QUANDT'S EARLY OCCUPATION

PRUSSIAN FORESTS

Each state of the German federation administers its own forest.  All of the States practiced forestry with success.  The results obtained by Prussia are particularly interesting, for they show how forests were kept constantly improving under a system of management which yield a handsome profit.

The Prussian forests covered nearly 7,000,000 acres.  When forestry was begun a great part of them had been injured by mismanagement and the Prussian foresters had to solve the problem of improving the run-down forests out of the returns from those which were still in good condition. They solved it with striking success.

The method of management adopted called for a sustained yield -- that is, no more wood is cut than the forest produces.  Under this management the growth of the forest, and consequently the amount cut, rose sharply.  In 1830, the yield was 20 cubic feet per acre; 1865, 24 cubic feet; in 1890, 52 cubic feet, and in 1904, 65 cubic feet.  In other words, Prussian forests management had multiplied the rate of production threefold in about 75 years.  It went from 19% to 54%.

In this environment, DANIEL KARL QUANDT was born.  His father and grandfather were State Foresters.  They served in the Kreis (District) of Stolp in Prussia.  His folks moved from area to area in their service of managing the government's forests.

His grand folks had a home in what was called the QUANDTHEIDE.  It was located in the Parish of Loitz, Stolp, Prussia.  It is about 12 miles southwest of the City of Stolp.  There they managed the State Forests.

All of the children of DANIEL KARL QUANDT and PAULINE WILHELMINE RADDE were raised in the Kreis of Stolp, except the youngest, WALTER who was born in Detroit, Michigan.

STARTING THE QUANDT JOURNEY

Surnames were initially for the purpose of more specific identification.  There are usually four chief sources for these surnames: father's name, occupation, location and personality traits.  The name QUANDT appears to have it's origin from personality traits meaning: "a well-meaning man who often does a great deal of mischief without any kind of malice."  The QUANDT ancestry comes mainly from the Kingdom of Pomerania which today is northern Poland.  Prussia (Germany) has a unique history. There were two dominant families in the Holy Roman Empire in what is Europe today.  They were the Hohenzollerns and the Brandenburg families.  The Hohenzollerns ruled from the castle on the hill of Zollern which was located just north of what is now Switzerland.  The Brandenburgs had their central holdings in the city of Berlin and surrounding areas of northern Europe.  This frontier province was the northern and eastern outpost of the German culture and language.  In the 1500's saw the acceptance of Lutheranism by the Brandenburgs.  This became the chief state of Protestantism in Germany and Hohenzollerns in the present day Austria was the acknowledged leader of the Catholic states.

A Germanic tribe called the Goth's were established in Pomerania during the time of Christ.  There were other Teutonic (German) tribes living in the area.  It was during the 5th and 6th centuries that the Slavic clans of Kasubic and Pomerani ventured westward to less populated areas on the shores of the Baltic Sea.  The name of this area became known as Pomerania from the Pomerani word "ponorze" - land by the sea.

In 1811, agents from Pomerania were sent to Germany to arrange protection from the Danes and other groups that were besieging them on all sides.  Under this German protection it allowed Germany to send many settlers into the sparely settled Pomerania.  Thousands of Germans poured into Pomerania.  The Pomeranians welcomed the immigration because the Germans had the iron plow and many other tools that they did not have.  They were able to increase the supply of food.  Their crafts expanded and commerce was on the increase.

The Pomeranian rulers did not know when they made that agreement in 1811, that something unforeseen was happening.  The Germans built their own villages along side the Pomeranian villages.  Soon there was a mixture of nationalities.  The German culture and language soon controlled the whole country and within 200 years the Pomeranian language disappeared in the 1700's.

In 1817 Pomerania had established the Lutheran Church as the state church.  King Friedrick Wilhelm III combined the Lutheran and Calvinist churches together in 1837.  This did not set well with the old Lutherans and so started in the immigration to America and other countries.  This  happened between 1837 and 1843.  This peaked in 1880 with many Lutheran Pomeranians going to the United States and settling in the Midwest area.  Thus, in 1880, PAUL FRANK ERNST QUANDT came to America with his grandmother (HENRIETTE PIR RADDE) and some of her family.

The endeavor to put together this family history began in early 1966.  Regretfully, this was too late to gleam much information from grandparents and other relatives because most have died by that time.  However, there were just a couple relatives still alive that contributed to this story.

After all these years, one has learned that this is a never ending story.  Every so often one learns of a distant "cousin" who is able to add another branch to this ever growing family tree.  When this happens, the small flame of interest is once again glowing into a brighter light and the enthusiasm is again heighten to continue the search for those elusive relatives.

The support of family members and the helpfulness of many relatives is most grateful and helps to make the history of the Quandt family come to life.

It is the hope of this author that the reader will visualize that individuals listed in this narrative were real people and they contributed to society during their life time, and made life easier for succeeding generations.  This generation is indeed appreciative to them for the many sacrifices they made so that their children and grandchildren would have a better life than they had.

Of course, there are many things our forebears have done that are not included in this story.  Only heaven has a record of the life they lived.  The Holy Bible documents in Matthew 20:30-32 the following:

"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name."