We are fortunate to have the network here in North America that gives us the opportunity to stay connected with so many Padberg relatives.

The search for family branches began in the 1950’s when Daniel Padberg started asking questions about his ancestors. Dan’s grandfather was given the historical family documents, records of Johann Jodocus Padberg (Branch A) and his wife Catharina, who immigrated to the US in 1855. These documents were passed on to Dan’s great aunt and when she died in 1957, Dan was given all the historical papers. Before his great aunt died, Dan visited with her to learn as much as he could on earlier generations.

Dan grew up in St. Louis and had many relatives who lived in the city. Family members thought at first that there were no other Padbergs in the United States or Canada. Dan visited local cemeteries and began organizing birth and death records on the St. Louis family which eventually became known as Branch A.

Also in 1957 Dan sent letters to the pastor at the Catholic church in Titmaringhausen, Germany, requesting birth, death, baptismal, and marriage records for anyone connected to Johann Jodocus Padberg. A German relative who lived in Stuttgart, Carl Friederich Padberg, visited the church at Titmaringhausen in 1959. The priest gave Carl one of the letters from Dan. Carl then sent a letter to Dan asking Dan if he would be interested in doing research on family branches in the United States.

Dan agreed to help. Carl looked up individual Padberg family members who immigrated to the US from Germany. As he found different records of family immigrants, he sent those names to Dan to track in the US. He explained to Dan the different spellings of the name: Padberg, Patberg, Padtberg, and Pattberg. As the knowledge of the family grew both in the US and Germany, more family members became interested in having a family reunion.

The first reunion was held in the town of Padberg in 1967. The second reunion was held in Padberg in 1972. A reunion in the United States was held in 1988 in St. Louis and was organized by Dan and Carl. There were additional reunions: 1998 in Oldsberg, Germany; 2006 in St. Louis; 2010 in Bredelar Germany; 2010 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; 2018 in St. Louis. Smaller family gatherings called Familientag or Family Day, attended by mainly local German relatives took place in Germany in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Plans are being made now for a reunion in Germany in the summer of 2030 in celebration of the 1000 anniversary of the Document of 1030. In that document the name Pathberch is used officially for the first time as a surname. Pathberch is the Old German form or spelling of the name Padberg. For 2030, Padberg family members worldwide will be invited to come to Padberg to learn more about family history and celebrate with relatives. As soon as the dates are announced, an update will be posted with the information.