About me

I am a resident of the historic iron town of Steyr where I was born and currently reside. My professional background includes serving as an IT Manager for the city council in Steyr before retiring. I am a married individual with two adult children.

In my leisure time, I enjoy various activities such as traveling, hiking, playing table tennis, and exploring genealogy. My interest in genealogy mainly centers on creating family trees and displaying them online.

My Inspiration

My passion for genealogy runs in the family, as my great-uncle, Dr. Richard Patscheider, was also involved in family research, family trees, and name research. I possess two books written by Dr. Richard Patscheider, "From the Upper Rhine to the Adige Spring Region" (published in 1967 by publishing house Robert Lerche, Munich) and "von Sippenherkunft und Siedlerschicksal" (1959 Universitätsverlag Wagner / Innsbruck-Munich).

Additionally, the manuscript no. 3992 "Family tree Patscheider 1550-1920" by Josef Wopfner (National Archives Innsbruck) served as a basis for my research. This manuscript was compiled by Josef Wopfner on the basis of the "Werfachbücher" of the district court Nauders 1547-1780, then on the basis of an excerpt from the matrices of the parish Graun in Vintschgau and various partly written, partly oral communications, around 1927.

Family Tree

The two most important sections are "My Ancestors" and "Descendants of Clauß Patscheider,", both accessible via the "Family Tree" menu.

My Ancestors

This section includes both a graphical and a textual overview. The page begins with an interactive graphic, followed by a detailed list of my ancestors.

The graphic allows you to click on individual families. When you do, a small window opens with more detailed information about that specific family. From there, you can navigate directly to the corresponding entry in the text-based list.

Descendants of Clauß Patscheider

This section follows the same structure. It also begins with an interactive graphic, followed by a textual list of Clauß Patscheider’s descendants.

Just like in the previous section, you can click on families in the graphic to view more detailed information in a pop-up window. From there, it’s easy to jump to the relevant section in the text list.

Database with Kith&Kin

My genealogy database, managed using Kith&Kin, currently contains 669 families and a total of 2,833 individuals.

Most genealogy software does not support a freely scalable graphical display of a family tree. To my knowledge, Kith&Kin is the only program that offers this feature. This kind of flexible, scalable visualization is essential for clearly understanding family relationships and connections.

Wolfgang Patscheider

This photo of me was taken in April 2019 at Lamberg Castle, Steyr (AUT).

Familienchronik

This handwritten chronicle was given to my father Irimbert for his 60th birthday by his sister Giselheid.

Bücher und Dokumente

In picture: three books by Dr. Richard PATSCHEIDER, then a collection of documents and the ancestral passport from my father Irimbert.

"Vom Oberrhein zum Etschquellraum" written by Dr. Richard PATSCHEIDER was an important source of information in the creation of my family tree.

Supplementary information

Excerpt from the Patscheider Chronicle (written in 1988 by Giselheid Patscheider-Riedmann):

Naudersburg Castle is located in the village of Nauders, just north of the Reschen Pass. Since Roman times, when the Via Claudia Augusta was built here in 15-16 AD, one of the most important north-south connections in Central Europe has led over it. The German emperors' routes to Rome passed through here, especially in the Middle Ages, but the countless pilgrims of the Crusades also populated this pass road.

In the wake of the Frankish-Alemanic wave of settlement, the Patscheiders came to the valleys of the Tyrolean Alps between 1300-1500 and settled here at the Reschen Pass, especially in the adjacent high valleys.

Since the 10th century, this area of the Etsch spring has belonged to the Vinschgau and thus to the political nucleus of Tyrol. Count Meinhard II, who gave the Tyroleans freedom to defend themselves and bear arms, transferred the sovereign jurisdiction of this region to the fortified Nauder Castle in the 13th century. This Count Meinhard II was married to the widow of the last Hohenstaufen Emperor Constantine, and the Hohenstaufen heritage cannot be overlooked in this region. It is documented in the church patrons of St. Martin and St. Nicholas alone, and the Patscheider and Schuchter families are repeatedly identified as their benefactors and founders.

The old lion coat of arms from 1646 testifies to the importance of the Patscheider family for the court district, and in 1639 a chamois coat of arms is awarded "to the noble Gabriel Patscheider" in Langtaufers court-appointed and his conjugal brothers for services rendered to Her Imperial Majesty the Holy Roman Empire and Most Serene House of Austria. In both documents, the feoffed persons are called "Gerichtsverpflichtete", which is roughly equivalent to the term "Erbrichter" (hereditary judge).

The documented family research did not get beyond the ancestor Claus Patscheider (born 1497). It is considered fairly proven that the Bavarian-Franconian immigrants founded the single settlement of Patscheid in the Langtaufer Valley at the same time as the nearby Gschwell, Grueb and Wies, in all of which there is evidence of Patscheiders until the 16th century. Even today, they still sit there between Mals and Reschen, close and firm on inherited soil. The history of this down-to-earth family gives the picture of a closed rural class. Lechthaler, Seyfahrt, Plöck, Federspiel, Maas, Plack, Plangger, Joss, Verdross, Mesener and Waibl - names of old Tyrolean families associated with the Patscheider.

The average number of children was seven, 2/3 were peasants, including the "court-appointed", 1/3 consisted of intellectual professions, of this third again more than two thirds were clergy, all this taken on average over four centuries, gives the overall picture of a healthy rural class, sufficient for itself and the cultural soil.

End of chronicle excerpt (written in 1988 by Giselheid Patscheider-Riedmann)

The sunken villages of Graun and Reschen

Many of our ancestors were born in Graun or Reschen (South Tyrol, Italy). Today's villages of Graun and Reschen, however, stand in a different place than the villages of that time. Therefore, it should not go unmentioned at this point that one of the main places of settlement (Graun) of our ancestors no longer exists.

In 1949/50, the villages of Graun and Reschen in the Upper Vinschgau (South Tyrol, Italy) became victims of a reckless damming project. The story of this lake damming almost reads like a thriller - but it is the story of a catastrophe.

Genealogy Patscheider

Genealogical research - about me