Spang is a village in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, north of
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
between
Bitburg and Wittich. This village was first mentioned in 1254. It is on one side of the Spanger brook while on the other side is the village of Dahlem. These two villages eventually became a single municipality
Spangdahlem
Spangdahlem is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Speicher. The USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military bra ...
as they are known today. The locals still refer themselves to being from Spang or Dalhem. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
located a currently operating fighter airbase in the area of Spangdalhem.
Many of the Spang families in the USA, Germany and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
have traced their roots to this area. Generally speaking most people used their first names for identification as surnames where not important for identification. In Germany when someone left their village or city they were known as "name" von (from) village i.e. Joseph von Spang was Joseph from the village of Spang. Over time the von was dropped and the person was now known as Joseph Spang and Spang became their surname. Earliest recorded von Spang was Nicholaus von Spang who married Elizabeth Bernardos (Sic) 18 Jan 1581 in St Gangolf Catholic church in Trier, Germany.
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Villages in Rhineland-Palatinate