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There exist several towns in Germany that are named Herschbach, and variations such as Hirschbach, Harschbach, and Horschbach. It would make sense that the family originated in one of these towns, but so far I have not traced the family back that far. Wilhelm Herschbach was born in Koln, Germany and also married wife Anna Catharina Eussems in Koln. Wilhelm and Anna's son Gerhard was born in Koln. See the page on Wilhelm and Anna for details. Gerhard married Anna Josepha Sheid of Montabaur. Still, one cannot help be be attracted to a town bearing the family name. There is a town of Herschbach southeast of Koln, and near Montabaur that would seem a likely home for the family. I imagine the Herschbachs in Koln keeping in touch with family in the hometown, and Gerhard meeting Anna, from nearby Montabaur, because of this. Purely speculation on my part, however. Here is a note from Dennis R. Herschbach: "I have been to Germany and looked up the towns of Herschbach (I found three). One is in a nice, pleasant valley on the west bank of the Rhine. The area was at one time wooded, so it was used in WWII as a troop staging area (close to Belgium). The town was basically destroyed, so there is not much left, but it is building. The two towns where our family came from appear to be the ones on the east bank of the Rhine above Koblenz and below Bonn. Upper Herschbach is the larger of the two, with lower Herschbach marking the southern boundary of what was a fairly large royal grant to the family (1069, 1049?). We stated overnight in upper Herschbach. The owner of the Inn contacted the town historian, and we had a good conversation about the family. He stated that the last Herschbachs left the town in the 1840s or 1850s. This seems to confirm what has been passed down in our family. They most likely were in political trouble." Here is a link to a German page about the town, with translation by Google.com - Herschbach, Germany The town currently has a population of about 2850 people. According to the site, the town was founded in 1248, and so was 750 years old in 1998. This link is fun to explore, and while Google does a pretty good job with the translation, it can generate some pretty funny results at times. Yu can see the page in it's original German at www.herschbach.de Click here for a map of the town with photos at the website above
The map below shows where the town of
Herschbach
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