Kleinsteuber Families - Origins;
There has never been any dispute that all Kleinsteubers worldwide originated in Germany. When I decided to do extensive genealogy research, we discovered that East Germany had made no attempt to digitize or centralize birth, marriage, and death records, and that individual parish records would have to be used.
As far as we can determine, the only existing and researched parish records circa 1500 for Kleinsteubers are those in the Gotha District area. Sitting almost entirely in the huge Thuringian Forest you will find the Gotha District. Spread across the ancient hilly landscape amidst the rounded peaks of the mountains — some up to near 1000m (3281ft) high — you will find a wealth of historic story-telling and family histories.
It was soon apparent that almost all Kleinsteubers worldwide originated from the Gotha District of Thuringia, in particular in the small villages within 20 - 30 km of Gotha. The oldest records found (late 1400s) were in the tiny adjoining villages of Seebach, Schmerbach, and Schwarzhausen, tucked into small valleys at the edge of the Thuringian Forest..
There is also a small cluster of Kleinsteuber families that have been researched from the Hainchen and Darmstadt areas of the Hessen region, which adjoins the Thuringia Region on the west side.
Click on photos to enlarge or to navigate:
As far as we can determine, the only existing and researched parish records circa 1500 for Kleinsteubers are those in the Gotha District area. Sitting almost entirely in the huge Thuringian Forest you will find the Gotha District. Spread across the ancient hilly landscape amidst the rounded peaks of the mountains — some up to near 1000m (3281ft) high — you will find a wealth of historic story-telling and family histories.
It was soon apparent that almost all Kleinsteubers worldwide originated from the Gotha District of Thuringia, in particular in the small villages within 20 - 30 km of Gotha. The oldest records found (late 1400s) were in the tiny adjoining villages of Seebach, Schmerbach, and Schwarzhausen, tucked into small valleys at the edge of the Thuringian Forest..
There is also a small cluster of Kleinsteuber families that have been researched from the Hainchen and Darmstadt areas of the Hessen region, which adjoins the Thuringia Region on the west side.
Click on photos to enlarge or to navigate:
The maps above show the location of the Thuringia and Hessen Regions within Germany, as well as parishes researched, and a satellite view of the villages with the oldest Kleinsteuber records.
We have parish records of three different Kleinsteubers who relocated within Germany (see the map below);
- Hans Weißbecker Kleinsteuber, born circa 1690 in Schwarzhausen to Hans Kleinsteuber and Johanna Eva Mosengeil, moved to Leipzig according to his Schwarzhausen parish record.
- Johann Jacob Kleinsteuber, born 1693 in Seebach/Farnroda to Hans Kleinsteuber and Dorothea Stegmann, died in Leipzig according to his Farnroda parish record
- Johann Gottlieb Ernst Kleinsteuber, born 1773 in Gotha to Johann Jacob Kleinsteuber and Rosina Elisabeth Merckel, moved to Munich and worked in the German Mint there (or was the Mint master).
- Ludwig Kleinsteuber is shown as having been born in Nordhausen, Thuringia circa 1680, and his children born in Hainchen, Hessen Region.
- We also note that King George III of England was also Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire for Hanover (including Hessen). Hessen provided over 12,000 soldiers to fight the Colonials before and during the Revolutionary War. At least one of these was a Kleinsteuber from Hessen and he and his descendants stayed in America.
The map of known or likely movement of Kleinsteubers from the Gotha District to other locations in Germany is shown below.
Click on image to enlarge:
We have parish records of three different Kleinsteubers who relocated within Germany (see the map below);
- Hans Weißbecker Kleinsteuber, born circa 1690 in Schwarzhausen to Hans Kleinsteuber and Johanna Eva Mosengeil, moved to Leipzig according to his Schwarzhausen parish record.
- Johann Jacob Kleinsteuber, born 1693 in Seebach/Farnroda to Hans Kleinsteuber and Dorothea Stegmann, died in Leipzig according to his Farnroda parish record
- Johann Gottlieb Ernst Kleinsteuber, born 1773 in Gotha to Johann Jacob Kleinsteuber and Rosina Elisabeth Merckel, moved to Munich and worked in the German Mint there (or was the Mint master).
- Ludwig Kleinsteuber is shown as having been born in Nordhausen, Thuringia circa 1680, and his children born in Hainchen, Hessen Region.
- We also note that King George III of England was also Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire for Hanover (including Hessen). Hessen provided over 12,000 soldiers to fight the Colonials before and during the Revolutionary War. At least one of these was a Kleinsteuber from Hessen and he and his descendants stayed in America.
The map of known or likely movement of Kleinsteubers from the Gotha District to other locations in Germany is shown below.
Click on image to enlarge:
The main lines of Kleinsteuber immigrants researched;
a) The descendants of Johann Theodor Wendel Kleinsteuber, a master shoemaker in Gotha, whereby 9 of his children and his widow immigrated to Eastern Ontario in the 1850s and 1860s (aka the Actinolite Kleinsteubers)
b) The four Kleinsteuber brothers, sons of Friedrich Christian August Kleinsteuber, who immigrated to Wisconsin in the 1850s, and their descendants (aka the Wisconsin Kleinsteubers)
c) Carl Kleinsteuber who immigrated to the Preston-Waterloo area of Ontario and his descendants (aka the Preston-Waterloo Kleinsteubers)
d) John Herman Kleinsteuber who immigrated to the Louisville, Kentucky area in the mid 1880s and all his descendants (aka the Kentucky Kleinsteubers)
e) The Chilean Kleinsteubers, all descendants of Teodoro Kleinsteuber who immigrated about 1860 to the German settlements in the the Porto Montt region in the far south of Chile (aka the Chilean Kleinsteubers)
Several other smaller groups (the Texas Kleinsteubers, the New York Kleinsteubers, etc.) have also been researched.
We believe they are all connected back to the original Kleinsteubers who we found in late 1400s records in Seebach, Shwarzhausen, and Schmerbach, but many parish records have been damaged or are missing gaps of up to 40 years circa the 1500s, making it impossible to make those connections.
a) The descendants of Johann Theodor Wendel Kleinsteuber, a master shoemaker in Gotha, whereby 9 of his children and his widow immigrated to Eastern Ontario in the 1850s and 1860s (aka the Actinolite Kleinsteubers)
b) The four Kleinsteuber brothers, sons of Friedrich Christian August Kleinsteuber, who immigrated to Wisconsin in the 1850s, and their descendants (aka the Wisconsin Kleinsteubers)
c) Carl Kleinsteuber who immigrated to the Preston-Waterloo area of Ontario and his descendants (aka the Preston-Waterloo Kleinsteubers)
d) John Herman Kleinsteuber who immigrated to the Louisville, Kentucky area in the mid 1880s and all his descendants (aka the Kentucky Kleinsteubers)
e) The Chilean Kleinsteubers, all descendants of Teodoro Kleinsteuber who immigrated about 1860 to the German settlements in the the Porto Montt region in the far south of Chile (aka the Chilean Kleinsteubers)
Several other smaller groups (the Texas Kleinsteubers, the New York Kleinsteubers, etc.) have also been researched.
We believe they are all connected back to the original Kleinsteubers who we found in late 1400s records in Seebach, Shwarzhausen, and Schmerbach, but many parish records have been damaged or are missing gaps of up to 40 years circa the 1500s, making it impossible to make those connections.
Kleinsteuber Name & where they live today;
Lots of speculation has existed about the name "Kleinsteuber" and where it originated. Professional German translators who work with Old German High Script believe the name occurred when all Germans were forced to take a surname, in many areas in the 1400s, and they often were named after their occupation. The most likely translation is "small dusty mill", and the small village communities at the edge of the Thuringian Forest likely had at least one mill in each village (or one for adjacent villages).
The following five charts show where Kleinsteubers live in large enough concentrations to show up in Family Names per Million population. Note that "our cousins" in Chile probably do not show up because they all have dual surnames.
Click on photos to enlarge or to navigate:
Lots of speculation has existed about the name "Kleinsteuber" and where it originated. Professional German translators who work with Old German High Script believe the name occurred when all Germans were forced to take a surname, in many areas in the 1400s, and they often were named after their occupation. The most likely translation is "small dusty mill", and the small village communities at the edge of the Thuringian Forest likely had at least one mill in each village (or one for adjacent villages).
The following five charts show where Kleinsteubers live in large enough concentrations to show up in Family Names per Million population. Note that "our cousins" in Chile probably do not show up because they all have dual surnames.
Click on photos to enlarge or to navigate: