[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] godparents for baptisms

[Nancy Gertner]

I believe the godparents were usually the aunts and uncles of the  
infant, with their spouses.

I've also seen the grandparents listed, perhaps most frequently for  
the couple's first child.

I believe cousins, friends and neighbors also served as godparents.

In my ancestral family, the godparents of one infant became the  
baby's parents-in-law about 20 years after the baptism.

My observations are based mainly from records of Schokken Lutheran  
Parish in Kreis Wongrowitz, Posen, timeframe mainly from 1800-1866.

Nancy


On May 30, 2006, at 12:47 PM, Ohgrmtns at aol.com wrote:

> I received some information that has lead me down a path of  
> reasoning. I am
> hoping that it is correct. So, does anyone know if there was a
> custom/tradition  related to the choosing of godparents? Where they  
> family? Good family
> friends?
> Did the same pertain to the witnesses of a baptism?
>
>
>
> Kristen FEIFERT Clark
>
> Researching : (P)FEIFERT, STIEBNER,  NEUBERT, KOCHAN
> Searching: Nedbajewka, Rohrbach(Berjozowka), Gruental,  Kutuzowka,  
> Lublin