GJ Rechner descendants is an Acrobat Reader file and lists known descendants of Gustav Julius Rechner and his wife Bertha. (As of 26 June 2008 I have 1,517 names.) GJ Rechner was born 29 December 1830 in Liegnitz, Silesia, a Prussian area that was to become part of Germany and today is in Poland. He arrived in South Australia in 1848 and the reunion of descendants was 29-30 March 2008.

Julius started teaching at the Lutheran school at Light Pass in 1849. His future wife Bertha arrived soon after and they were married at Tanunda on 29 October 1850. He and Bertha had 13 children of whom 8 survived birth. His parents and two sisters followed GJ arriving in SA in 1854. GJ was not ordained until 1861, and he taught and ministered at Light Pass for some years until the work became too much and he concentrated on his work as a Lutheran pastor. His son Johannes taught for a while before becoming a draper, another Pastor Fritz became a German language teacher at Adelaide's St Peters College. Many of his descendants became pastors or married them; many others are teachers, doctors, nurses and people who give to their communities. Many are active members of their church. Many descendants have musical abilities. We have musical people who teach music, sing in choirs and even a Professor of Music! Julius himself was musical and even before leaving Prussia had established a choral group and it was amongst this group that he met his future wife Bertha Bergmann who had a soprano voice.

This listing of descendants is not exhaustive, there are many names and details that are missing. If you know of other descendants, or births, marriages and deaths and where and when the event occurred or note spelling errors please contact me by sending an email to rechners@optusnet.com.au or a letter to Mrs Judy Gale Rechner, 11 Waverley Road, Camp Hill Queensland, Australia 4152.

If you are a Stolz descendant you might like to check out http://www.stolzworldwide.com/ it is an Australian web page and all about Stolz all around the world.

The family reunion was held at Strait Gate Lutheran Church, Light Pass in the Barossa Valley. This is where our ancestor GJ Rechner started teaching in 1849 and then became a pastor in 1861, and where all his children were born and raised. Over 170 adults and 24 children enjoyed the weekend, and the committee is to be congratulated, their hard work ensured the weekend flowed smoothly and the reunion was a great success.

Interested in GJ Rechner and his descendants: Rechner, Fischer/Fisher, Stolz and Reuther journeys? Order book and /or a CD or DVD of the book using Word Order form   or Acrobat Order form, the order form includes postage details and how to make payments.
Front cover of the book.

Some of the memorabilia from the Reunion weekend are for sale from Tom Reuther.
These include lovely silver coloured coasters with the earlier Strait Gate Church, Light Pass etched on them. They cost $4.00 each or $14.00 for a set of four; beaut Christmas presents for family members.
Postage is as follows:

Any order for 1 to 4 coasters will be $2 - that includes actual postage and package (a hard cover package).
For 5 or 6 coasters the postage would be $2.45.
Any order above 6 would have to be sent in multiple packages otherwise postage gets too much and it is difficult to find a suitable package.
So if a person order 12 they would be mailed in two packages and total postage would be $4.90.

Also postcards are $2 each or 2 for $3. They are available from TT and UJ Reuther, 9 Ferguson Avenue, Myrtle Bank SA 5064, for more information email Tom and Una Reuther at treuther@tpg.com.au.

Also available are two DVDs. One is from the Saturday of the Reunion, including snippets of the morning and all of Peter Rechner's talk on GJ Rechner in the afternoon. The other is of Peter Rechner's talk at the Lutheran Archives of Australia meeting on the following Monday evening. There is some overlap with this over the former, but it includes considerable further interesting historical facts.

Both DVDs are of around two hours duration. Neither are of professional quality but are of good quality and can be recommended as giving a record of much of the history of GJ Rechner for posterity, and recollections of a very enjoyable Reunion Weekend. If ordering, use the following slip for forwarding your requests and payment to Reunion Committee Chairman Con Schlenk.

The cost of the DVD's is $10.00 if only one is being ordered and $15.00 if both are being ordered, including postage.

Cut and paste in Word and send to Con or use the order form .
To: Con Schlenk,
5 Saddle Crescent,
Walkley Heights SA 5098

I/we would like to order a DVD of
The Saturday of the Reunion Yes/No
Peter Rechner's talk at the Archives meeting Yes/No

I enclose $10.00 for the DVD shown above.
$15.00 for both DVD's

Name .........................................................................................................................

Address………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………..Postcode……………..

Phone………………....…email……………………………………………….