A distant relative of Burien’s namesake traveled from Germany to the city last week to research his family’s past.

Uwe Burian’s great-great grandfather, Karl Burian, was Gottlieb Burian’s brother. In the 1880s, Gottlieb Burian homesteaded 120 acres on the southeast corner of what was later named Lake Burien.

Uwe Burian can not explain how the lake and the city named after his relative acquired an “e” in place of an “a.”

Both Gottlieb’s birth and death certificates list his last name as Burian, according to Uwe.

But Uwe can confirm two Gottlieb myths are not true.

Some of Gottlieb’s contemporaries thought he spelled his last name, “von Boorian.” Uwe attributes that to Gottlieb’s heavy German accent.

He also said that Gottlieb’s family did not descended from Prussian nobility.

Earl F. Charvet had previously debunked the two myths in research for the Highline Historical Society.

Uwe has traveled several times to the United States while on summer break from his job as a high school Physical Education teacher.

Uwe’s father is working on a family tree but is too ill to travel to the Unites States. So Uwe told his dad he would make the journey to Burien and Seattle to find out more about Gottlieb. Gottlieb’s main home was on Capitol Hill and he is buried at Lakeview Cemetery, where Uwe visited his gravesite.

Driving into the Puget Sound area, Uwe used his GPS to locate a place to stay. He found a bed and breakfast right on the shore of the lake Gottlieb first homesteaded.

Uwe was able to swim, paddle and practice his yoga on a lake that is otherwise closed to the public.

“The spirits guided me,” Uwe concluded.

Uwe encourages anyone with information about Gottlieb to contact him at uburian@yahoo.de.