bieten,
Nicht mehr Dein liebes Herz erfreuen,
Ja nicht mal eine Handvoll Blüten
Aufs schlichte Heldengrab Dir streuen.
Drum nimm als letzte Dankesgabe
Die Worte, die uns liebe Pflicht,
Und schlummere sanft im kühlen Grabe
Denn wir vergessen Deiner nicht.
Ach, es ist ja kaum zu fassen,
Daß Du kehrst nie mehr zurück,
So jung mußt Du Dein Leben lassen,
Zerstört ist unser aller Glück,
Und jeder, der Dich hat gekannt
Und auch Dein gutes Herz,
Der drückt uns nur noch stumm die Hand
In diesem tiefen Schmerz.
Du gutes Herz ruh still in Frieden,
Ewig beweint von Deinen Lieben.

Parting Poem on the back
of the Obituary for Willi Schembs

The parental home of the parents of Willi Schembs was located on Rheinstraße in Laubenheim. In the house across the street lived Franz Schembs with his parents Anton Schembs and Christina, nee Lemb. The future wife of Franz Schembs, Rosel Schembs nee Knab, remembers still very well spending time in the house of Willie Schembs. As a child she would play there often with Willi Schembs. She particularly remembers how she and Willi would play "Gottesdienst". The family of Willi was very devout. Willi had received from his parents as a gift a proper wooden altar, with which he played very seriously. Willi would play the priest, while Rosel would play the acolytes. For this the altar was always decorated very beautifully with flowers, and the two children would hold mass.

4.3.....Wilhelm Schembs (*03.05.1897, +24.03.1918 Frankreich)

Wilhelm Schembs died in the First World War on 24.03.1918 in France.

4.4.....Catharina Schembs (*22.12.1900, +30.06.1918)

Peter Schembs III (*31.08.1850 +06.11.1903)2.4.5/2

Peter Schembs III. (Nickname: "Ohrche"), was born 31.08.1850 in Laubenheim. Godfather for the christening of Peter III was Peter Schembs, adolescent son of his Uncle Anton Schembs. By profession Peter Schembs III was a farmer. On 19.10.1883 he married Theresia Berz (1860-1927) from Zornheim, with whom he had 9 children.

Peter's most significant characteristic might have been his proud size of 2.10 meters (6'10"). Another characteristic was a disfigured ear (Ohr), from which he derived his nickname. According to the oral history, his ear, or at least a major part of it, was bitten off by a horse, which led to the nickname in the reduced form "Ohrche". Also the sons of Peter Schembs III were of large stature.


Peter Schembs III	Theresia Berz

Peter Schembs III hardly had good fortune. He certainly lived in modest surroundings. Nevertheless, he succeeded in building a small home on Rheinstraße. Also, according to oral history, he had a small livestock herd – a horse and a cow – from which he was able to sell milk. In the First World War the cow was commandeered into military service. Peter died relatively young in 1903 at the age of 53. He collapsed at the dining table, apparently from a heart attack or massive stroke.

During the childhood of Peter III the school was located in the rectory of the Catholic Church, rebuilt on the site of the former school, which had been destroyed in 1794. A year after Peter's birth, 1851, the Rhine flooded again and invaded Laubenheim. Even worse were the floods of 1882-1883, when the highwater came over the dike and reached the marketplace, causing many homes to collapse.

The Flood of 1883, Hauptstraße

earlier Mainzer, now Oppenheimer Straße (Street)

In 1870 a main connecting ditch was built to help divert the the accumulating groundwater and surface water. The ditch was safeguarded by a locked gate with Weisenau. The water would then be pumped over the dike and into the Rhine. This measure could not prevent, however, the catastrophe of 1883 when the flood water broke over the six meter (19 foot) high dike. The dike was again reinforced in 1895/96 as a result.

The following anecdote was passed along by Peter Schembs III:
At the time there were still 30 breweries in Mainz. One of which was the "Rheinische Brauerei" on Wormser Straße in Weisenau (1865-1912). The imposing building with the big cellars in the neighborhood of the cement plant still exists today. For chilling the beer, one needed ice, for refrigeration did not yet exist. In the wintertime the ice would be cut from the ponds in the Laubenheim marsh into big pieces with saws. Horse carts then would transport it to the "Rheinische". It was the job of Peter III to accomplish this moving of the big slabs of ice to the Brauerei. On one occasion, Peter was frustrated by an inquisitive bystander. He lifted him into the air, and set him down on the ice in the cart.

From a listing in 1894 it emerges that Peter was also a member of the volunteer fire brigade in Laubenheim, and offered his horse-team when it was needed.

The entry below goes as follows:
"The necessary notification takes place according to the Agreement of the Telegraph.
When firefighters are called:
.......Peter Schembs III, for Weisenau"

The expansion of Laubenheim was advancing rapidly by 1870. First appeared many houses on the "Hauptstraße" (old B 9 - today Oppenheimer Straße).

Later followed buildings built in the fields below the train tracks like barns, plant nurseries, and other outbuildings. Around 1900 houses also were built in this area, despite the fact that the danger of flooding still existed on the Rheinstraße. In 1904 the construction of Ludwig-Marx-Straße followed.

Firebrigade practice on Hauptstraße

(earlier Oppenheimer Straße) about 1905

The small house at Rheinstraße Nr. 13, which Peter Schembs built or acquired, and that served the family as an apartment until 1966, probably dates back to this time.

In 1870/71 Laubenheim was again involved in wartime. During the German-French war, the place again was subject to drafting of the local male population for military service, as well as troop quartering in the town. Twenty-nine Laubenheim citizens were called into military service. Two died. Since this was the prime of Peter Schembs' life, he too might have been called to serve, assuming they could find boots big enough for his gigantic feet. To the memory of this campaign of 1870/71 was built a memorial on the Marktplatz. It stood there for many years, but is now gone.

During the lifetime of Peter Schembs III there were numerous fiddlers and inventors who changed the world. The industrial age was being rung in by technical innovation. Many important inventions of our century were being discovered: the bicycle, automobile, airplane, telephone, radio, television, photography, and motion pictures to name a few.

Laubenheim around 1900 before the Renovation of the Church

Children: (9)

9.1.....Margaretha Schembs (*20.01.1885 Laubenheim, +ca. 1918)

Margaretha Schembs was married on 15.01.1911 to Alois Schmitt (1882-1964). Alois Schmitt was by profession a farmer. After the early death of Margaretha, he married again to a woman with the family name Heck.


Margaretha Schembs	Alois Schmitt	Margaretha Schembs, daughter Rose


Rosel Schmitt (3 years, 1918)	Alois Schmitt with his Horsecart

Children: (1)

1.1.....Therese Katharina "Rosel" Schmitt (*30.12.1914, +16.01.1971)

Rosel Schmitt was twice married. She was first married to Hans Fell, Bodenheim. Hans then died after the war as a result of injuries sustained during the war. Rosel Schmitt then married for the second time, this time to the farmer David Fell, the brother of Hans Fell.


David Fell and Rosel Schmitt	Family Picture in front of the old Schoolhouse (far right: Rosel Schmitt and David Fell)

Children: (1)

1.1.....Hiltrud Fell (*1952)

Hiltrud Fell married Franz Peter Kerz (*1950). The family lives in Bodenheim on the Albansstraße.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Kathrin Kerz (*1986)

2.2.....Heiko Kerz (*1986)

9.2.....Anna Maria Schembs (*12.09.1886 Laubenheim +22.10.1940)

Anna Maria Schembs was married 27.10.1912 to Josef Walter (1881). Anna Maria Schembs, who lived with her family on the Tuchbleiche, delivered milk from a small wagon according to oral history. Her husband died early. Both of her sons also died at young ages in World War II. Pictures of them hang in at the plaque for the victims of the War in the community administration building.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Josef Walter (*14.11.1916)

Josef Walter died in World War II in the German army.

2.2.....Toni Walter (*01.11.1920)

Toni Walter also died as a soldier in the Second World War.

9.3.....Peter Franz Schembs (*24.02.1888 +15.12.1974)

Peter Franz Schembs married Katharina Schaubruch from Weisenau. He was called "Peterchen" or "little Peter", but also by the nickname "Ohrche", like his father. He lived with his family in Laubenheim in one of the community houses on Dorfgraben.

Peter Franz Schembs
with wife and children Therese and Helene

Peter Franz Schembs worked for many years as a guard in the vineyards of Laubenheim. He had the large stature typical of many Schembs, and very large feet. It is said that after a good glass of wine he would gladly exaggerate. If he was in a bar, friends would laugh about the history of the Schembs and their big feet. With the sight of another Schembs who wanted to go to heaven, Peter would clap his hands over his head and shout "By heaven's will, already again a Schembs. Quickly angels, under the bell! The Schembs, with their big feet, come and break everything." Through his stories and exaggerations, he cultivated the warmth and friendship of the townsfolk. Because of his work as a guard of the vineyards, he was widely known throughout the village. He is even immortalized today in the form of a beverage named after him. One can still order in the old Laubenheim bars a "Peterchen", namely a glass of wine and a splash of water created by Peter.

Children: (3)

3.1.....Therese Schembs (*14.04.1914 +02.10.1996)

Theresia Schembs was married 08.09.1933 to Friedrich Markloff.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Therese Markloff (*1934)

Theresia Markloff married "Schinsheimer".

Children: (1)

1.1.....Birgit Schinsheimer (Mainz)

2.2.....Hildegard Markloff (*1938)

3.2.....Maria Schembs

Maria Schembs married "Anstatt", Mainz.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Horst Anstatt (Mainz)

3.3.....Helene Schembs (*18.11.1920, +19.06.2012)

Helene Schembs
and Alois Windisch


Adelbert Leiner	Herta Windisch

Siblings Jutta, Alexander and Insa Leiner

On 20.09.1947 Helene married Alois Windisch, who came from Bavaria.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Herta Windisch (1948)

Herta Windisch married Adelbert Leiner from Ostfriesland.
Herta Windisch is by profession a hair dresser.

Children: (3)

3.1.....Jutta Leiner

Jutta Leiner was married 22.09.2001 to Jürgen Köble. Jutta has studied industrial management, and works in Frankfurt for a consulting firm.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Sophie Köble

2.2.....Louisa Köble

3.2.....Axel Leiner

Axel Leiner has completed an apprenticeship with Deutsche Telekom and studies computer science in Worms.

3.3.....Insa Leiner

Insa Leiner's husband has the first name Matthias.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Feline

9.4.....Katharina Schembs (*06.11.1889 +1985)

Katharina Schembs married Jakob Kneip, Mainz.

Katharina Schembs married the gardener Jakob Kneip. For a while they operated the Gärtnerei Hofmann (later Töpel/Delle) on the Tuchbleiche. They later moved to Mainz, where they both died in their mid-80s in a home for the elderly.


Katharina Schembs (Aunt "Katherinchen")	Katharina Schembs and Jakob Kneip

Children: (4)

4.1.....Pankraz Kneip

4.2.....Otto Kneip

4.3.....Karl Kneip

4.4.....Georg Kneip

9.5.....Johann Peter Schembs (*10.07.1891 +07.03.1892)

9.6.....Maria Theresia Schembs (*08.05.1894)

She married Johann Marbeck.


Maria Theresia Schembs (Aunt Marie) and son	Martia Theresia Schembs

Maria Theresia Schembs lived behind the Talstraße. She was known for her good-natured personality, but she was also a very large woman.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Johann Marbeck (*1920)

Johann Marbeck married, but they had no children.

9.7.....Anton Schembs (1895-1941)

Anton Schembs was born 28.11.1895 in Laubenheim. Godmother was Maria Theresia Hoß. On 11.2.1921 he married Christina Margareta Lemb (1898-1964) from Hechtsheim.


Anton Schembs	Christina (Dina) Lemb

Anton Schembs died 25.4.1941 during World War II in Heidelberg. He had contracted a severe cold while serving in a bunker. This led to pneumonia and a transfer to a military hospital, where he died at the age of 46.

Anton first was a day worker in Laubenheim, working in the vineyards and for farmers. After he completed his training in welding, he was hired by the Opel factory in Rüsselsheim. Then from 1928 until 1933 he was unemployed, and found whatever daily labor he could.

Anton Schembs grew up with his siblings at the home at Rheinstraße Nr. 13 in Laubenheim. As a young man he lived for some years in rental apartments, first on Ludwig-Marx-Straße (earlier known as Judengasse) with the family Meyer, later in the house of Peter Blank, on Riedweg. After the death of his mother in 1927, and based upon an agreement among the children, Anton took over the family home at Rheinstraße Nr. 13. He also bought another small field behind the dike. He was obligated to pay his siblings 5,000 Deutschmark for the house, which indebted him deeply for years. It was not until 1933, when he regained his regular employment, was he able to start the payments. When he died, part of the debt remained unpaid. The debts were finally paid off by the son Franz Schembs.


Birth Record of Anton Schembs 1895	Marriage of Anton Schembs 1921

Anton Schembs also had some livestock, which helped get the family through some of the hard times. Besides chickens, there were ducks, hares, 3 pigs and sometimes a horse.


Anton Schembs, left with siblings Maria and Joseph	Volksschule Laubenheim built 1903

The Kindergarten Anton Schembs had attended was still in the "Braunwart 'schen Anwesen" (Braunwart Estate) in the old Spritzenhaus. In 1905 the population of Laubenheim had grown to 1,676 inhabitants, more then three times what it had been a century earlier. And the town was changing, with a public water system being built in 1905 and electricity becoming available in 1914.

Picture of Laubenheim with Church after Renovation, ca. 1910

For the Club members in Laubenheim, a soccer field was built in 1921 on the site of the former brick factory (Schubertstraße/Alexander Fleming-Straße), as well as a gymnastics arena on the Rheinstraße (today Rheintalstraße, location of the present HL-Marktes). The Club sites were available for the Laubenheimers for decades. They vanished with the construction of the Sportzentrum on the Ried in 1983.

Christina Schembs, nee Lemb
and Anton Schembs (ca. 1940)

According to the description passed down by his son Franz, Anton Schembs was a gaunt, soft-spoken, 1.82 meter tall, good-natured and industrious man. One of his few joys was bicycling, as he was an enthusiastic cyclist and one of the first members of the Laubenheim Cycling Club.

The wife of Anton Schembs, "Dina", was quiet, unassuming, and good-natured. She lived in the home of her son Franz until her death in 1964. After the War she lived for some time with the Heubergers on Mainzer Straße. She died at age 66.


Christina Lemb with grandson Herbert (ca. 1950)	Gravestone of Anton Schembs with great-granddaughter Katharina