Information and Pictures about Wiederhold ancestors

Created and scanned in 2004/2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Gio Wiederhold.

Background

I have a copy of a large collection of genealogical Wiederhold Documents (about 1200 pages) originally collected into 12 handbound typed books by Alfred Wiederhold over a long period (1930-1985). These have now been scanned in, and copied to a Compact Disc (CD). I can make copies of the CD available to people interested in the genalogy of the Wiederhold family. Send me email. Copies of the charts only - which had very small fonts -- are attached to this web page. Cleaning all the data and creating a computer family file will be more work than I can promise to finish ever. 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. There is also a possible linkage here to Gio's academic genealogy.

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.

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; `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 `Hesssenroede', 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.

A second, larger, set of ancestry records is from Homberg, an early branch line, split about 1480 from my direct ancestors. That line leads, among others, to the Wiederhold lines in Chile and in Malakka and Indonesia. I summarized one Wiederhold Chile branch in
Osorno, Chile linkage and am adding a second branch soon. I also placed on the web printed charts from the Family Tree software, namely
Ancestors of the Wiederhold who went from Germany to Chile (needs updating) and also known descendants of that Ancestor. I appreciate information about current descendants. Many are are on Facebook,, in a group "My Name is Wiederhold".

I plan to do similar listings for the East Indies, Oregon, Texas, and Michigan Wiederholds, but it all takes some time. I can make my Family Tree Maker file available to anyone who has compatible software (.FTW or .GED). The current .FTW version is about 3.5Mbytes, the .GED files are much smaller, see below. I asssume GED doesn't keep all the information.

I am going through the detailed source material (11 books af Alfred's with text and charts for each family subline) and other information that Wiederhold people have provided or that I have found on the web. I will select text that is relevant to the sublines I have summarized and scan them in, and place them on the web. I have now scanned all the charts in and, after some editing and marksups, will place them on the web as I finish them. The source pages for the charts were large, and had tiny typing. They have been scanned on a very-high resolution scanner, and many source charts become file with 4 or more pdf pages. In general the pages are arranged arranged 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).

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 times. Also, later children were sometimes given the same name as children that died earlier.

The files are identified using a code: WqqnnTaPa+yystart-yyend or WV##descriptor@placename+yystart-yyend, Where:

• W= Wiederhold; WV Wiederhold in various minor charts.
• qq= line and subline, F for Felsberg, A for Homberg, etc.
• nn= number of the line, several if there were many descendants.
• yystart= the earliest birthyear that appears on that file.
• yyend= the latest birthyear that appears on that file.

1. Use a birthdate of a Wiederhold parent or grandparent,
2. Go to a file that spans that that birthdate.
3. If a place of origin is known, go first to files with that primary @placename, but people did move about.
   (Major movements occured during major pestilences, as in 1495 and during the religious strife of the 30-years war 1618-1648; during the 7 Napoleonic wars in Europe -- 1792-1815; after the failure of the attempted democratization of Germany -- 1848; and subsequent to the two world wars, 1918 and 1945.)
4. 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.
When Wiederholds emigrated, I have added the country name that they went to.
5. When birthdates are imprecise, the place of birth or death may help.
6. If not found on that spanning file, go to the next file that spans the birthdate.
7. If you have found an entry for a parent/grandparent, trace up and note the birthdate of the eldest ancestor on that page.
• start over with that birthdate to find earlier ancestors. The generation scans should all overlap,
• if nothing found wait until I have scanned in more charts.

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. Do send me an email if you found your ancestors, and I'll add an annotation; that will make it easier to find related families. 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 3 500K bytes, less than 500Kb if size is not given.
You may need to increase the magnification percentage to read the fine print.
@Felsberg WFF1TaPa+1435-1696, Gio's early 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 in 1852(check), Konrad W. went to the US. The common ancestor with Gio is Adam!, born 1657, who had 7 children;
@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, Johannes Georg W. and Wilhelm W. went to the US; Wilhelm had at least two sons, but their names are not shown.
@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+1725-1975, Karl-Heinz went to Australia, Hannelore to the US;
@Helmshausen F WII1TaPa+1684-1968;

Processed Data

Gio ancestors FTW file, updated 2 September 2009. I have later copies. not yet uploaded.
It now also includes branches to the Osorno and Hedrich von Widerhold descendants, as well as the linkage to Konrad Widerhold of the Hohenwiel. The first two sections (A, Aa) of Alfred's Felsenberg 1 book are complete as is Section Aa of the Homburg 1 book.

I have also exported earlier the data as a GED standard file, but that format does not capture all the information in the source: Gio ancestors GED file, as of August 2009.
Over time I'd like to add more branches (uncles etc. ) as well, but that will take much time.

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 depiction of 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. Gio's grandfather, Erich Wiederhold, Generation XV #9 in Gio's chart, owner of a factory near Frankfurt, about 1939.
8. A Drawing of a great-great grand uncle of Gio, Franz Schmidt; actually a grand uncle of Erich Wiederhold on his mother's side. He was the reprenative of a region in Schlesien (now Silesia) in the aborted German parliament in 1848. He had to flee in 1849, first to Switzerland and then to St. Louis, MO, where he started a German Lyceum/Gymnasium, which still semms to exist [per Arthur Wiederhold]. 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 - a Burkhart - 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]. After the wars he was given substantial landholdings and became a nobleman. It seems that he had no children so current Wiederhold's can only claim him as a remote uncle.
   
   But some people do use that realtionship. In Padang, now Indonesia, lived a "Thomas Willem Gerard Hedrich von Wiederhold von und zu Naidlingen zum Hohentwiel". His daughter, born 10 May 1899, "Eleonore Alfine Madelein (Nora) Hedrich von Wiederhold von und zu Naidlingen zum Hohentwiel", who became the third wife of "Victor Louis Lans" in 10 May 192 in Malang, Indonesia, and died 30 May 1975 in Sittard, the Netherlands. They had 7 children. I havn't complted the a linkage yet, but some descendants live in Washington State and in Orange County.
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 is built on the central basalt stem 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 Widerholdstrasse and a Hotel Wiederhold in Singen. Many pictures are on Google Earth if you serach for `Singen, Germany'.

I welcome comments and additions.
Gio