My great grandfather was a resident of Broumov (then called Braunau) August Friedrich, he left the area to come to London in 1872. I am interested in travelling to Broumov with my mother to see the town and perhaps search for any relatives. Is anyone out there familiar with the area or is anyone able to give me some tips on how to start ?
The Czech online map lists two towns named Broumov, one near the German border in Western Bohemia, and the other in Northeastern Bohemia near the Polish border. Do you know which it is?
It is the one in North East Bohemia, near the polish border. It was originally named Braunau, but was remaned after the 2nd World War.
The closest I've been is Trutnov, and that only in passing through to Peč pod Sněžkou to the NW. As for the name, I couldn't find any Friedrichs in Broumov in the online phonebook, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, since many people in small towns don't have phones. There were a couple in the region in the following towns, but not very close: Žacléř and Královec (both 25km W of Broumov) Lázně Bělohrad (50km SSW) I also know that after WWII, many ethnic Germans were removed from the area following the Nazi occupation of the Sudetenland, even many who had lived there since well before WWII. It is possible, however, that the government kept records of those who were expelled from the area, but I'm not an expert on that. Perhaps Karel Fous will know the answer to that.
The town was always (and still is) called both “Broumov” and “Braunau”. “Broumov” is its Czech name and “Braunau” its German name. This is definitely a German name (BTW, do you know what is the surname? It isn’t clear from your post). Your great grandfather was most likely a German or a Jew. The Jews were nearly exterminated by Nazis and the majority of Germans were expelled out of the country after the WWII (and the Germans who were allowed to stay were mostly expelled out of border areas) - i.e. the odds to find some relatives in this area are extremely low. Such old records are typically transfered from registry office to the archives. But you can try to cantact the registry office in Broumov (city page, e-mail to registry office in Broumov: sramkova@broumov-mesto.cz). The authorized archives are the district archiv in Náchod and its superordinate regional archiv in the Castle of Zámrsk. The archives kept all available official records and they allows access to them, but they make no genealogic research for you. See this list of firms engaging in genealogy. As Sova wrote we can recommend you Karel Fous who is active on this forum.
Just a short note to say thanks for the tips, especially the presence of the local archive in Nachod. My mother and I spent a day researching the archives with the help of one of their English speaking staff. As a result we were able to track our familly to Sonov, a small village NE of Broumov. We were then able to travel to the village and find the house where her familly lived. A brief but very rewarding visit. Once again many thanks for the tips Steve Green
