I’ve got a problem only a genealogist could love: zero living male Maass cousins from Märkisch Friedland to run a Y-DNA test for me. So I did what any rational person with an irrational hobby would do—I went hunting through my tree for orphaned Maass men: the lone branches with a name and a birth who might have families I just haven’t chased yet.
You don’t really find ancestors—you negotiate with them. They toss crumbly clues; you show up with a magnifying glass, date math, and a sense of humor, and eventually the records agree to line up.
What follows is a quick case study in clue-stacking: from a Prussian cradle to a Berlin obituary—and straight to a living cousin you can actually wave at. The point isn’t just names on a chart; it’s reconnecting long-lost family so we can share the really old photos hiding in shoeboxes and, when it matters for the surname line, run that Y-DNA test to lock the paper trail to the genetic one.
The Cast
The Maaß/Maass family of Märkisch Friedland: I’ve traced the line back to Moshe Favish Maaß (aka Moses Feivel Maass) of Märkisch Friedland (now Mirosławiec, Poland), circa 1730.
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Adolf Maass (Adolph Maaß) — the gentleman of interest
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Parents: Moses Maaß & Johanna Orbach of Märkisch Friedland
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Wife: Hulda Rosenheim
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Known Children:
- Johanna Maass (1873–1940) — b. Königsberg; d. Hannover
- Luise Lisbet Maass (1875–1943) — b. Königsberg; d. Riga Ghetto
- Albert Maass (1876–1911) — b. Königsberg; d. Charlottenburg (Berlin)
- Hedwig Maass (1878–1973) — b. Königsberg; m. Ludwig Hackel (c1900); d. New York City
- Gustav Sigmund Maass (1881–1937) — b. Königsberg; d. Buch (Berlin)
- Gertrud Maass (1883–1887) — b. Königsberg; d. Königsberg
- Toni Maass (1885–1941) — b. Königsberg; m. Salomon Georg Glücksmann (Berlin, 1919); d. Riga Ghetto
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Known Grandchildren:
- Nora Hackel (born 16 Dec 1901 in Saint Petersburg)
- Eva Hackel (born 9 Mar 1903 in Saint Petersburg)
- Nina Hackel (born 25 May 1910 in Saint Petersburg)
- Hanna Glücksmann (born 11 Nov 1920 in Berlin)
Clue 1 — Start with a Birth You Can Point At
5 July 1843 — Märkisch Friedland (now Mirosławiec, Poland):
In the Jewish civil births, up pops Adolph Maaß, son of Moses Maaß and Johanna Orbach. When I first met him, he was a lonely dangler on my tree—no wife, no kids, no death date, just a name and a birth. Cute, but not helpful.
Why it matters:
Date, place, and parents—the genealogist’s holy trinity. It’s the anchor point that turns a stray leaf into someone you can actually follow.
Receipts: 1843 birth of Adolph MAASS in Märkisch Friedland
Clue 2 — Connect a Death That Talks Back
Death of Adolf Maass, age 77 — On 27 Sep 1920 in Schöneberg, Berlin, a death record is filed for Adolf Maass, age 77—he’d died two days earlier (25 Sep). The entry skips the usual goodies (no parents, no wife—thanks for nothing), but it does drop the line we needed: born in Märkisch Friedland. That’s the jackpot clue—he’s definitely one of my Märkisch Friedland Maass clan.
Do the date math: The Adolf Maass sitting on my tree was born 5 Jul 1843. He dies 25 Sep 1920. That clocks in at 77 years, 2 months, 20 days—which the certificate politely rounds to 77. Math sings, record agrees. Bingo.
Why it matters:
Age, birthplace, and timeline all snap into place. The death doesn’t just rhyme with the birth—it locks to it. Circle closed; the baby from Märkisch Friedland is the gentleman who died in Berlin.
But wait—what if there were two?
In theory, there could have been two different Adolf Maass born in Märkisch Friedland in 1843. In practice, that’s unicorn-rare here. We have the scanned Jewish birth registers for that town and year, and they show one entry: Adolph Maaß, son of Mose Maaß and Johanna Orbach (see birth certificate). Same name, same place, same exact birth date. Unless a duplicate Adolf materialized off-ledger and never touched a synagogue or civil book, our man is the man.
Receipts: 1920 death of Adolf MAASS in Berlin (born 1843 in Märkisch Friedland)
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Clue 3 — Newspapers: Where Families Quietly Shout
30 Sept 1920, Berliner Tageblatt: a family notice announces that Adolf Maaß passed away, “our dear father, father-in-law, and grandfather.”
Why it matters: “Grandfather” is not just sentimental—it’s a data grenade. At this point, the only known grandchild (Hanna) was born 11/11/1920, weeks after Adolf’s death. Conclusion: there must be another grandchild or an already-pregnant-counts family logic—or both. Either way, the notice tells us to keep digging for other children and earlier grandchildren.
Receipts: 1920 Sep 30 Adolf MAASS death notice in Berliner Tageblatt
Clue 4 — Marriages Are Mini-Censuses
1 Sep 1919, Berlin: The marriage of Toni Maass and Salomon Georg Glücksmann in Berlin. The entry gives us multiple payloads:
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Father status & location: Toni’s father Adolf Maass is still living in Berlin (vital pre-death timestamp).
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Bride’s birthplace: Königsberg (not just color—this becomes a search beacon).
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Witness line twist: Instead of Dad, we see “Dr. Johanna Maass,” age 46. Given Adolf dies a year later, a reasonable inference is illness/absence, with Johanna stepping in.
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Name normalization: Confirms the Maass/Maaß spelling range you must search under.
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Timeline fit: Places the family in Berlin by 1919, consistent with later deaths (Adolf 1920; Hulda 1914 Berlin already ties the migration arc).
Why it matters:
One document verifies Adolf alive in 1919 (Berlin), hands us Königsberg as Toni’s birthplace, and drops a likely older sister (Dr. Johanna Maass, 46) into the frame—all of which tighten identity, place, and relationships right before Adolf’s 1920 death.
Receipts: 1919 marriage of Toni MAASS and Salomon Georg GLÜCKSMANN in Berlin
Clue 5 — Königsberg Records Sweep
Once the marriage says “born in Königsberg,” you raid Königsberg registers for the rest of the crew. Immediate hits that cluster around Adolf Maass & Hulda (née Rosenheim):
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Johanna Maass — b. 25 Aug 1873, Königsberg → age 46 in 1919 matches the marriage witness “Dr. Johanna Maass”.
Luise Maass — b. 17 May 1875, Königsberg. While records from Königsberg have come up blank so far, she's listed with her sisters in the 1939 Minority Census in Hannover.
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Albert Maass — b. 2 Sep 1876, Königsberg; d. 4 Apr 1911, Charlottenburg-Berlin; parents listed as Adolf & Hulda → stitches Königsberg to Berlin and confirms the parents.
Gertrud Maass — b. Jul 1883, d. 12 Jun 1887, Königsberg → another child in the same household timeframe.
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Toni Maass — b. 12 Jun 1885, Königsberg → independently matches the marriage birthplace.
Why it matters: The Königsberg cluster proves this isn’t a lone bride wandering into Berlin; it’s a family migration with consistent parent names, repeated locales, and a witness whose age, name, and birthplace lock in. That cohesion upgrades “plausible” to probable for Johanna-as-sister and cements the Adolf + Hulda household. This creates a sturdy family cluster that marches to Berlin by the 1910s. Once you can move a family unit through space and time, you’re not guessing—you’re reconstructing.
Receipts:
- 1885 birth of Toni MAASS in Königsberg to Adolf and Hulda
- 1876 birth of Albert MAASS in Königsberg son of Adolf and Hulda
- 1887 death of Gertrud MAASS in Königsberg
Clue 6 — Hulda’s Death
(Expanding the “other” side, because we’re completists, and finding two more children!)
18 May 1914, Berlin: Hulda (Rosenheim) Maass dies. Her death record kindly overachieves: it names her parents, Abraham Rosenheim & Lina Cohn, and gives Hulda’s birthplace: Stettin, Prussia.
Why it matters (even if we’re laser-focused on MAASS):
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Full mother ID: Confirms the parent set for the Königsberg/Berlin children (Johanna, Albert, Toni, Gertrud, etc.).
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Cousin pipeline unlocked: Launches the Rosenheim/Cohn line out of Stettin (Szczecin) → new branches, records, and potential living cousins.
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Migration arc corroborated: Stettin → Königsberg → Berlin fits cleanly with the children’s events and later Berlin records.
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Address sanity check bonus: Hulda’s 1914 address (Gipsstraße 25/26, Mitte) isn’t the same as Adolf’s 1920 address (Grunewaldstraße 2, Schöneberg). If they had matched, that would’ve been chef’s-kiss confirmation—always look for that. But different addresses here aren’t a red flag; they read like widower-era logistics (health, family support, new lease). Same city, same family, perfectly normal late-life move.
Receipts:
- 1914 death of Hulda ROSENHEIM Maass in Berlin (parents: Abraham Rosenheim & Lina Cohn; birthplace: Stettin, Prussia)
- 1914 May 19 Death Notice of Hulda MAASS in Berliner Tageblatt
Clue 7 — The History You Wish You Didn’t Need
Front and center is the 17 May 1939 German Minority Census (Volks-, Berufs- und Betriebszählung): a bureaucratic snapshot that is both genealogical gold and a historical gut-punch.
Blessing: it pins people to exact places with institutional detail.
Curse: it was built to identify Jews for persecution and deportation.
For the Maass family, it reveals that the three Maass sisters from Königsberg were all in/into Hannover—a single-city convergence that sets the stage for what followed.
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Toni (Maass) Glücksmann (1885–1941)
Born: 12 Jun 1885, Königsberg (Pr.) · 1939: M.-J.-Heinemann-Stiftung, Brabeckstr. 86, Hannover · 15 Dec 1941: deported Hannover → Riga Ghetto. -
Luise Maass (1875–1943)
Born: 17 May 1875, Königsberg (Pr.) · 1939: registered; address trail includes Hochwildpfad 20, Berlin-Zehlendorf, then tied to Hannover · 15 Dec 1941: deported Hannover → Riga; died as a result of Nazi persecution (before 8 May 1945). -
Johanna Maass (1873–1940)
Born: 25 Aug 1873, Königsberg (Pr.) · Seen earlier Berlin (Tiergarten), later Hannover · Died: 5 Dec 1940, Hannover—months before the Riga transport.
Why it matters
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The 1939 lists function like a grim census: they anchor identities and addresses, proving continuity Königsberg → Berlin → Hannover.
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Hannover becomes your research hub: target Judenhaus rosters, transport lists, Arolsen Archives files, restitution claims, and municipal records.
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In the tree, these records explain abrupt branch endings (1940–45) while also pointing to survivor pathways—e.g., Hanna, Toni’s daughter, who escaped to England.
Receipts:
- 1941 deportation of Luise MAASS from Hannover - mappingthelives.com
- 1941 deportation of Toni MAASS Glücksmann from Hannover - mappingthelives.com
- 1940 death of Johanna MAASS in Hannover - mappingthelives.com
Clue 8 — The Grandchild Who Proves the Paper Trail Breathes
Hanna, born in Berlin on 11 Nov 1920—after Adolf’s death—escapes to England, marries, and has a son Daniel who is alive today.
Welcome, Daniel—newly connected cousin via the Maass line! (And yes, my name is Daniel too. Is that a clue? Absolutely not. Coincidences happen. Fun ones.)
Y-DNA note: Daniel descends from one of Adolf’s daughters, so he doesn’t carry the Maass paternal line for a Y-DNA test. And that’s… not what I was hunting for. Still, he’s a living bridge to this branch—and I’m optimistically saving space in the album for whatever he might share someday. The hunt is still on for a living male Maass in the direct paternal line.
Why it matters:
This is the payoff: from an 1843 Prussian birth to a living, breathing descendant. That “grandfather” in the 30 Sep 1920 obituary wasn’t just sentiment—it was foreshadowing, nudging us to look for grandchildren beyond the one born weeks later. And as with all good mysteries, a found cousin usually means there are more leads still waiting.
How the Puzzle Locks Together
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Anchor points: Birth (1843 Märkisch Friedland) ↔ Death (1920 Berlin) with matching birthplace.
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Bridge records: A 1919 marriage showing father Adolf living in Berlin.
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Family clustering: Königsberg events (children’s births/deaths; wife’s identity) knitting the household.
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Newspaper corroboration: “Grandfather” forces a search for additional offspring/grandchildren.
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Historical context: 1930s–40s events explain dislocations and movements.
Put bluntly: if three independent sources repeat the same facts (names, dates, places), you’re not chasing coincidence—you’re documenting a person.
TL;DR — The Maass Cousin Connection
Adolph Maaß, born 5 Jul 1843 in Märkisch Friedland to Moses Maaß and Johanna Orbach, married Hulda Rosenheim (of Stettin) and raised children in Königsberg (Johanna 1873, Luise 1875, Albert 1876, Gertrud 1883–87, Toni 1885). By 1 Sep 1919 he’s documented living in Berlin via Toni’s marriage; he dies 25 Sep 1920 in Schöneberg-Berlin, age 77 (exactly 77y 2m 20d), with the death record repeating his 1843 Märkisch Friedland birth. A 30 Sep 1920 Berliner Tageblatt notice calls him father and grandfather, which leads to granddaughter Hanna (b. 11 Nov 1920, Berlin) who later escaped to England, married, and had Daniel—cleanly connecting the 1843 Prussian birth to a living 21st-century line.
Pro Tips (Steal These)
Search spelling variations of German names:
- ß ↔ ss: Maaß/Maass
- Umlauts: ä/ae, ö/oe, ü/ue (Müller/Mueller)
- Vowel/cons. swaps: ei/ey/ai (Meier/Meyer/Maier/Mayer)
- C/K, F/Ph, Th/T: (Carl/Karl, Philipp/Filipp, Thal/Tal)
- Given-name variants: Adolf/Adolph, Karl/Carl, Johann/Johannes
- Other toggles: add/remove von/vom/van, middle initials, hyphens, Anglicizations
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Follow the in-laws: Spouses and witnesses (like Toni’s husband, “Dr. Johanna Maass”) stabilize timelines and reveal hidden siblings.
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Let newspapers do the talking: Family notices name relationships you won’t get in bare civil entries (e.g., “grandfather” = hunt for earlier grandkids).
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Map the moves: Track people place→place→place (Märkisch Friedland → Königsberg → Berlin). When locales line up, identities lock in.
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Do the date math: Ages like “77” should reconcile to exact spans (here: 77y 2m 20d). When math sings, identity’s strong.
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Treat contradictions as treasure maps: If a “grandfather” dies before a known birth, you’re missing another grandchild (or record). Go find it.
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Context is a source: For 1930s–40s Europe, pivot to 1939 census, Judenhaus lists, transport rosters, Arolsen, Yad Vashem, naturalizations.
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Addresses are clues, not commandments: Matching addresses = chef’s-kiss confirmation; different ones can still fit life events (widowhood, illness, leases).
Closing Thought
Genealogy isn’t built by lightning-bolt revelations—it’s built by inferring facts from clues, then using those inferences to grab a toehold and find more records once you know where to look. Your ancestors absolutely left you a trail—written in 19th-century ink, in three spellings, across four jurisdictions, and then dropped during a regime change. That’s fine. We have coffee, scanners, and a healthy disrespect for dead ends. Keep stacking clue → inference → record → confirmation until the story can only be true.
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