LÜHRS-RELATED PLACE NAMES

and other interesting occurrences of the name Luhrs.
 

In Lower Saxony, the name Lührs is found in the former village of Lührsfelde -- literally "Lührs Field". Apparently in the 1700's it was a large farm and small village owned by a Lührs. It was abandoned many years ago, and George A. Lührs reports he only found two rather large farm buildings there.
 
Photo of Lührsfelde road sign.

To get there, from Bederkesa go southeast about 3 km to Lintig and then left (ie. northeast) toward Moorausmoor. Lührsfelde is/was on the right side of the road about 2-3 km from Lintig.

The name Lührs is now also found in various places around the world due, primarily, to emigration. Included among them are:





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Luhrs in the Americas

In the United States, the  US Geographic Names Information System  returns the following topographical features named Luhrs:

The Luhrs Reading Room of Arizona State University's Hayden Library houses the "Luhrs Family Collection" In Tempe, Arizona. The Luhrs Manuscript Digitization Project makes available over 900 pages of The Geo. H.N. Luhrs Family in Phoenix and Arizona 1847-1984. The Hotel Luhrs, Luhrs Building and Luhrs Tower are all described. For some photos and newspaper article information, go to Additional Phoenix Luhrs Information.

In the Argentine Andes of South America we find the mountain known as Pico Luhrs or Lührs Peak.

There are Luhrs families originating in Lower Saxony now living in at least the following Latin American countries:  Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Paraguay.


 
Australian Luhrs Connections
The first emigre of this line -- Carsten Luhrs (1807-1886) -- settled in what is now Payneham, South Australia.  There is a street in that suburb of Adelaide -- Luhrs Road -- named for him.  This family originated in Loxstedt, and is not related to the Light Pass Luhrs (see below).  For more information, go to Additional Information on Loxstedt Luhrs.

Luhrs Pioneer Settler's Cottage

Also of interest may be the Luhrs Pioneer Settler's Cottage in Light Pass, Australia. [Light Pass is near Angaston, about 40 miles NE of Adelaide, South Australia.] The cottage was built by Johann Heinrich Lührs in 1852. He was born in Soltau, Germany, and was the first Lutheran teacher in Light Pass, and later farmed in the area. The cottage was restored and is now an historical site.  Shown above is the 1984 opening of the restored cottage, including Mr. S.H. Klein, a descendant of the builder.  It is constructed of pug and timber (Redgum) and fronted by a cottage garden. At the rear are agricultural machines. If you're traveling to Australia, you may wish to check out the  Barossa Valley Regional Guide which provides further information about the Luhrs Pioneer German Cottage and other area attractions.

A scion of the Light Pass Luhrs family is Australian country and western singer Grant Luhrs.  His popular song Nude Bootscootin' (we're told) hit the top of the Australian country and western charts.  It has led to a spate of "record breaking" attempts to perform a line dance to his music at Australian nudist resorts.  He recently received the Novelty/Comedy Song of the Year award at the 1998 Songwriters Salute Awards of Australia .  His song, performed by Grant and his Chook Raffle Band, is found on  their best-selling album titled You Gotta Laugh!

The Loxstedt and Soltau lines of Luhrs families are, at least in Australia, completely separate and distinct.

The Soltau line pertaining to Johann Heinrich Luhrs was researched in the 1980s by Mr. Sydney Klein of New South Wales.  The parents of Johann Heinrich were Hinrich and Anne Marie Lührs (nee Bisping), who had another son and two daughters. Johann Heinrich Luhrs was born on September 26, 1808 and was baptised in the Lutheran church at Soltau.

During the opening ceremony for Luhrs cottage there was some speculation about whether Johann Heinrich had any relatives in Australia and an opinion was expressed that he was probably the brother of Carsten Luhrs of Payneham, Adelaide.  A local newspaper then published this supposition as fact. This led to a great deal of confusion -- especially among the descendants of Carsten Luhrs when they were seeking his and their own origins.

The Loxstedt line of Carsten Luhrs was researched by a descendant in the 1990s. This proved that his parents were Carsten and Anna Margaretha Lührs (nee Bohn) and that they had another son (Friedrich) and two daughters. Carsten Luhrs was baptised in the Lutheran Church at Loxstedt and a copy of the baptism register entry was obtained by the researcher.

There is no connection between these two families in either the first or subsequent generations in Australia. It is, of course, possible that there was a connection in previous generations in Germany, but this may never be known for certain.

Back for a moment to place names -- off the east coast of Australia, detailed navigation charts show Luhrs Reef




The Sea-going Luhrs

Since we've gotten a bit off-track relative to place names, it may be useful to explore a bit the nautical heritage associated with the Luhrs name..

The Wischhafen Lührs family detailed in this website have been ship owners for generations.  A painting of one of their historical ships is titled Anna Maria von Wischhafen Capt. S. Lührs 1859.  This ship was owned by Siliacks Luhrs.  The original of the painting is on display in a museum at Brake near the Weser River, and a copy also hangs in a new museum in Wischhafen.  We hope to have a photo of that painting to show on this website in the future. Descendants of the Wischhafen Lührs still own and manage L&L Shipping GMBH in Wischhafen. Additional Information on Wischhafen Lührs

A more modern Luhrs-related ship is the Rhein River grain carrier, the Georg Lührs which is pictured below.  It is owned by the Rhein-Maas + See firm of Duisburg (near Essen).  Unfortunately, the firm did not reply to our request for information about the origin of the name of the ship.

Photo of the MS Georg Lührs.
 

Finally, when one does an Internet search on the name Luhrs, most of the results relate to the cabin cruisers and other pleasure boats built by the Luhrs Corporation. (Read about the History of the Luhrs Corporation whose history dates back to the 1830s.) An example of one of their products is shown below. 



Photo of Luhrs Marine Group cabin cruiser.
A member of this Luhrs boat-building family -- Henry Luhrs -- was an accomplished artist.  We see below a photo of a painting of the three-masted US Coast Guard training barque Eagle done by Henry Luhrs in 1976 to commemorate the Year of the Tall Ships.  The photo was provided by a member of the artist's family to an LFA sponsor.  The Eagle was built in Hamburg, Germany in 1936 as the HORST WESSELL as a training ship for the German navy.  In 1946, the U.S. took possession of the ship as war reparations and renamed her the EAGLE. Since then it has served as a training ship of the US Coast Guard.




Where is this Place?

 Photo of Unknown Building
The sign above the corner door of the building is "G. Lührs" and the window is inscribed "Kolonial- Kurz u. Fellwaaren Handlung."  So, apparently it was a grocery, dry goods, and fur shop owned by a G. Lührs.  The small building beside it is a bakery.  Between the two, that's probably all the shops needed in a small town!  If you've got any ideas where in Germany it's located:
 Send an E-mail to Tom Luhrs 




In the next update of this website, we will present more information on these and other Lührs place names -- as well as other (hopefully) fun and interesting occurrences of the name Luhrs.

If you'd like to help and have additional information about Lührs-related place names, etc.


 

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