Introduction

Some time ago I read in the magazines of the „Initiative for Bornich“, a local alliance in my home village, where are always very interesting contributions from a family research perspective.

In the most recent issue no. 1 of October 2010, I came across an article by Marita Zorbach on the research of Paul Debus from Bornich regarding his relationship with Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus (*Nov. 29, 1908 in Frankfurt, +Oct. 10, 1983 in Cocoa Beach, FL, USA), the first and longtime director of the Kennedy Space Center.

Kurt H. Debus - About space exploration and the stars — **Kurt H. Debus**

NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
***Alternatively, rather use the link to the picture at Wikimedia Commons?***

Under his leadership succeeded following missions:

1961: Alan Shepard, first American in space
1962: John Glenn , first American to circle the earth
1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to the moon
1973: Launch of the Skylab space laboratory

Research by Paul Debus

Paul Debus found out that ancestors of Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus came from Bornich and he is related to him.

Since I knew from my parents that there is also a relationship between Paul Debus and us (in fact, there are even at least four different kinship connections, three about my mother and one about my father), I suspected that I could be related with Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus too.

Genealogical relationships of the Stern family to Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus

And in fact, I even found two relationships between us. But since both run on Wilhelm Bauer, my maternal grandfather, my sister and I are the first „connections between the rocket scientist and the stars“.

In detail, the connections are as follows:

First relationship Debus – Stern

Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus and Jens-Peter Stern are 4th cousins 3. degree. Their common ancestor is Johann Philipp Debus.

While the line „Stern| Bauer | Laubach | Debus“ (in the table on the left) leads to the first marriage of Johann Philipp Debus on 25 Nov 1751 with Elisabetha Margaretha Römer, the „pure Debus line“ (in the table on the right) is linked with the second marriage of Johann Philipp Debus, which was closed on 12 March 1772 with Maria Juliana Becker.

Debus Genealogy - About space exploration and the stars

Second relationship Debus – Stern

The second relationship goes back to 6 Jun 1875. On this day married in Bornich Marie Elisabethe Laubach, an ancestor of the above first relationship and the ancestor of the second relationship described below, Georg Caspar Laubach.

The fact that I have found 20 kindred relationships between the two is not uncommon „at the village“ at this time. The closest relationship is as follows:

Georg Caspar Laubach and Marie Elisabethe Laubach are 2nd cousins 1. degree. Their common ancestors are Johann Wilhelm Schupp and Maria Catharina Becker.

But back to Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus and the second relationship with me. This comes together with Johann Emmerich Debus (* 1694).

Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus and Jens-Peter Stern are 6th cousin 3. degree. Their common ancestors are Johann Emmerich Debus and NN NN.

Key data about Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus

Below are the key data until the birth of Dr. Ing. Kurt Heinrich Debus in a short summary.

The story begins before 1670 in Bornich…

On the life and work of Dr. Kurt Heinrich Debus – from his education, through the period of National Socialism in Germay, Operation Paperclip to the Kennedy Space Center – as well as to his family, I refer to the literature that is sufficiently available on the Internet.

Here I recommend the two articles in the Englisch and German Wikipedia and in particular the extensive essay „Dr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a Vision“ by Carey M. McCleskey and David L. Christensen.

More emigrants to the US

Source documents

Author (s)	Title	Publisher / Offer	Year	ISBN	Remarks
Brückner, Reiner	Ortsfamilienbuch der evangelischen Kirchengemeinde Bornich im Dekanat St. Goarshausen der Jahre 1708 – 1900 - sowie Erklärungen zu den Bildern der Bornicher Kirche	Bornich \| DER BUCHLADEN, Schulstr. 1, 56348 Bornich	2009	-	-
McCleskey, Carey M. \| Christensen, David L.	Dr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a Vision	International Astronautical Federation (IAF), Paris	2001	-	-
Zorbach, Marita	Debus-Krater „hinter“ dem Mond? \| Verbindung nach Bornich mit Besitzrechten?	Vierteljahresschrift: „Initiative für Bornich – Magazin Rathaus 56348 Bornich	Issue No. 1, October 2010, pages 6 and 7	-	-
Wikipedia authors, see respective version history	Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie	Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 149 New Montgomery Street Floor 6 San Francisco, CA 94105 USA	-	-	The used articles are linked.
-	Das Geschichtliche Orts-Verzeichnis	CompGen Verein für Computergenealogie e. V. Geschäftsstelle c/o Horst Reinhardt Piccoloministraße 397a 51067 Köln	-	-	The used articles are linked.

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