h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If anybody from Cologne or anywhere else in Germany happens to pass by, please leave me a quick note. I'm just curious. The same goes for anybody from Catonsville, MD

I don't know if this counts, but my paternal grandfather was from Cologne (he was born in 1890). I don't know if we have any relatives there still, or if they all immigrated to the US...

definitely interesting... what was his exact name?

Peter Adolph Schmitz. I've seen the Munich telephone book and there are pages and pages of Schmitzes in there. Is it the same in Cologne?

Actually, it's probably worse in cologne than it is anywhere else in the world. schmidt/schmitz is the worst, closely followed by müller and meier...

Someone told me that "Schmitz" is the German equivalent of "Smith" in the English-speaking world. Can you pinpoint where the family originated in Germany? Or the origin of the name?
I assume if it's like Smith, the origin is "blacksmith", as in the profession of the founder of the family tree long ago...

actually, that's VERY close. schmidt has two origins, one is the blacksmith (Schmied), the other is a sort of salesman (Schmitt).

Mmmmm...I liked the idea of a distant forebearer being a blacksmith. Something about honest toil for a day's wages. A salesman however...it just doesn't have the same flash.