|
The origin
of the Griesser
family branch,
which is subject of the present
investigation,
is located in
the Klettgau, a region situated in the South of Germany. It is bordered in the West by the Black Forest, in the
East by the Hegau, the Swiss Canton Schaffhausen and the Lake of
Constance, and in the South by the river Rhine. Still today,
there are many Griesser here,
mainly in the villages of Bühl, Riedern am Sand, Eichberg, Dettighofen,
Berwangen, Baltersweil, Erzingen, and Griessen. Several of these
villages now form the community
designated as „Klettgau“.
This investigation
has not been done by me alone. I was able to base on
numerous works of others. Especially the
work of Lothar Griesser,
Zürich, should be mentioned.
He explored the descendants of Anton Griesser (1820-1885). His
work is based on a family tree compiled by Josef Griesser
(1896-1983) from Luzern (Lucerne) during 1946-47 for his cousin Charles Griesser in the USA. I got the
initiative to start with family research through the "Ariernachweise" – “proof of Arian descent” from the
Nazi-Time I found in the family of my father’s brothers and sisters.
The oldest of our ancestors known until now is
Michael Griesser, who married
Verena Fischbach
on 22nd of February 1705 in Bühl in Klettgau.
She originated from Villmergen in the Canton Aargau in
Switzerland. It is unknown where and when Michael was born. Also the date of his death could not be found until
today in spite of all the efforts. What we do know is that he was still living when his wife died, because
Verena Fischbach (1671-1733) is named as his wife in her death record, which is written in Latin (uxor), not as
his widow (vidua). Also before the time of Michael there have been Griesser in Bühl and in the surrounding
areas. In the 19th century several Griesser
emigrated, most of them into the USA, where they are numerous nowadays. There are also descendants in Australia,
the ones in South America could not be found until today.
Also in Bavaria and in Austria, particularly in the Ötztal in
Tirol, many Griesser can be found. It is
supposed that these families
are of independent origin, without any connection to us. In literature I
found a Griesser heraldic figure (coat of arms) with origin in Austria.
Also no connection could
be established to the Griesser of the
Protestant church in the Canton Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
Our branch, originally, belongs to the Catholic
church. On the other side there are many
connections to Griesser in other Swiss Cantons. Well known is the leading manufacturer of curtains and shutters,
Griesser Ltd. in Aadorf in Canton Thurgau, managed
by descendants of the above mentioned Anton Griesser (1820-1885). His son, also named Anton (1855-1922), a
cousin of my own great-grandfather Anton (1840-1919), married in 1881 to Maria Anna Barbara Mayer, called Marie,
born in Griessen. With her money they bought a smith workshop
in Aadorf, which later became a shutter
factory. Comment in the family record in Bühl, Eichberg 1784-1880: „Married 17th of Nov. 1881 to Marie Mayer
from Adorf“. This could be a hint that Marie was already living in Aadorf.
In the “Generallandesarchiv“ (State
Archives)
in Karlsruhe I found the
voluminous reports of a
witchcraft trial. Maria
Schneider, who was married to
Jakob Griesser in Bühl, has been
beheaded and afterwards burnt in
Tiengen on 19th of December
1682. There is a remark on the
cover of the reports, written by
a later hand: „O, what a
terrible nonsense!“ I held
the original reports in my hands. There is also a dried flower attached, originated from the unfortunate
Maria, probably used as evidence against her.
Home |
|
