About this chronicle

This chronicle is a family myth and a literary undertaking. Fockbek, the Eider, the Aalversupen (the drowning of the eel) and the canals belong to real local history. Aad Fock, the historical bearers of the name and the Fockbeker Blätter, the Fockbek Papers, belong to the story. Its motto is “De Aal swemmt wieder” (The eel swims on).

What is real

• Fockbek in Schleswig-Holstein, first recorded as Fokabikre in 1196.
• Grönsfurt on the Eider, the tale of the Aalversupen, and the herring and eel in the municipal coat of arms.
• Friedrichstadt on the Eider, founded by Dutch religious refugees in 1621.
• The foresail, as well as the Eiderkanal, the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal and the Rendsburg–Husum railway.
• The Fockbeker See, also called Armensee. A memorial book of 1495 assigned its fishing right to the town of Rendsburg for the benefit of the poor, and disputes over that right are recorded from the sixteenth century onwards. The lake is 1.9 metres deep at its deepest point. Source: Armensee.
• Silver eels migrate towards the sea at night between September and November, especially in rough, stormy weather, with incoming high water and around the new moon. Source: eel migration.
• The evening of 17 October 1666 in the Julian calendar then used in Schleswig fell at new moon, at about 8 p.m. local time. Schleswig and Holstein changed calendars in 1700. Source: the calendar change.
• Johannes Schmidt found the smallest eel larvae in the Sargasso Sea in 1922. In 2022, adult eels were tracked there directly for the first time. Eggs and spawning eels have still not been found there. Source: Johannes Schmidt; source: the 2022 tracking study.
• The Baltic family von Brucken genannt Fock, to which this chronicle expressly claims no family connection.
• Hagen Aad Fock as the present bearer of the name.

What belongs to the narrative

• The four historical bearers of the name: Adriaan Focke, Wiebke, Claus and Grete Aad Fock.
• The bestowal of the hereditary honorary name by the village assembly of farmers in Fockbek in the spring of 1667.
• Eel night in the autumn of 1666: Adriaan’s voyage down the Eider, his grounding at Grönsfurt, the eel court at the lake and his decision to stay in Fockbek.
• At the lake, Adriaan said, “De Aal swemmt wieder. De geiht blots na Huus.” (The eel swims on. It is only going home.) He gave his reason for staying as “Wer weten will, wo de Aal herkümmt, mutt dor blieven, wo he vörbitreckt.” (Whoever wants to know where the eel comes from must stay where it passes.) His last words were “Se kaamt vun wiet her.” (They come from far away.)
• The readings attributed to Claus and Grete. Claus connected the eel court with the old fishing right of Rendsburg. Grete saw the same pattern of disappearance and return in the eel, the word Fock, the name and the later tales.
• Grete’s manuscript, the Fockbeker Blätter, and the inn “Zur Fock”.
• The family coat of arms and all its images, which are reconstructions made in 2026.

The form

The project brings the known local history of Fockbek together with an openly identified family story. Its grave and affectionate voice follows the form of a local chronicle. The comedy lies in the events handed down and in the laughter shared by the people within them.

Responsibility

Hagen Aad Fock lives in Austria. He prepared the Fockbeker Blätter for digital publication and publishes a selection from them. This chronicle makes no further statements about his life. Its distinction between local history and literary narrative remains part of the project.