Stauffer Home in Switzerland

    The Stauffer name is a very old one with an interesting history. It is an official title which dates from the middle ages and whose English equivalent is cupbearer. It stems from the Teutonic word staupa, which means to pour. The same root in the noun form is stauf, which is the word for cup. The name is formed by doubling the f and adding er, which is the normal German masculine suffix of nouns which designate the doing of anything. The Stauffer was originally the man who handled the stauf, or wine cup.
   The name Stauffer was applied to the office of cupbearer only throughout old Suabia, which is now a part of Wurtemburg, Germany, and the canton of Bern, Switzerland. This territory has the Rhine River as its western border and includes the present day cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Bern. 
   The earliest Stauffer to which we can trace our lineage was born about 1495 in the area of Eggiwil, Switzerland. The first Stauffer on record in the area was an Ulrich Stauffer who was living in Rothenbach (near Eggiwil) in 1440.
  Niclaus Stauffer was born about 1495.  In 1547 he owned Luchsmatt farm near Eggiwil in the Emmental Valley of Switzerland. His wife’s name is unknown, but he had at least two sons: Ulrich Stauffer, born about 1528 and Peter Stauffer, born about 1540.

   Ulrich Stauffer lived on the Luchsmatt farm and passed it on to his son Niclaus (b, ca.1555), who passed it on to his son, Christian (b. ca. 1580).    

  Christian was a fugitive Anabaptist preacher who was a part of a great “Taufer hunt” in 1644. He was captured, along with Uli Zaugg and Uli Neuhaus. They were jailed in Thun castle, where the authorities were warned to keep these obstinate preachers out of the Emmenthal Valley. This valley was a hotbed of Anabaptist activity and their numbers grew so rapidly the authorities in Bern were greatly alarmed.

   On May 3, 1671, the magistrate of Signau received orders from Bern to seize the Anabaptists of Eggiwil and bring them to prison in Bern where they would be deported from Switzerland.  The village of Eggiwil refused to permit this, but when twelve of the wealthiest residents of the village were taken hostage to Bern until the Anabaptists agreed to leave, they decided to migrate to Germany.  They were allowed to take with them little more than the clothes on their backs. Christian Stauffer, 90 years old at the time, was one of the refugees. His second wife, Aenath Frederich, age 70, and at least 66 of his family members were among the group of 450 refugees who took up residence at Dirmstein, Germany, near the end of 1671.  By January 1, 1672 Christian had moved on to Ibersheim where he died.  His descendants lived in Germany for several generations before our ancestor, Christian Stauffer (b. 1709),  immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1732. 

   In 1997, we traveled to Europe and visited our Stauffer ancestral homes in Switzerland and Germany. When a farm changes hands in Switzerland, the name stays with the property. Luchsmatt farm is identified on Google maps, making it easy to find. I took this picture of the combination house and barn under one roof.

   This spring one of my third cousins visited the farm. He was able to talk to the residents with the help of a translator. He learned there are actually three houses on the place. A short distance beyond the main house is an older one where their parents live. Beyond that is another house where a tenant lives.

   This is the oldest house on Luchsmatt. The old man who lives in this house said when they remodeled they found a stone in the chimney with a date of 1651 carved in it. That takes us back to the "obstinate Anabaptist preacher," Christian Stauffer, who was deported in 1671 at the age of 90 and took our Stauffer line to Germany.

   This is the old man who lives in the oldest house today.

   We also visited the Stauffer home in Ibersheim, Germany, which is still owned by Stauffer descendants. They told us the part with the red roof is the oldest part of the house. They attend the Mennonite church that adjoins the property.

   It was nice to see the place where our ancestors lived in Germany, but my heart felt at home in Switzerland. Germany was a stepping stone, but I am Swiss!