Early Bruchs of the Birkenfeld Region

The Earliest-Known Bruchs

The further back in time we go, with fewer and fewer reliable records, it becomes difficult or impossible to establish genealogical relationships. The best we can do is identify the earliest-known people using the Bruch surname. Below is a list of the men using the Bruch surname around the time that church records begin. The list is in chronological order, with the date of the first mention in the historical record:

  1. Hanssen Bruch (or just Hans) of Feckweiler – 1559
  2. Jacob Bruch of Feckweiler – 1559
  3. Georg Bruch of Feckweiler – 1563
  4. Nicolaus Bruch of Birkenfeld – 1568
  5. Michel Bruch of Eisen – 1573 (only reference)
  6. Claus Bruch of Achtelsbach – 1575

The number of people using the Bruch surname suggest that either the family (or families) had lived in the region for at least two previous generations, or that the surname was actively being adopted for one reason or another. Both possibilities could be true.

There are a few mentions of Bruchs in tax records in the era before church records began. The earliest known mention of a person with a Bruch surname living in the Birkenfeld region comes from a tax register in 1500. In this record, there is a Peter Bruch living in Birkenfeld.[1] He seems to be the only head of household using the Bruch surname. He is, therefore, an obvious candidate to be the progenitor of at least some of the Bruch families of the Birkenfeld region. Based on geography, I would not be surprised if he were ancestral to the Feckweiler and Birkenfeld Bruch families, although I suspect he was more likely to have been the grandfather of Hanssen, Georg, and Jacob rather than their father. He could also be ancestral to Claus Bruch of Achtelsbach (and indeed, some genealogies claim a Peter Bruch of Birkenfeld as his father), but again, based on his age, I think he is more likely to be Claus’s grandfather, if anything. There is not enough information to convincingly claim Peter of Birkenfeld as an ancestor of any Bruch family; such a claim would, at best, be a good guess.

Feckweiler

In tax records from 1559, we find two Bruch men listed as heads of household in Feckweiler: Hans (Hanssen) and Jacob. In 1563, Hanssen and Jacob are listed again, in the same relative position on the list, but this time Jörg (Georg) appears just before Hanssen.[2] Since the positions of households on the lists are the same, with additions, in 1559 and 1563, it suggests that the order reflects where people lived relative to each other. The absence of Georg from the 1559 list, and that he appears next to Hanssen in 1563, may or may not be significant. Was Georg living in someone else’s house in 1559? If so, he might be younger than Jacob, who was living on his own that year. Is Hanssen the eldest of the three? Is he their father?  Hanssen is next mentioned in a contract settling the boundaries of grazing territories between Feckweiler and neighboring Buhlenberg in 1564. He seems to have been appointed a kind of guarantor of the agreement on behalf of Feckweiler, suggesting he was an elder in the village.[3]

When church records begin, there are only a few mentions of Hanssen and Georg. Georg dies in 1572, and Hanssen is dead by the time his son Thomas dies in 1575. Here is what is known of the families of Hanssen and Georg Bruch of Feckweiler:

Hanssen Bruch of Feckweiler is mentioned in a contract settling the boundaries of grazing territories between Feckweiler and neighboring Buhlenberg in 1564.[4] He was dead by the time of the death of his son Thomas in 1575. He had the following known children:

  1. Barbell: b. about 1568; m. Johannes Baum, 14 Sep 1591;[5] Johannes Baum is likely the Hans Baum who died in Birkenfeld in March 1593; there is no record of Barbell remarrying
  2. Thomas: bur. 21 Nov 1575, no indication of age[6]

Georg Bruch of Feckweiler and Ella, surname unknown, had the following known children:

  1. Jacob: b. about 1555; m. Elisabetha Schurer (Scherer?), daughter of Hanssen of Birkenfeld, 7 Feb 1576;[7] sponsored the baptisms of Jacob Hartels, son of Jacob and Eva of Buhlenberg, 10 Aug 1575.[8] It is possible that Jacob is the “Georg Jacob” and “Georg Jeckels” [Jacob Georg] of Feckweiler who has two children in the late 1570s. One of these children is sponsored by Nicolaus, son of the elder Jacob Bruch. The other is named Thomas and could be the Thomas Bruch known later as “Jeckels Thomas”. Instead of recording his surname, these records perhaps used the patronymic “Georg” to distinguish him from the elder Jacob Bruch. This Jacob Georg was buried 7 Nov 1580.[11] The following children were born to “Jacob Georg” of Feckweiler (no mother listed):
    • Thomas: bap. 9 Oct 1577 (sponsors were Thomas Gaschen [?], son of Rheinhardt; Friedrich of Frauenberg; Anna, daughter of Weyrich of Feckweiler)[9]   
    • Elisabeth: bap. 3 Sep 1579 (sponsors were Nicolaus Bruch, son of Jacob; Els Gaschen [same as Thomas above]; Els, [wife or daughter] of Johannes Eisenschmidt of Abentheuer)[10]
  2. Elisabetha: bap. Jan 1571 (sponsors were “Schneid Niclass Hans;” Anna, wife of Johannes Blassius; Elisabetha, Weyrich’s daughter; all of Feckweiler)[12]

Georg Bruch was buried 21 Mar 1572.[13]

Ella Bruch of Feckweiler, who was almost certainly Georg Bruch’s widow, married Nicolaus “von Krammer[?]” 31 May 1576.[14] Two years later, a child was born to a “Nicolaus Kramer.” No mother is listed, but it is possible that the following was a child of Ella and Nicolaus:

  1. Nicolaus: bap. 10 Aug 1578[15]

Achtelsbach and Eisen

Eisen was a small village to the west of Achtelsbach, home to Claus Bruch, the baker and innkeeper. Some genealogies give Claus Bruch’s father as the Peter Bruch of Birkenfeld who was listed in the 1500 tax records. Considering Claus was born around 1543, that Peter is most likely not his father. While we do not have any firm evidence of Baker Claus’s origins, there is one reference to a Michel Bruch of Eisen in the very first baptismal record in the Achtelsbach Church Book. In this record, Michel’s daughter Rosina is a sponsor on 25 Dec 1573.[16] This record is important since it clearly shows another Bruch family near Achtelsbach that is contemporary with that of Claus Bruch. It seems that this Michel Bruch was still alive in 1573. If his daughter Rosina was at least 20 at the time, and Michael at least 40, he would have been born no later than 1533, making him one of the earliest known Bruch men of the region. The geographic proximity hints that Michel was closely related to Baker Claus. This 1573 record is the only known reference to this Michel Bruch.    

[1] Steuerregister der Ortschaften Birkenfeld…aus dem Jahre 1500…reproduced in Jung, Rudi: Familienbuch Birkenfeld, 1989.

[2] Rauchhaberregister des Amtes Birkenfeld aus dem Jahren 1559 und 1563…reproduced in Jung, Rudi: Familienbuch Birkenfeld, 1989.

[3] This contract is quoted in Weber, Rolf. Buhlenberg…(Birkenfeld: Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld e.V., 1990), pp. 35-37.

[4] This contract is quoted in Weber, Rolf. Buhlenberg…(Birkenfeld: Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld e.V., 1990), pp. 35-37. Hanssen seems to have been a guarantor on behalf of the Feckweiler community.

[5] Birkenfeld Church Book, marriages, 1591.

[6] Birkenfeld Church Book, deaths, 1571. Described as son of the late Hanssen Bruch.

[7] Birkenfeld Church Book, marriages, 1576.

[8] Birkenfeld Church Book, baptisms, 1575.

[9] Birkenfeld Church Book, baptisms, 1577.

[10] Birkenfeld Church Book, baptisms, 1579.

[11] Birkenfeld Church Book, deaths, 1580.

[12] Birkenfeld Church Book, baptisms, 1571.

[13] Birkenfeld Church Book, deaths, 1572.

[14] Birkenfeld Church Book, marriages, 1576.

[15] Birkenfeld Church Book, baptisms, 1578.

[16] Achtelsbach Church Book, baptisms, 1573. “…Rosina Bruchen Michels tocther von Eÿsen.”