re: #119 The War TARDIS

Found an oddity in my family tree.

Everyone on my Dad’s dad side comes from Groningen province in the Netherlands. Expect one. Apparently, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather took his mother’s last name for some reason.

Where did the dad come from? Well, he was born there, but his dad wasn’t. He was born in….

Nienkirchen,Westfalen,Prussia,Germany.

Westfalen apparently is Westphalia. The Treaty of Westphalia Westphalia.

But, for the life of me, I can’t find Nienkirchen. Did my Grandfather do a spelling mistake?

Does “nienkirchen” mean “no churches”? (sp.. is it possibly neinkirchen?)
If there’s no church, does that mean it’s so small it’s not even a town, just some random piece of land in the county? Or they were gypsies and he thinks they mostly wandered Westfalen?