This part of the website contains information about the Knatz family that left Kassel Germany and went to St. Petersburg, Russia.
THE ST. PETERSBURG KNATZ FAMILY
One day at work at the Port of Los Angeles, I got an email from Ilse Knatz Ortabasi. She lives in San Diego and we started to communicate about her Knatz family. She asked me if I knew Nikita Knatz and I told her I had seen the name by googling on “Knatz.” Ilse had seen my name in the newspaper associated with the Port. She had learned about Nikita Knatz because her sister in Brazil had watched the movie “Sister Act” and had seen the name Nikita Knatz in the credits. By being persistent Ilse got his address from the Screen Actors Guild. Ilse then contacted Nikita. Nikita’s wife Patti had also seen my name in the newspaper about a remodeling project done on my home and about the Port. Meanwhile, I happen to find a listing for Christina Knatz in the Long Beach phone book. That was quite a surprise because I had lived in Long Beach for some time and only me and my father had been listed for years. I called the number and got Christina’s husband and she was not available for the phone. I never called back. Only later did I find that Christina is the daughter of Nikita and Patti.
Ilse provided a copy of a report titled
“Ancestors and Descendents of the Couple Christoph Siegmund Voelkel and Anna Christine, born Riehl, married in Cassel on November 1758.” Completed on December 31, 1949 by Frau Dir. H. Glinzer.
This report picked up with the Knatz family on the line of Jakob Carl Knatz, born in Cassell on May 2, 1800, died in Cassel of September 5, 1892. According to Glinzer, He was a mineralogist whose travel letters and poems are still in existence. Jakob had 6 children (Johann Ludwig, Heinrich, Luise, Herman, Ernst and Karl). It would be important to trace the Jakob Carl Knatz family back further in Cassel to find out if there is a connection to Niedenstein
Herman Knatz who was born on August 12, 1837 died in St. Petersburg Russia in 1906. He married Alexandra Lewitzky (born 1846) in 1865. She was the daughter of Popen Lewitzky. She died in 1898. It only took one generation for the family to become Russian. Herman often went to Cassel for a visit; probably the last visit was about the year 1900.
