I’ll be honest about this – I’m afraid that up until finding out that Josh Groban was going to be featured on Who Do You Think You Are? this weekend, I didn’t even know who he was. I’d heard the name, but had no clue beyond that. I’m a country music fan, and Josh doesn’t sing country…
Then I got the chance to view a preview of the Josh Groban episode, and this guy has a new fan. Goodness… Can he ever sing. Click here to watch the official music video of his hit, You Raise Me Up, on YouTube. All I can say is that it’s moving, and can change your day.
But that’s not the reason I’m writing this. As noted above, Josh is being featured in Sunday’s Who Do You Think You Are?
The episode deals with Josh’s quest to bring his mother’s unknown lineage to light. In the program, Josh travels to Württemberg, Germany, where he follows the trail of his eighth great-grandfather, and discovers a brilliant man with eight years of university education, a music and singing teacher as well as an astronomer. His ancestor, Johann Zimmerman, wrote a dozen books on everything from astronomy to theology. After seeing Haley’s Comet, he predicted the destruction of the official state church, and wrote an unauthorized treatise that got him in serious trouble with the Lutheran church, where he was a deacon. Johann wrote in secret under a pseudonym and published this small book, which gave grave predictions about comets and the impending destruction of Europe! That put him in the crosshairs of the church authorities and forced the family to move.
Johann and his family then moved to Frankfurt – losing his job with the church. Zimmerman’s infant then died and Johann, being in debt, looked to move to America. An original letter dated 1693 declares that Johann Zimmermann died at the age of 50 on his journey to Pennsylvania and was buried at Rotterdam. So he never made it – but his family did. What an amazing story.
Don’t miss the program – March 15, 2015 at 10/9c on TLC.
The following Sunday’s episode will feature Angie Harmon as she uncovers the dramatic story of her 5x great grandfather.
