Chapter 29.0

History of the Quanz Family of Brazil

  

           The Quanz Family has a long history in Germany with the earliest recorded Quanz being Count “Baron von Quanz”, baron of the castle in Quanzen and the surrounding area of Schlesien. He lived there in the 13th century. Quanzendorf was a small village in the north west of Germany that had been a part of Germany for centuries until the borders were redrawn at the end of World War II and this area was turned over to Poland. The name was changed to Chwalecin.

 

 The Quanz Family has a Coat of Arms that is said to have been issued under Kaiser Sigismund, of the Holy Roman Reich I, in the year 1422 but there is no other information of that period.

 

 The genealogical records of several of our ancestors can be traced back to the “Thirty Years War” in the mid-1600s but records from before that period are limited due to the war.

 

 The economic, political and technological changes of the past centuries have caused some of our Quanz ancestors to leave Germany, and their families, to seek a better life for their family in other parts of the world. Several went the United Sates, some to Canada and others to South America.  In each of these countries they sought out areas where the German language was spoken to some extent. Canada has a large German community in the province of Ontario near the city of Kitchener and the German ancestry of the region still has such a key influence that they celebrate an “October Fest” Festival each year.

 

 Brazil is another country where the German community is strong enough that the German language is still taught along with Portuguese. This webpage is an effort to gather and document the history of our family in that great country. We know the German community is large and that there are several Quanz families living there today.

   

 

HERMAN CARL QUANZ

By Leticia Melz Nascimento

 

 Herman Carl Quanz married Wilhelmine Hartwig on the 17th January 1869 or 7th May 1870 (not so sure which of these dates because I could not read marriage certificate which is in German). She was a widow of Heinrich Melz. At the time of the marriage she already had two children: Herman Christian Friedrich Melz, aged 9 (my great-great-grandfather) and Ludwig Melz aged 5. She lived in Bucholz and he lived in Klopschen, Schlesien - Germany (today known as Globuczyn - Poland).  

 

Herman Quanz was a farmer and the names of his parents were: Joseph Quanz and Anna Hedwig Raffler. In May 1870 he boarded the ship due to south of Brazil. During the journey, August Quanz was born and baptized in August 1870 in the same city I was born (We recently got his Baptism Certificate). So, we can say that the two Melz boys were half brothers to August Quanz. As much as I know, August Quanz was the youngest and there was no other child born to the couple.
 

The family lived in a German community in Brazil where all children would learn German before learning Portuguese at school. My father grew up in this community and still speaks German. My father had a friend with the surname Quanz in the past to whom he used to refer to as a cousin. However, he did not know at what point the two families joined until about 5 years ago we found the ship list in Germany.

            My father lost contact a few years ago but I am still trying to find out what happened to Ludwig Melz and August Quanz (how many children they had, how many living descendants they have, etc).
  I have been living in London for about 6 years now and have started doing the research about my family since then. If you have any information that could help in our research I would appreciate it if you could email me at “leticiam_uk@hotmail.com”

 
Regards,
Leticia Melz Nascimento

 

 

AUGUSTO AND ANA QUANZ

By Talvane Quanz

 

 Olá!

 Aqui no Brasil, somos inúmeras famílias QUANZ, e estão espalhadas por todas as cidades do país, estarei fazendo uma pesquisa sobre meus antecedentes, pois eu sou filho de Osvino e Acássia Quanz e neto de Augusto e Ana Quanz o nome de meu bisavô não sei certo a mãe acha que era João ou José. Irei fazer uma pesquisa detalhada e enviarei a vocês.

 Um forte abraço a todos vocês aí, do casal , Talvane e Juliane Quanz.

  

Hello!

 Here in Brazil, we are many QUANZ families, and are scattered around all the cities of the country. I will be doing a search on my background, because I am the son of Osvino and Acássia Quanz and grandson of Augusto and Ana Quanz. We do not know the name of my great grandfather but my mother thinks that it was “John or Jose Quanz”. I will make a detailed search and send it to you.

 

 A strong hug you all there,

Talvane and Juliane Quanz.

  

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