Dear Visitor!

We would like to introduce you to our family:  the common ancestor to all members of the DÖHNER-GRAF family clan is Gottlieb Benjamin Döhner (1681-1735), who grew up in Hildburghausen (Thüringen) and there was married to Sophia Christane Gebhardt. They had five children. Only two of the children, Ernst Friedrich Carl Döhner (1731-1788), who became a chaplin at court, and his sister Rosina Margarethe Elisabethe (1736-1820), married to Johann Christian Graf, had descendants who can be traced to present times.

Otto Döhner (1895-1920)  researched for years, supported by many members of the family branches DÖHNER and GRAF, in order to trace the family history of these descendants and to eventually publish it in the book ” The DÖHNER and GRAF Families” in 1972.  Even before the book was released, everyone was so eager to get to know each other that the first family reunion was held in Schweinfurt October 10 and 11, 1964. 82 relatives aged 5 to 84 attended (42 from the DÖHNER branch and 40 from the GRAF branch).

The DÖHNER and GRAF family association was founded on this occasion.  Otto Döhner and Rolf Kuffer (of the Graf branch) were elected  as chairmen.
You may ask “What is the sense of an association like this nowadays?”  Lots of people hardly have time for their own immediate families. Why should they be so interested in all of the other widespread family members? Don´t just the older members of our clan come to these meetings – the ones who still have time for a hobby like this?

Of course,  a family association likes to peer into the past, research their genealogy,  account for the family history and can, thus, help us answer the questions: Where did I come from? Who were my ancestors?  But our association is also quite active in the present. We send “family letters” to our relatives twice a year. These help keep us informed about current  events in each family and provide updates to our genealogy as well as anecdotes from the past and present.  Throughout the year, many members of the family get together at various locations in Germany, prospective members are introduced and, if they decide to participate, new friendships are formed.

Networks will shape our future. They are a forum for young and old with a variety of vocations and interests and even people from other countries.  This website will hopefully be  a foundation for our “family network”. It makes virtual communication and understanding possible, provides insights into the past, additions to our genealogical research and current news from members of the family association. All of our relatives can stay informed, perhaps take part in a future family reunion or even write an article themselves.

“Remember the past, dream of the future, but live for today.” (Soeren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855).