Photo taken in Girsig/Jirikov, Moravia, Czechia about 1887. Back row: left to right: Amelia "Molly" Kressa Kuhnel, Adolf Kressa, John Thiele, Joseph Kressa, Anne Kressa Karges. Front row, left to right: Cecilia Kressa Scholz Thiele (holding Franz Joseph Thiele), Aloisia Kressa Weixler, Theodor Kressa, wife Cecilia Girikovsky Kressa, holding Louis Kuhnel.
Kresha Family in America
This is a website dedicated to those of us whose last name is Kresha. It is an unusual last name, most of whom are in the United States. All of the Kresha's in America are descendants of Theodor Kressa and his wife Cecilia Girikovsky. Theodor was a German Bohemian and Cecilia was Polish.
For a century family members believed Theodor and Cecilia were Austrian, as they lived in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by Franz Jose I from 1848 to 1916. When the Kressa's emigrated in the 1880's, they spoke no English and put down their place of origin as Austria. The owner of the land was the Emperor and he lived in Vienna. The managing royalty lived in nearby Castle Usov. However, these small farming communities are no longer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which disappeared as a result of WWI, which was triggered by the assassination of the designated successor to Emperor Franz Joseph, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Empire lost everything.
Another difficulty is that many of these small towns had two names: one in Czech, the other in German. They were both used, but at different times. After exhaustive research, it has been determined that Theodor's home, given as Grätz, Austria is now Nová Hradečná, Czechia in the northeast part of the country. The area has been known as Moravia for most of history and also part of Silesia or the Sudetenland. Grätz was also known as Hradec, the Czech version. There were many wars in the history of this area.
There is a nearby community known as Nová Dedina, specified as the birthplace of Cecilia Girikovsky, mother of all the Kressa's. Nova Dedina is now part of Uničov, the closest big town. Olomouc is the regional "capital". It was noticed that Hradec and Nová Dedina are several miles apart, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the exact location of our ancestors home.
This new version of Kresha Family.com has a lot more photographs, videos, audio interviews, Kresha Kronicle downloads, as well as book downloads! Take some time to check it out!
The book below can now be downloaded as a .pdf at no cost to you. Click here or go to the Media Sharing page.
For a century family members believed Theodor and Cecilia were Austrian, as they lived in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by Franz Jose I from 1848 to 1916. When the Kressa's emigrated in the 1880's, they spoke no English and put down their place of origin as Austria. The owner of the land was the Emperor and he lived in Vienna. The managing royalty lived in nearby Castle Usov. However, these small farming communities are no longer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which disappeared as a result of WWI, which was triggered by the assassination of the designated successor to Emperor Franz Joseph, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Empire lost everything.
Another difficulty is that many of these small towns had two names: one in Czech, the other in German. They were both used, but at different times. After exhaustive research, it has been determined that Theodor's home, given as Grätz, Austria is now Nová Hradečná, Czechia in the northeast part of the country. The area has been known as Moravia for most of history and also part of Silesia or the Sudetenland. Grätz was also known as Hradec, the Czech version. There were many wars in the history of this area.
There is a nearby community known as Nová Dedina, specified as the birthplace of Cecilia Girikovsky, mother of all the Kressa's. Nova Dedina is now part of Uničov, the closest big town. Olomouc is the regional "capital". It was noticed that Hradec and Nová Dedina are several miles apart, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the exact location of our ancestors home.
This new version of Kresha Family.com has a lot more photographs, videos, audio interviews, Kresha Kronicle downloads, as well as book downloads! Take some time to check it out!
The book below can now be downloaded as a .pdf at no cost to you. Click here or go to the Media Sharing page.
