EU Bauerschmidts

This is not a complete listing of all areas in Europe containing Bauerschmidts; nor is it a complete listing of historical Bauerschmidts in Europe. Rather, it is a summary of research regarding historical Bauerschmidt clans and individuals in Europe. Hopefully, this list can help save you time searching for ancestors in a particular country or region.

NOTE: No historical information has yet been found to indicate the presence of Bauerschmidts in the Czech Republic, but there are stories that the name originated in this area. These are obviously not based in any real data, but are included here for now.

If you have information on other Bauerschmidt families, either current or historical, that you would like to add to this webpage, send us an e-mail and we will include them.

Austria

We have now obtained definitive proof that the surname Bauerschmidt was in use in Austria as far back as the 1700s. Kaspar Bauernschmid was listed as the Baumeister in Oberhollabrunn, Austria in the 1760s. Karl Eduard Bauernschmid, the politician and journalist, was born in Vienna in 1801. The Bauerschmidt name does appear several times in directories for Vienna in the mid-1800s. Still it should be pointed out that many of the references to people with this surname in Austria are for individuals who were actually born in Germany such as Major Hugo Bauernschmitt of the Alpenkorps or the impressionist painter Maria Bauernschmidt-Clementschitsch. Although it is not very common, the Bauernschmid spelling can still be found in Austrian phone directories for the northwestern region around Grieskirchen.

Belgium

The famous sculptor Jan Pieter van Baurschmidt was actually born in Wormersdorfer, Germany. But he became established in Antwerp, Belgium where his son, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit, the younger, was born. His son went on to become a well known architecht. So there were Bauerschmidts living in Belgium for most of the 18th century. Because the father and son were responsible for many sculptures and buildings in this time period, references to the name using the Flemish spellings Bauerscheit or Bouwerschyt can still be found even though the surname is no longer in use in modern Belgium.

Czech Republic

We have no current information on Bauerschmidts in the Czech Rebuplic. However, the western border regions are German speaking areas, and some U.S. immigrants came from German villages near the Czech border. Bauerschmidts can still be found on the German side of the Czech border from Hoff south to Cham. There are many stories that the name "Bauerschmidt" originated in the Czech Republic; even our own French relatives tell these stories. Although it is unlikely that this is true, we are not aware of any reliable research for this region to definitively answer this question. If anyone has reliable information about Bauerschmidts in the Czech Republic, please contact us.

Denmark

Although there are Bauernschmidts who were born in the U.S. living in Denmark, the only historical reference to Bauerschmidts in Denmark comes from a port of New York passenger list for the English vessel Abyssinia that sailed from Liverpool in 1872. One George Bauerschmidt is listed as a passenger from Denmark. It is our personal belief that this is an error and that George (who we suspect to have been a Frenchman) was mistakenly listed along with the Danish passengers who disembarked ahead of him. However, until this is definitively proven as a mistake, there is still the possibility that there may have been some Bauerschmidts living in Denmark in the 1870s.

France Alsace

The Alsace region of France borders the German states of Bavaria and Baden Wurttemberg. German surnames are common in this area and the residents of some towns still speak the Alsatian language. Several Bauerschmidt families show up in Strausborg records (both civil and church) from the 1800s. In many instances, the individuals appear to have moved across the river from Germany proper. However, at least one family can be traced back to the descendants of Jean Georges Bauerschmitt of Wintershausen (also in Alsace, near Hagenau) circa 1740. This indicates that Bauerschmidts were living in the Alsace region since at least the early 18th century.

France Lorraine

Bauerschmitts have been living in the greater Phalsbourg area (Lutzelbourg, Trois Maison, Henridorff, Phalsbourg, Sarrebourg) of the French region of Lorraine (Moselle) since at least the 1720s. Although this region is not traditionally Germanic speaking, German surnames are fairly common in both civil and church records of the 18th and 19th centuries. These Bauerschmitt families can trace their roots back to one Jean Bauerschmitt of Lutzelbourg. Although it is conceivable that these familes could have moved westward from Alsace, so far all attempts to connect them with Alsace Bauerschmitts have been futile.

In addition to the Phalsbourg area, there was also one family of Bauerschmitts living in St. Germaine-en-Laye in the 1760s. These Bauerschmitts descended from Valentin Bauerschmitt, an officer of the French King.

Germany Bavaria

Many Bauerschmidt immigrants came to the U.S. from towns such as Ellerdorf, Tiefenhochstadt, Wambach and Graeffenburg in the Bavarian region of Germany. The surname Bauerschmidt has been in use in that area for at least 600 years. Early examples of the surname have been documented throughout the breadth of the Bavarian state. Reference to "der Burenschmid" in Ummenhofen can be found in 'Das Lehenbuch des Hochstifts Augsburg' published in 1424. The surname "Pauernschmidt" appears twice in the 'Reichssteuerregister' of Nürnberg for the year 1497. "Henrich Bauerschmidt" of Kronach is among those included in the register of the University of Leipzeig for the year 1516. "Hans Pauerschmidt" is listed as a leaseholder in Bamberg in the year 1521. These examples indicate both the wide geographic range for use of the surname and the significant variations in spelling throughout Bavaria. The Bauerschmidt surname is still in use in this region as evidenced by our fun links page, where 10 different Bavarian cities are represented.

Germany Hessen

Some of the early 19th century Bauerschmidt immigrants came from Hessen towns such as Kassel, and Offenbach. The surname "Bauernschmitt" is still in use in both these areas 200 years later. This spelling also appears to have been in use in the Frankfurt area for almost 500 years.

Germany Palatinate

Some of the earliest Bauerschmidt immigrants to the U.S. were from the Palatinate region of Germany. Jacob Bauerschmiedt and his son came from Klein Gartach in 1752. The "Bauernschmitt" spelling can still be found in the southeast region of the Palatinate state from Bad Dürkheim to Germersheim, while the "Bauerschmitt" spelling is used in the area around Worms. The "Bauerschmitz" spelling probably originated in the western Trier-Saarburg area where it can still be found.

Germany Rhineland

Although not many Bauerschmidt immigrants came from the Rhineland region of Germany, the surname can be found there. Catholic church records document several spellings in use for almost three centuries in the area west of the Moselle river. The "Bauernschmitt" spelling is still in use in the Cochen-Zell area. Research of church records in the Eiffel region of the Rhineland state indicates that Bauerschmidt was one of the 7 most common surnames in the village of Kenn, Germany during the 1700 and 1800s.

Germany Thuringia

Many Bauerschmidt immigrants who came to the U.S. were from the Thuringia region of Germany, including towns such as Benshausen, Steinach and Struth. In addition, several Bauerschmidt immigrants came from northern Bavarian towns such as Kronach and Stadsteinach, that are near Thuringia. Because of this, some of these families have postulated that the Bauerschmidt surname originated in the greater Thuringia Wald. Although this is probably not true, the Bauerschmidt surname has been in use in the Kronach area since at least 1510, indicating almost 500 years of continuous usage in this region. Most of the major spellings can still be found in German phonebooks for Thuringia, particularly in the area from Schmaldkin-Meiningen on the west to Gotha-Weimar on the north to Saalfeld-Rudolstadt on the east.

Germany Nieder Sachen

Bauerschmidts can also be found in the Lower Saxxony region of Germany, especially in the former kingdom of Hannover. The "Bauerschmidt" spelling still appears in modern phone books in the area around Gifhorn. Some early Bauerschmidt immigrants to the U.S. came from towns such as Hannover and Moringen. Bauerschmidts have also been living in the Harz mountain region since at least the 18th century. Some of the more prominent Bauerschmidt families in that area included Georg Ludolph Wilhelm Bernhard Bauerschmidt of Luchow, who served as Burgermeister of der Stadt Osterode am Harz in the 1860s. For further information on Georg, consult the German genealogical journal, Quellen Zur Genealogie, 1979.

Russia

There were two major historical periods of German immigration into Russia. The first occured during the reign of the czar Peter the Great during the early 1700s. The second occurred during the reign of Catherine the Great during the 1760s-1790. Bauerschmidts appear to have entered Russia along with the other German immigrants during both of these periods. Their presence has been historically documented in the Luthern church records of Kiev. In fact, Wilhelm Ferdinand Bauerschmidt was pastor of the Evangelical Luthern church of Kiev from 1799-1810. His daughter, Elisabeth, married the pastor of Gatschina bei St. Petersburg. It is unknown whether there are any Bauerschmidt descendants living in Russia today. For more information on historical records of German immigrants in Kiev, including the Bauerschmidt pastors, consult Genealogishes Jahrbuch, Band 23, 1983.