Information and Pictures about Wiederhold ancestors

Created and scanned in 2004/2006, 2008 by Gio Wiederhold.

Background

I have a copy of a large collection of genealogical Wiederhold Documents (about 2000 pages) originally collected by Alfred Wiederhold over a long period (1930-1975?). My ancestors go back to back to 1441 in those records, when a Nikolaus Wyderolt paid a fee of `drei neue Groschen' (30 cents!) to enroll in the University of Erfurt.

The origin of the name Wiederhold

The name Wiederhold, although it sounds like the German word for `repeat', actually derives from

  1. Widder, a ram (male goat)
    and
  2. holde, an ancient word for beautiful, actually a `stately beauty'. The word still be encountered in poetry or in Wagner operas, where the singer is admiring `Die holde Freya', the beautiful maiden Freya.
Evidence for this explanation is supported by the coat of arms. There are several variations, but they all show a ram with flowers or cloverleaves somewhere, to add the beauty. However, the Homburg coat of Arms also depicts a golden `Widerholz'. That is a piece of wood (`Holz') to let animals pull plows or carriages. But not all coat-of-arms (not yet scanned) show a Widerholz.

A 1460 citation mentions that a trumpeter named Wedterolde brought some sick horses from Homburg to Kassel - to a veterinarian, I hope. Many other ancestors had the profession of `Färber', cloth dyer; `Landwirt' or `Ackermann', farmer; `Lehrer', Teacher; `Pfarrer', preacher; `Schmied', Smith; or `Schultheiss', sherriff; or `Vogt', estate manager.

Scans of the Genealogy pages

Several lines of Wiederhold's were recorded by Alfred Wiederhold, although they all are likely related further back, since they all come from the same area in central Germany. The oldest line is `Felsberg', other main lines, all from neighboring towns, are H for `Hesssenroeder', I for `Helmshausen', etc. Second letters are sublines, as I for for `Helmshausen', G for 'Gensungen, R for `Rhuende', etc. There'll be more as more tables are entered.
The source pages were large, and had tiny typing. They are being scanned on a very-high resolution scanner, and many source pages become a file with 4 pdf pages: top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right

    (some files are now arranged top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left; I'll fix those when I can).
The top-right page has the line identification. The pages scans in a file overlap, to help in matching the pages, I added red blocks to identify identical entries.
In the tables Roman numerals on the left identify generation numbers, starting around 1450.

When an entry says just `Sohn' (son) or `Tochter' (daughter) then little is known about that person. That happens often when children died young - very common in older records. Also, later children were sometimes given the same name as children that died earlier.

The files are identified using a code: WqqnnTaPa+yystart-yyend Where:

To see if you are in the current line:
  1. Use a birthdate of a Wiederhold parent or grandparent,
  2. Go to a file that spans that that birthdate.
  3. Look on the bottom pages for that parent or grandparent. Siblings apear left to right. The first names appear below the sibling number. Below are the birth and death dates, then oo marriage date(s), the spouse's names (both first and family) and dates, the profession, and where they lived.
  4. When birthdates are imprecise, the place of birth or death may help.>/LI>
  5. If not found on that spanning file, go to the next file that spans the birthdate.
  6. If you have found an entry for a parent/grandparent, trace up and note the birthdate of the eldest ancestor on that page.
Note that Wiederhold lines are terminated in the charts when there were no sons.

It's all in German, of course, and often abbreviated, click to find lists of common abbreviations for names, professions, and towns, as well as some background information. Send me an email if you found your ancestors, and I'll add an annotation. That will make it easier to find family. Also let me know if there are problems with any of the pages. It is easy to get them messed up

The current files are (from 200K to nearly 500K bytes)
Felsberg WFF1TaPa+1435-1696, Gio's ancestors;
Felsberg-Helmshausen 1 WFI1TaPa+1682-1945, Theodor W. went to the US and Juergen W. moved to Switzerland;
Felsberg-Helmshausen 2 WFI2TaPa+1682-1970, Gio's ancestors, others went to South Africa;
Felsberg-Helmshausen 3 WFI3TaPa+1682-1944, Ernst Christian August W. went to Chile, Konrad W. went to the US;
Gensungen 1 WFG1TaPa+1659-1973, a Dutch branch (Enschede) and Canadian immigrants;
Gensungen 2 WFG2TaPa+1659-1925, a daughter went to the US;
Rhunda 1 WFR1TaPa+1674-1981, Johannes Georg W. went to Holland around 1820, family settled around Utrecht;
Rhunda 2 WFR2TaPa+1674-1949, two brothers went to the US;
Helmsungen 1 WHH1TaPa+1660-1976, Johannes went to Holland, but grandson Frits went to Austria;
Helmsungen 2.1 WHH2.1TaPa+1660-1985;
Helmsungen 2.2 WHH2.2TaPa+1725-1985, Karl-Heinz went to Australia, Hannelore to the US;
Helmshausen F WII1TaPa+1684-1968;

Processed Data

I have entered my ancestor records into a genealogy program (Family tree maker), and make a copy of it available here:
Gio ancestors FTW file
I have also exported it as a GED standard file, but I believe that does not capture all the information in the source: Gio ancestors GED file
Over time I'd like to add more branches (uncles etc.) as well, but that will take much time.

Pictures

There are also a few pictures now on the web:

  1. The Homburg Wiederhold coat of arms, as it appear(s/ed) over the entrance to a `Keller', a restaurant below the castle Reichenberg, near St. Goarshausen, Germany.
  2. The Homburg Wiederhold coat of arms, drawn, as it appeared on the entrance of the Keller.
  3. A copy of a depictionof the coat-of-arms in the Hessisch Familien Kunde, April-Juni 1969, Band 9, Heft 6, by Hermann Knodt and Heinz Ritt.
  4. The Felsberg Wiederhold coat of arms, as it appear(s/ed) on the portal of a hospital in Kassel, Germany
  5. The Felsberg Wiederhold coat of arms, drawn, as it appeared on a seal attached to a document.
  6. A color picture made in the 1950's following those coat of arms images.
  7. My grandfather, Erich Wiederhold, owner of a factory near Frankfurt, about 1938.
  8. A Drawing of a great grand uncle, Franz Schmidt, a member of the aborted German parliament in 1849. He had to flee subsequently, first to Switzerland and then to St. Louis, MO, where he started a German Lyceum. When he got sick, he went to Cuba for the better climate, but died there.
  9. The most famous Wiederhold is Konrad Wiederhold. Konrad Wiederhold (1598-1667) was born in Ziegenhain, about 50km north of Fulda. In 1615 he became a mounted soldier and Musketier for the German sea-faring states of Bremen and Hamburg. He married well and in 1617 joined the army of Venice. Subsequently Konrad joined the military of Wuertemberg, a state in South-Western Germany. In 1634 he became commander of their most important fortress, the Hohentwiel. The Duke of Wuertemberg fled to Strassburg, but Konrad, a fervent Protestant, stayed on independently [German Wikipedia]. It seems that he had no children so current Wiederhold's can only claim him as a remote uncle.
  10. The castle that Konrad Wiederhold defended during the 30-years war is called the Hohentwiel, is a popular tourist destination in South-Western Germany. The castle, built on the center basalt of a long extint volcano. The castle protected the region during the thirty-years' war (1618 to 1648). Konrad Wiederhold was the castle master during that time. The castle was never conquered. Around 1790 the castle was turned over to the "new forces of liberty", emanating from France, but the French decided to blow it up in 1800, but many of the 3 foot or more thick walls remain. It is located near the town of Singen. The hike up follows the Wiederholdweg to the main gate. There is also a Widerhold strasse and a Hotel Wiederhold in Singen. Many pictures are on Google Earth.

I welcome comments and additions.
Gio