The Origin of the Riedesel Name in the Former County of Wittgenstein: What Is Known and New Theories Dr. Paul Riedesel (Minneapolis) and H. Stefan Riedesel (Ebsdorfergrund, Germany) Originally published as "Die Entstehung des Namens Riedesel in der Graftschaft Wittgenstein: Bekanntes und neue Theorien" in the periodical Wittgenstein, Volume IV, 2007. This English version was prepared by Paul Riedesel. A few general historical notes have been added for the benefit of the American reader. The former German Grafschaft (best rendered as County in English, as its rulers were Counts) of Wittgenstein was a small, poor and isolated region ruled by the Sayn-Wittgenstein family since the 1200s. It was the ancestral of home of virtually all the Riedesels in America, and home to a branch of commoners by that name since the 1600s. If there is one dominant question in Riedesel genealogy and history, it is how, when, and where the American and Wittgenstein Riedesels connect to the ennobled Riedesel families from the adjoining state of Hesse. This paper was written to address that question, originally to readers very familiar with the local German history and geography. Introduction "Riedesel" is one of a number of family names distinctive to Wittgenstein. No other district in Germany is home to as many Riedesels, and an examination of the origins of emigrants to America further confirms this geographic concentration. Through emigration, Census and family records, we know of 53 Riedesel men, women, and children who came to America. Their ancestry can be traced back to Henrich Riedesel from the Wittgenstein hamlet of Melbach with only two exceptions, and their origins are simply unknown. In contrast to other local names such as Homrighausen, Strackbein, Bald, Sassmanshausen, or Dickel, however, Riedesel is known to have originated in Hesse. The question is, how are the peasant Riedesels of Wittgenstein related to those in Hesse, who were of the minor nobility? We cannot provide a conclusive answer. Our purpose, rather, is to review what is known about the Riedesels inside and outside of Wittgenstein, and to propose a plausible theory.1 The Riedesels in Wittgenstein The starting point for all of our analysis is the Riedesel family that lived for several generations in the house known locally as "Herjes" in the hamlet of Melbach (near the village of Balde, and south of the town of Bad Berleburg). The progenitor of all the subsequent Riedesels in Wittgenstein and America so far as is known was Henrich Riedesel (~1615-1680). One child of his first marriage was Johannes Riedesel (born 1634), who married into the village of Girkhausen and was the ancestor of all the Riedesels in Girkhausen, Wunderthausen, and Diedenshausen, and a large majority in America. Henrich's second marriage produced the master builder Mannus Riedesel (1662-1726). His descendants may be found in Erndtebrück and Wingeshausen in Germany, and in the state of Texas, among other places. Like some of his descendants and his presumed ancestors in Melbach, Henrich Riedesel was no common serf. Around 1640—during the Thirty Years War—Henrich Riedesel served the Count in Berleburg as a coachman. Werner Wied has documented a few previous generations that lived in Herjes house. Their family names are lost to history, but they may well have been Riedesels. We particularly want to note "Henrich from Melbach" who is mentioned in a document from 1575 as a militia captain (Rottmeister der Schützen), and elsewhere as one of the biggest taxpayers at the time. 1 The definitive history of Wittgenstein was a doctoral dissertation published in 1927 by Günther Wrede. He wrote that the settlements at Melbach and Balde had been abandoned in the early 1500s, but were important enough by 1543 for the Counts of the northern and southern Counties of Wittgenstein to squabble over their possession.2 Tax documents between 1521 and 1545 include varies entries for a "Henrich" in Melbach.3 It appears likely that the house that became known as "Herjes" was established some time between 1510-1520. Existing records strongly suggest that the father of our coachman, Henrich, was also called Henrich or Heyrich. The first, certain mention of the name Riedesel in the documented history of what became the Riedesels of Wittgenstein appeared in the year 1618. From then on, the genealogical record is largely intact and we will not reproduce it here; the first author has as complete a database as anyone extending down to the present. There were, however, documentary mentions of other Riedesels in Wittgenstein prior to 1618. Wrede cites a "Wilhelm Rietesel" as Schultheiß for the town of Berleburg and its rural hinterlands in 1541.4 While a Schultheiß was no nobleman, his was an important and respected office that required the trust of the nobility. He was a kind of community overseer in the town in the employ of the Count, and outside the town (i.e. in the peasant villages) he was both policeman and judge. Two centuries earlier in the town of Feudingen in southern Wittgenstein, we again meet the name Riedesel, and this time borne by a member of the minor nobility. In 1351, a man-at-arms (Wappner) named Bernhard Riedesel married Gertrud von Feudingen.5 This Bernhard Riedesel belonged to the family of the Riedesels of Josbach, of whom we will hear more later.6 A few years later (1369), another document tells us of five Riedesel brothers and their uncles, Johann and Einolf von Feudingen. Their father Bernhard was already dead, but the brothers were still just boys. They are listed as: Wygant, Richart, Johann, Bernhard, and Gylbracht; a sister named Else is also known.7 By 1382, "Wyandt Ryddesil" and "Johann von Voydingen" had become vassals of the Landgrave of Hesse.8 It must be remembered that knights and other minor officials at this time rarely had hereditary lands, so there is nothing surprising about Wygant/Wyandt having left the town of Feudingen and the County of Wittgenstein. In the same year of 1382 we again encounter the brothers Wygant and Gilbrecht in a deposition for the Landgrave of Hesse in a legal matter regarding the debts of Eynolf von Feudingen and Johann Riedesel.9 It is clear from this document that Johann Riedesel was deceased at this time. The remaining brothers Bernhardt and Richart are not mentioned, so it may be surmised that they too were dead. After this point (1382), all traces disappear of these Riedesel brothers from Feudingen, or their descendants. The absence of evidence cannot prove anything, but it can still suggest certain conclusions. We believe it unlikely that the sons of Wappner Bernhard carried on the Riedesel line in Wittgenstein. We discern no direct connection between the family in Feudingen in 1369 and that in Melbach in 1618—at least in within Wittgenstein. While much of the early history of the Sayn-Wittgensteins is shrouded in darkness, it is well known that the Counts maintained constant pressure on other minor nobility through feuds, 2 negotiation, and legal action to increase their own power and influence. The idea of the sovereign state separate from personal family domains lay in the future. An individual noble ruled an ever-changing patchwork of towns and villages, with different rights in different places. Peasants in a village might owe services and taxes to several different lords. One lord might have hunting rights in a given forest while another had a right to the wood. In a process that accelerated over the centuries, stronger lords sought to reduce the status of smaller ones. The Sayn-Wittgensteins were never more than minor nobility, but natural boundaries and the limited resources of the area kept larger powers from bothering with them. However, they were keen to squeeze out any and all local rivals. The holdings and authority of the knights of Girkhausen and of Diedenshausen, and the Counts of Dersch, von Winter and von Grafschaft were all taken over either by means of the sword or contract. Afflerbach reports that the lords of Feudingen had a good relationship with the house of Sayn-Wittgenstein, yet the Feudingen line disappears before 1400.10 Moving ahead again to the 1600s and the dawn of what some call the modern era, there are various indications that the Riedesels in Melbach belonged to a somewhat higher stratum of society than the ordinary peasant. Taken together, these historical facts support the theory that they had their roots in the nobility, though by 1700 few signs remained of any noble privileges. We have already mentioned the role of Henrich Riedesel as a coachman for the Count, the relative prosperity of the earlier residents in Melbach (whose family name is unknown), and Schultheiß Wilhelm Riedesel (1541). The master builder, Mannus Riedesel, fascinates us to this day. A recent paper in the periodical Wittgenstein by Burkhardt describes an elaborately written petition to Count Casimir in Mannus' own hand. Though not all peasants were illiterate, few had the command of the written word or the penmanship evident in this document. Burkhardt writes that Riedesel's petition stands apart from all others in the archive by its meticulous formulation. In contrast to the language and form of similar requests, Mannus' petition addresses the Count in a manner that suggests he stands closer than other subjects.11 We know nothing of how Mannus Riedesel learned his craft as a builder or his letters. The most parsimonious explanation would be family tradition, and only in families of higher standing would literacy at this level have been the norm. Birkelbach, for one, remarks on the significance of who served as godparents of Mannus' children, noting that they were drawn from the largest and most prosperous farmers in the area.