I have not researched this family group at great length, and frankly, to do so seems like quite a challenge. Even though my family has a few DNA matches with Bernhard in their ancestries, it seems there is much confusion about his hometown, Asbach. A quick Google search will show you that there are at least 5 towns in Germany with the same name, and I have seen most of them throughout our DNA matches.
I can say that Annette Kunselman Burgert’s research indicates that Bernhard’s hometown is Asbach, Baden, which is near Obrigheim and Mosbach. (Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America, Volume 1: The Northern Kraichgau, 1983, p. 224) Jean Gurney Rigler concurs in her published work, “Wannemacher/Wanamaker families of Pennsylvania…” (1984), and she has also noted that Bernard’s parents are Johannes Wannemacher (1668) and Maria Magdalena. I have not read Jean Rigler’s book, but last year I reviewed some of her personal research papers which she had sent (1984) to Wannemacher cousins in Darmstadt.
Regarding another point about this family group, in one of my German genealogy classes it was mentioned that Burgert thought that the Wannamaker family originated in Asbach. To the best of my knowledge, I believe genealogists have only been able to ‘prove’ that the Asbach line began with Johannes (1668). But, Sherry Koshney Downard’s later research connected many Wannamaker lines to Hengin (1450) of Darmstadt. My hunch is that Johannes is a descendant of Hengin (1450), and because of advanced Y-DNA testing, the origins of the Wannemacher family will be closer to Italy much further back in time.
I think Y-DNA testing for this line will be necessary to help resolve this long-standing mystery. Also, if someone is interested in doing so, I suggest further research on Archion.de. I have seen some older records on this site and more are becoming available all the time. Perhaps, someone can find the original baptismal and marriage records that could verify Hans Bernhard’s direct paternal line to Hengin (1450).
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Wannamaker Genealogy 