Lunenburg County German Heritage

Lunenburg County was established in 1759 and was named for King George II of the Hanoverian line of British Monarchs. King George was Duke of Brunschweig- Lüneburg, a duchy that was located in the northern part of modern day Germany. Settled largely by families coming from the Upper Rhine area of modern Germany, the region still contains a large German connection. The town of Lunenburg was settled in 1753 by 1400 German immigrants who spread out across the region to areas such as modern New Ross, Bridgewater and even a town called New Germany. Many families in the region are descended from these original German settlers, and many German family names such as Zwicker, Conrad and other remain virtually unchanged. Others have changed greatly; Gurtzson became Getson over time and Bubikoffer became Publicover. Over half the settlers that came to Lunenburg were farmers, and not a single one was a fisherman. Lunenburg did not have enough fertile farmland to support everybody; many people were forced to learn how to make their living from the sea. Fishing naturally led to boat building and other sea related trades, and eventually this would lead to building one of the most famous sailing ships in the world, the Bluenose.