familjebok translation

[Baskin]

Listing from Nordisk familjebok:

Bretten (Breitheim, vanligen B. in der Pfalz), stad i badiske kretsen Karlsruhe, vid Saalbach. Omkr. 3,500 innev. Der foddes Melanchthon 1497. Hans bildstod uppsattes derstades 1864.

Not even sure what language this is, but in Swedish I can pull out "city in". I may be wrong, but this looks like a city listing for Bretten, formerly Brettheim, Germany, which is in the state of Karlsruhe. I'm interested though in "Melanchthon 1497." After looking up the name, I find Phillip Melanchthon born in that year. From what I found Melanchthon took over the Lutheran church from Martin Luther. A search for the surname Bretheim found a Gilbert J in a book called Norwegian Lutheran Pastors of America. Could someone please translate this for me so I don't make the wrong conclusions?

[Didac]

Originally posted by Baskin
Listing from Nordisk familjebok:

Bretten (Breitheim, vanligen B. in der Pfalz), stad i badiske kretsen Karlsruhe, vid Saalbach. Omkr. 3,500 innev. Der foddes Melanchthon 1497. Hans bildstod uppsattes derstades 1864.

Not even sure what language this is, but in Swedish I can pull out "city in". I may be wrong, but this looks like a city listing for Bretten, formerly Brettheim, Germany, which is in the state of Karlsruhe. I'm interested though in "Melanchthon 1497." After looking up the name, I find Phillip Melanchthon born in that year. From what I found Melanchthon took over the Lutheran church from Martin Luther. A search for the surname Bretheim found a Gilbert J in a book called Norwegian Lutheran Pastors of America. Could someone please translate this for me so I don't make the wrong conclusions?

It's Swedish and yu've got it right. My translation would be:
Bretten (Breitheim, usually B. in der Pfalz), city in the Baden area of Karlsruhe, at Saalbach. Pop. about 3,500. Melanchthon was borned there 1497. His statue was raised there in 1864.

/David

[Baskin]

Would anyone know anything about the surname Bretheim? Most of the family is in Minnesota now, but the earliest record I've found of a Bretheim is a social security number issued in North Dakota. There's a long British history of changing surnames to the town of birth, so I'm curious if someone may have changed the name upon entering the U.S. I'm also kind of curious how a strong German name ended up in Swedish in a familjebok. But, that may just be my ignorance of where German names come from.

[ninswe104]

Bretheim is a city in germany.