Wunenburger
Andre Ganter
Wunenburgers, very early inhabitants of Brunstatt, Haute-Rhin, Alsace, France
most certainly have a close relationship with the family of noble chivalry,
Mulhouse of Wunnenberg.
The Wuneburg name comes from the ancient word "Wunne" meaning cultivated
land.
Often spelled Wunnenburger, the surname has also been used over the
centuries in other forms such as Wonnenburger and
Wunenburg.
In 1932, Kurt Wunnenberg published a book entitled "Die
Geschichte der Wunnenberg in Rheinische Gauen".
Well documented and illustrated, this genealogical and
historical work studies different lines of the noble families
of that name.
The Mulhouse line is well documented thanks in particular
to the contributions of the archivist Louis Georges
Werner. This line has also been the subject of an article
published in 1924 in the Bulletin of the Historical Museum of Mulhouse, with the
article providing the family coat of arms.
Recorded from 1253 in Mulhouse, this family received taxes from the Count of
Ferrette for the village Rollingen. This village which is no longer in existence was
on the banks of Tagolsheim at the entrance of the Luemschwiller Valley.
This noble family had its court and his residence on the “Street of the
Franciscans” in Mulhouse. This street also bore the name of
"Wunnenbergergasse" until the fifteenth century. Members of the family played
an important role in Mulhouse and surroundings.
In 1303, Jean Wunenburg was bailiff of Zillisheim and in 1389 Bartholomew
Wunenburg became one of the first mayors of the city of Mulhouse before dying
in Basel in 1405. His son was a knight in Colmar and the latter's son held the
post of imperial Turckheim provost.
In Mulhouse, the name disappeared in the sixteenth century, at the same time it
appeared in Brunstatt.
In 1505 Leonard Wunenberg, a landowner, was banished from Brunstatt.
In 1523, Jean Wunenberg was recorded as paying royalties to ecclesiastical
establishments for his land Brunstatt.
Finally in 1573, Nicolas Wunnenberg is recorded as owning vineyards, always in
Brunstatt.
Old records of marriages of the parish show the importance of the family over
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. More than 70 marriages were
celebrated in the Church of St. Catherine of Brunstatt between 1592 and 1788
where one spouse was a Wunenburger,
Despite the many deaths of children, the family prospered and still lives today in
Brunstatt (see related article on Lucienne Lapointe "Brunstatt in the year 1791",
published in Bulletin 23 of the section Genealogical Society of Mulhouse
Alsace).
After the Brunstatt line, the Flaxlanden
branch began with Georges and his wife
Elisabeth Wunenburger Gilgenagel. The
couple was united in Flaxlanden Sunday,
"Quinquagesima", the seventh Sunday
before Easter, 1617.
Several children were born between
1617 and 1634, year of death of Georges
Wunenburger. Five were baptized from
1617 to 1625 and sixth in 1632.
No doubt the couple left Flaxlanden for a short period as a baptismal certificate
dated 1626 specifies that the sponsor, Georges Wunenburger, lived Bruebach.
The records of this village are unfortunately not old enough to be able to support
this hypothesis.
At Flaxlanden, the family was involved in several ethnic and religious
ceremonies during the seventeenth century. One example is the double
wedding in November 1671 Jean Georges Wunenburger, who married a
Brunner in Magstatt, and his sister Anastasia who married a Siffert.
After studying at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau, Nicolas Wunenburger
was ordained in September 1678. Responsible for souls in Mulhouse from 1679
to 1684, he then pastored Koetzingue, Magstatt and finally Zimmersheim from
1690 to his death occurred in 1713 (Kammerer).
His coat of arms was "azure two moons backed money, one ascending and the
other waning, along with two gold stars, one in the head and the other peak"
(Coat of Arms generality of Alsace).
On December 15, 1699, he celebrated the funeral service for his father, Ulrich,
who died two days earlier at the age of 82. Nicolas was buried in his parish in
Zimmersheim under the cross of the cemetery.
Ulrich, born in Flaxlanden was the second child of George Wunenburger and
Elizabeth Gilgenagel.
Due to the presence of the priest Wunenburger in Zimmersheim, members of
the family came from Flaxlanden and settled there as had Daniel who married
Suzanne Biet in 1712 in Zimmersheim.
The Wunenburger line, often occupying important positions, lived in various
places.
Jean Wunenburger, born in Zimmersheim in 1713, son of Daniel cited above,
held the post of Catcher priory for 46 years of Saint-Apollinaire Michelbach-leHaut. He died there in 1785, husband of Anne Marie Wilhelm, and was buried
with great pomp with his first wife Agathe Rell.
Daughter Geneviève Wunenburger married Bartholomew Wilhelm of
Michelbach-le-Haut in July 1773.
His son Bernard Wunenburger, born in Saint-Apollinaire, was a soldier in the
company of the regiment of Nassau Becker and provided the sacraments of the
Church. He died at the Royal Military Hospital in Metz 19 March 1763 and was
buried in the hospital cemetery
André GANTER