Jan 20, 2013

Mozart's Great-great-great-grandfather: an Update

One really should not conduct research unless one is determined to actually publish it. It turns out that in February 2012 I did not pursue my research to the necessary extent and therefore missed to locate the entry pertaining to the wedding of Mozart's great-great-great-grandfather Leonhard Altmann. Leonhard Altmann married Agnes Hoffmeister shortly after 22 June 1595:


Leonhardt Altman von arbin[g] aus paiern nimbt / Agnes weiland Georg Hoffmeister Wittib.                                                                                  Domenica 1a  3[ni]tatis
Leonhardt Altmann from Arbing in Bavaria marries Agnes, the widow of the deceased Georg Hoffmeister                                                               Fist Sunday after Trinity
Mozart's Viennese ancestors originally hailed from Bavaria. Arbing cannot be identified, because there are simply too many places with that name. Furthermore no baptismal records of these villages survive from the 16th century. Since I have hitherto not been able to locate the marriage entry of the "vintner on the Landstraße" Georg Hoffmeister, the maiden name of Mozart's great-great-great-grandmother Agnes Altmann (widowed Hoffmeister) still remains unknown. The baptisms of the following children from her first marriage are documented:
Johann Hoffmeister b. 13 December 1585
Adam Hoffmeister b. 18 February 1587
Barbara Hoffmeister b. 11 January 1589 (one of the  stepdaughters mentioned in Leonhard Altmann's will)

Maria Hoffmeister b. 9 October 1590 (one of the stepdaughters mentioned in Leonhard Altmann's will)

Research in the early baptismal records of St. Stephen's Cathedral proves to be difficult, because of very fragmentary indexes.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the update. It's great to see these documents.

    ReplyDelete