I have been fascinated with my family roots for quite some time now. Ever since the first time I stepped foot in Ireland, somehow I felt right at home. Like I had some weird kinship with the place. Although the weather is not very desirable for me, everything else like the hills, castles and culture made me want to live a more simplier life.
Next year I have plans to go to Europe again. This time it will be mostly Spain, but I will begin the journey in Austria. Doing research on my family tree I found that a distant relative going by my same German last name, Josef Danhauser, was a famous painter in Vienna. He was the one who constructed the death mask for Ludwig van Beethoven himself after he passed away. I am curious to know how directly related to him I am as I also share the art field in much the same way. I wonder as I step foot in Vienna for the first time if I will get that same eerie feeling of being at home (especially when I walk down Danhauser St - named after Josef).
I tried to retrace my family tree using the internet, but the furthest I could ever trace my direct ancestors was back to around the 1900s. Somewhere in the late 1800s my family made their way over to America but since we are so far removed from that time it is almost impossible to trace.
So I wonder how many of you guys have a famous ancestor that you can trace back?
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