Tag: Rhineland

For the Windsor Family, the earliest-known ancestors date to 1550 in Rheinberg Germany.

Walter Michael Windsor is my father.  He was special.  He was the first Windsor, but it was almost 400 years before there was a Windsor.

He was a wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; a husband who adored his wife, Mary; a talented man who enjoyed a very interesting career, and much more.

 

 

Walt was born on September 22, 1918, and he died on February 29, 2008.  It is sad to see so much lost when a loved one dies.  I hope to save the story of the life of the Walter Michael Windsor Family for generations to come.

The story cannot begin in 1918 because we all have roots.  Fortunately, Walter’s third child, my sister Wendy, spent years developing the family genealogy.

Wendy’s work tracing the genealogy history of Walt’s father and mother and their fathers and mothers is excellent.

Wendy has become the leading authority on Walt’s mother’s family, the Catoggios, and her work has enabled us to trace our paternal roots and has helped others find their roots.

Germans and Italians, theaters, and more.  Interesting roots…

Walter Michael Windsor was the first Windsor.

His paternal ancestors were Winkopps.  The paternal line has been traced back to the birth of Joest Wennkauff in 1550.  He died in 1602 in Rheinberg, Germany.

The Winkopp family name was changed over the years – Winkopp from Wincopp, Wincop, Wynkops, Wynchauff, Weinkouffe, and Wennkauff.

 

 

The name may have originally been “Wijnkoop,” which is Dutch.  The meaning of the name comes from the tradition of traders sealing a business deal with a drink, which was called a “Weinkauff.”

We have traced the family back to the old town of Rheinberg, Germany, in the lower Rhineland near the Dutch border.

Joest Wennkauff was accepted as a citizen of Rheinberg in 1592.

At least four generations lived in the Rheinberg period.  From there, the family moved to Erfurt, Aschaffenburg, and Tauberbischofsheim, Germany.

Winkopp descendants have been mayors, magistrates, government officials, barristers, notaries, University Deans, bankers, monks, nuns, historians, restaurant proprietors, show producers, actors, singers, dancers, television executives, authors, merchants, firemen, airline pilots, tailors, and more.

On the paternal side of the Walter Windsor Family, the earliest-known ancestors date to 1550 in Rheinberg Germany.

Joest Wennkauff was born about 1550.  He was accepted as a citizen of Rheinberg in 1592.  He died in 1602 in Rheinberg, Germany.

Joes Wincoff was one of four generations of Wincoff’s that had been traced to Rheinberg.

Rheinberg is a town in the district of Wessel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.  It is situated on the left Bank of the Rhine, approximately 31 miles north of Dusseldorf.

Claudia Schiffer was born in Rheinberg, too.