The name HOBBIEOETJEN – also HOBBIEOTKEN etc. – originated after Ammerländisches custom to give the first-born son the first name of the grandfather, and/or occasionally also of the father. So Otke HOBBIE (around 1570-around 1640), son of the Köter (small farmer) Reincke HOBBEIE (around 1540-around 1590), also wanted to baptize his first-born son Reincke HOBBEIE (around 1605-around 1640), as his cousin and farm heir Reincke HOBBEIE (around 1560-around 1620) had already called his first-born son Rencke HOBBIE (around 1600-around 1670). For differentiation he therefore called him Renke HOBBIEOTKEN (about 1605-um 1640), in the sense of „Renke, Hobbie’s Otke’s son“. Thus Otke HOBBIE (around 1570-around 1640) was the name giver and his sons Renke HOBBIEOTKEN (around 1605-around 1640) and Gerdt HOBBIEOTKEN (around 1610-around 1685) the first name bearers of the families „HOBBIEOETJEN from Zetel“.
The descendants of a branch of the family that had migrated to East Frisia’s Esens reduced the family name to „OETKEN“ from 1810 onwards in accordance with local tradition.
For the top ancestors of this line, Reincke HOBBING (around 1500 before 1550) see „Zetel„.
The line HOBBIEOETJEN of the families „HOBBIE from Zetel“
The spelling of the names mainly follows the baptismal registers and documents. The German names for farmers and farm hands are retained and are to be interpreted as follows:
„Hausmann“ = farmer with a long-established hereditary farm, first settlers in a village,
„Köter“ = farmer with a smaller, later founded farm,
„Halbköter, Viertelköter“ = Köter with less land,
„Brinksitzer“ = small farmer on the outskirts of the village,
„Anbauer“ = farmer on newly cultivated land,
„Grundheuermann“ = farm hand with own house on non-inherent land,
„Heuermann, Heuerling“ = farm hand without own house,
„Häusling“ = person without own house,
„Dienstknecht, Knecht“ = farm hand.
3. Otke HOBBIE, *around 1570 Zetel, +around 1640, Köter.
He is listed 1604 with land allotment from the embankment of 1596. In the defence recruitment registers of 1630 and 1635 he is listed with the 3rd Corporalschaft. He gave his name to the sideline „Hobbieoetjen“ and had at least two sons: Rencke HOBBIEOTKEN (about 1605-um 1640), see 4.a), and Gerdt HOBBIEOTKEN (about 1610-um 1685), see 4.b).
4. a) Rencke HOBBIEOTKEN, *about 1605 Zetel, +about 1640.
According to the defence recruitment registers of 1630 and 1635 he was assigned to the 3rd Corporalschaft. He had at least one son Johan HOBBY-OTKEN (around 1630-around 1665), see 5).
4. b) Gerdt HOBBIEOTKEN also HOBBYOTKEN, *about 1610 Zetel, +about 1685, Brinksitzer.
In the defence recruitment registers of 1630 and 1635 he was assigned to the 1st Corporalschaft, 1658 and 1665 to the 3rd Corporalschaft. In the Contributionsregister of approx. 1660 and in the land description of 1681 he is mentioned in field 10 (Zetel-East) as owner of the parcels 450/77 and 451/78. In the land description of 1702 his son Frerich HOBBIEOTCKEN (around 1640-around 1705) is registered as owner and Brinksitzer, from 1705 Johan Fangmann is the owner. Further information about the son is not known.
5. Johan HOBBY-OTKEN, *around 1630 Zetel, +around 1665.
According to Gerd Kuhlmann’s register of farms he is mentioned in the defence recruitment register of 1657. He had at least one son Gerdt HOBJE-ÖTJEN (1664-1716), see 6).
6. Gerdt HOBJE-ÖTJEN later HOBBIE OTCKEN, *1664 Zetel, +14.04.1716 Zetel, Häusling and weaver.
He married Dorothea NN before 1693 (*around 1670) and is from 1702 as Gerdt HOBBIE OTCKEN owner of the house in field 10 (Zetel east side), parcels 25 to 27. They had at least 5 children, of which only the son Otje HOBJE-OTJEN (1692-1736) reached adulthood and married, see 7).
7. Otje HOBJE-OTJEN later HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, *1692 Zetel, +16.01.1736 ibid.
He married on 05.12.1720 as Otje HOBBIE-ÖTJEN in Zetel Almet Haschen (1693-1769) from Driefel and had with her at least four children, at least two of whom reached adulthood and married. Dorothe HOBJE-OTJEN (1727-1784) married Hinrich Meine (1733-1802) in 1756 and had three children with him. On Johann HOBJE-OTJEN (1732-1783) see 8).
8. Johann HOBJE-OTJEN later HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, *20.10.1732 Zetel, +29.01.1783 ibid., Brinksitzer.
He married as Johann HOBBIE-ÖTJEN 1760 in Zetel Talke Gerdes (1735-1781) from Zetel and had with her at least 5 children, of which four reached adulthood and married. Otje HOBJE-OTJEN (1761-1819) was the farm heir, see 9.a). Gerd HOBJE-OTJEN (1764-1789) married on 13.01.1789 in Bockhorn Catharine Margarete Berens (*1758) from Grabstede and had with her at least one son Gerd HOBBJE-OTJEN, *16.06.1789 in Grabstede, to whom nothing else is known so far. For Johann HOBBIE-OTJEN (1776-1835) see 9.b). Talcke HOBBIE-OTJEN later HOBBIEÖTJEN (*20.08.1780) married on 29.10.1815 in Zetel Hermann Anton Mohrmann (*1781) from Astede.
9. a) Otje HOBJE-OTJEN later HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, *11.01.1761 Zetel, +13.08.1819 ibid., Häusling and weaver.
He first married in 1782 in Zetel Grete Albers (1757-1797) from Schweinebrück and had 6 children with her, 5 of whom reached adulthood and married. For Johann Hinrich HOBBIE-OTJEN (1783-1844) see 10.a). For Ötje HOBJE-OETJEN (1786-1854) see 10.b). For Gerd HOBBIE-ÖTJEN (1788-1838) see 10.c). Talke Margrete HOBBIE-OTJEN (*1792) married Gerd Höpken (1776-1834) from Golzwardersiel, a two-time widowed carpenter and wood merchant, in Golzwarden in 1818 and had 7 children with him. Grete HOBBIE-OTJEN (1795-1826) married Johann Friedrich Thaden (1776-1827), a widowed Köter and shoemaker, in Atens in 1817 and had 5 children with him.
Otje married in 1797 in Zetel Talke Catharine Meybohm (1758-1820) in his second childless marriage.
9. b) Johann HOBBIE-OTJEN later HOBBIE OETKEN, *05.02.1776 Zetel, +25.08.1835 Esens, weaver.
He married 1808 in Esens Antje Harms Homeyer (1786-1858) from Esens and had with her 6 children, of which at least four married. According to the usual name in East Frisia, the children only bore the name „Oetken“. Johann Hinrich Kassen OETKEN (1810-1891) married 1837 in Buttforde Jabe Maria Jacobs (1815-1904) from Endzetel and had with her four children, of which the two sons died as adolescents and at least one of the two daughters married. On Harm Janssen OETKEN (1812-1852) see 10.d). For Gerd OETKEN (1816-1883) see 10.e). For Joachim Hermann Ludwig OETKEN (1818-1884) see 10.f). The whereabouts of Berend Otten OETKEN (*1822) and Aaltje OETKEN (*1825) are not yet known.
10. a) Johann Hinrich HOBBIE-OTJEN also HOBBIEÖTJEN, *23.11.1783 Zetel, +after 08.09.1844, Heuermann, weaver.
He married 1811 in Zetel Margarete Müller (1791-1844) from Zetel and had with her 7 children, of which only two reached adulthood and married: Mette Margarete HOBBIEÖTJEN (1814-1872) married in 1841 in Bockhorn Friedrich Wilhelm Theilen (1814-1870) from Neuenburg and had 5 sons with him. For Johann Conrad Ferdinand HOBBIEÖTJEN (1819-1883) see 11.a).
10. b) Ötje HOBJE-OETJEN later HOBBIEOETJEN, *06.02.1786 Zetel, +23.07.1854 ibid., Heuermann.
He married 1816 Gesche Margrete Dierks (1789-1866) from Zetel and had with her 8 children, of which 5 died as a child. Gesche Margarete HOBBIEOETJEN (1827-1878) married in 1872 in Zetel the Heuermann and weaver Rudolph Wilhelm Höfers (1832-1917) from Schweinebrück. For Friedrich HOBBIEOETJEN (1832-1877) see 11.b). Johann HOBBIEOETJEN (*1835) arrived on 18.07.1884 with the ship „Salier“ in New York, afterwards his track is lost.
10. c) Gerd HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, from marriage only HOBBIE, *28.06.1788 Zetel, +30.12.1838 Elsfleth, miller.
He married Helena Schmidt (1792-1873) from Colmar in Strückhausen in 1815, called himself then only „Hobbie“ and had three children with her, of whom only one daughter reached adulthood and married. Anna Margarethe HOBBIE (1817-1882) married in 1840 in Elsfleth the lawyer Jacobus Christians (1810-around 1865) from Jever and had with him at least two children.
10. d) Harm Janssen OETKEN, *29.03.1812 Esens, +17.10.1852 Ostbense, weaver.
He married in first marriage 1840 in Esens Anna Wilhelmina Homeyer (1817-1844) and had with her a son: Johann OETKEN (1842-1919), see 11.c). He married in second marriage 1850 in Esens Christina Margaretha Meents (1813-1895) from Burhafe-Oldendorf and had with her two daughters, one of whom reached adulthood: Anna Wilhelmina OETKEN (*1850) married 1873 in Esens the farm hand Ede Ommen Cassens (*1844) from Altharlingersiel.
10. e) Gerd OETKEN, *13.10.1816 Esens, +17.12.1883 ibid., shoemaker.
He married 1842 in Esens Tina Margaretha Eilts (1817-1876) from Gründeich and had with her four children, of which at least one son reached adulthood and married. For Johann OETKEN (*1845) see 11.d).
10. f) Joachim Hermann Ludwig OETKEN, *25.10.1818 Esens, +02.09.1884, weaver and merchant.
He married Enke Margaretha Alts (1818-1882) in 1846 and had 8 children with her, of which at least 6 reached adulthood and married. For Johann HOBBI OETKEN (1847-1892) see 11.e). For Hinrich Enno Anton OETKEN (1850-1912) see 11.f). For Johann Hinrich Friedrich OETKEN (1852-1920) see 11.g). Anna Wilhelmine OETKEN (1855-1947) married the tailor Johann Friedrich van der Warp (*1854) in 1880 and had at least two sons with him. The whereabouts of Hermann Ludwig OETKEN (*1857) is still unknown. For Berend Otten OETKEN (1860-1917) see 11.h). Meta Margarethe OETKEN (*1862) married NN Reiners (*around 1860) around 1885.
11. a) Johann Conrad Ferdinand HOBBIEÖTJEN, *06.07.1819 Zetel, +05.03.1883 Schweinebrück, Heuermann, Brinksitzer and weaver.
He married 1847 in Zetel Mette Margarete Wardenburg (1823-1901) from Bäke, municipality Neuenhuntorf and had with her four daughters, of which only the youngest reached adulthood and married. Johanne Catharine Wilhelmine HOBBIEÖTJEN (1863-1939) married Johann Hinrich Hurling (*1859) from Grabstede in Zetel in 1885 and had 7 children with him.
11. b) Friedrich HOBBIEOETJEN, *13.07.1832 Zetel, +11.09.1877 Oldenburg-Eversten, worker and postman.
He married 1860 in Eutin (Schleswig-Holstein) Dorothee ‚Eleonore‘ Gerhardine Barke (1829-1878) from Oldenburg and had with her three children, two of whom reached adulthood and married. For Heinrich Andreas Anton Johann HOBBIE-ÖTJEN (1861-1935) see 12.a). For Karl ‚Friedrich‘ Emil Anton HOBBIE-ÖTJEN (1868-1938) see 12.b).
11. c) Johann OETKEN, *06.06.1842 Esens, +23.09.1919 ibid., worker.
He married 1870 in Fulkum, municipality Esens, Tomke Johanna Folkers (1843-1913) from Fulkum and had with her four children: Anna Wilhelmina OETKEN (*1870) married 1896 in Esens the Knecht Harm Martens Dirks (*1871) from Blomberg, municipality Neuschoo. Further information on Harm Janssen OETKEN (*1872), Gerhard Johannes OETKEN (*1875) and Greetken Christine OETKEN (*1879) is not yet known.
11. d) Johann OETKEN, *29.11.1845 Esens, +21.12.1892 ibid., retailer.
He married Anke Elisabeth Mintken (1860-1944) from Gründeich in 1883 and had three children with her. For Johannes Cornelius OETKEN (1886-1979) see 12.c). Tina Margaretha OETKEN (1889-1972) married the telegraph worker Johann (Seedo) Kampen (1885-1972) in Esens in 1914. Anna Anette Helene OETKEN (*1892) married the merchant Ernst Reinhard Gutsche (*1861) from Ebersbach, district Bautzen in Esens in 1919.
11. e) Johann HOBBI OETKEN, *16.01.1847 Esens, at marriage farm hand.
He married 1891 in Werdum Aline Gerhardine Steffens (*1867) from Werdum Altendeich and had with her at least one son. For Johann Gerdes OETKEN (*1901) see 12. d).
11. f) Hinrich Enno Anton OETKEN, *10.09.1850 Esens, +25.08.1912 ibid., haulier and retailer.
He married Margarethe ‚Catharina‘ Menssen (1854-1940) in 1876 and had 5 children with her, at least two of whom reached adulthood and married. For Jürgen Hermann Ludwig OETKEN (1877-1916) see 12.e). Further information on Emma Margaretha OETKEN (*1879) is not yet known. Anna Sophie OETKEN (*1882) arrived in New York on 02.08.1892 with the ship „Elbe“ from Bremen, married Thomas Henry Patton (1876-1918) from Illinois, USA in 1901 and had three children with him. Further information about Margaretha Catharina OETKEN (*1887) and Johanne Hermine OETKEN (*1890) is not yet known.
11. g) Johann Hinrich Friedrich OETKEN, *01.11.1852 Esens, +11.01.1920 ibid., baker.
He married Anna Dorothea Steffens (1857-1897) from Kapkenhörn in Esens in 1881 and had four daughters with her. Meta Margaretha OETKEN (1883-1945), more about her is not known yet. Tomma Hermine OETKEN (*1884) married the painter Carl Friedrich August Carstens (*1875) from Jever in Esens in 1908. Anna Dorothea OETKEN (*1886), further information about her is not known yet. Johanne Friederika OETKEN (*1889) married the teacher Johann Heinrich Voigt (*1889) from Stenum, municipality Ganderkesee, in Hohenkirchen and had at least one daughter with him.
11. h) Berend Otten OETKEN, *14.03.1860 Esens, +16.08.1917 ibid., retailer.
He married in 1886 in Esens Fulke ‚Johanne‘ Jung (1860-1926) from Gründeich and had four children with her. Johanna Bernhardina Katharine OETKEN (*1889) married the postal assistant Christian Walter Paul Ostermeyer (*1863) in 1911. Bernhard Otto OETKEN (1891-1918) married in 1915 in Esens Elsa Gerharda de Buhr (*about 1895) and fell in France. Meta Margaretha OETKEN (1894-1952) married Johann Friedrich Rickels (*1893), a postal assistant from Sanderneufeld, in Esens in 1919 and had at least one son with him. Johann OETKEN (1901-1940) apparently remained single and died in World War II.
12. a) Heinrich Andreas Anton Johann HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, *01.10.1861 Oldenburg, +15.01.1935 Bremen, worker, carpenter.
He married in 1922 in Bremen Johanne Christine Sophie Griesendahl (1851-1927) from Bremen. The marriage remained childless. However, in 1926 he accepted the 26-year-old Jewish carpenter Oscar Carl König as his child, who henceforth bore the surname „Hobbie-Ötjen“ and married Betty Anna Clara Emma Zuter (1889-1980) in Hamburg in 1927 under this name. Oscar Carl KÖNIG called HOBBIE-ÖTJEN was born on 04.08.1900 in Bremen-Grohn as the child of the Jewish spouses, the worker Oscar Carl König and his wife Floradine Herz.
12. b) Karl ‚Friedrich‘ Emil Anton HOBBIE-ÖTJEN, *06.09.1868 Oldenburg, +08.06.1938 ibid., worker.
He married 1904 in Oldenburg Elise Friederike Christine Gagelmann (1852-1939) from Oldenbrok-Altendorf.
12. c) Johannes Cornelius OETKEN, *25.12.1886 Esens, +07.01.1979 ibid.
He married Marie Anette Hayen (about 1890-1979) 1918 in Sengwarden and had with her at least one son Johann Ewald Heinrich OETKEN (1920-1939), who died young.
12. d) Johann Gerdes OETKEN, *16.11.1901 Wilhelmshaven, police officer.
He married 1929 in Oldenburg Martha Helene Ziebarth (*1901) from Oldenburg-Osternburg.
12. e) Jürgen Hermann Ludwig OETKEN, *05.11.1877 Heglitz, +30.05.1916, Russia, haulier.
He married Johanne Hajen (*about 1880) around 1905 and died of a wound in World War I.
– – – – – – – – – –
Further information, also on children who are not listed here and have remained single, can be given on request, if known, see Contact.