The DORNSEIF Family

Origin of the DORNSEIF Name

DORNSEIF, DORNSEIFF, DORNSIFEN, DORNSIFER

by Wolfgang G. Sonneborn of Wuppertal, Germany

Toward a Genealogy of the 15th and 16th Centuries,

From Documents, [Paybooks?], Contacts etc. up to

the Beginning of Church Records

This lineage gets its name from the hamlet of Dornseifen, previously in the community of Fellinghausen and parish of Ferndorf, and now part of the town of Kreuztal, which is about

five miles north of Siegen. Dornseifen lies in a small valley adjoining the valley of the river Hees, northeast of the manor Junkernhees. A vassal of the lord of Junkernhees named Johann

built the first house at Dornseifen during the 1st third of the 15th century. He is first mentioned as Johann or Johan of Dornsiffen in a document of September 21, 1452.   See Note (1) below.

Excerpt From:

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  George Gustave DORNSEIF Note: In a conversation with Wolfgang Sonneborn in August 1995,               Wolfgang explained that the DORNSEIF name derives from the area where the 1st Johan lived (the        hamlet of DORNSEIFEN).. The area was a wet valley (SEIFEN) with hedges of thorny plants

    (DORN means thorn).

  In the 15th century the 1st Johan attended the church in Ferndorf and the church records show him to      be Johan von (from) DORNSEIFEN (Johan from the wet valley of thorny plants).

  Kreuz (cross) +  tal (valley) = crossing of valleys.

The location where the

1st Johan of DORNSIFFEN lived.

The house shown in the photo stands where the original house stood, but this house is 200 to 300 years old.

Note:(1) W. Herling, “Das untere Heestal, Kreuztal, 1981.”  Letter from W. Herling to Dick Dornseiffen of     Bussum, Netherlands, July 15, 1985. Documents of Dyderich von der Hees from September 21, 1452, state   archives in Wiesbaden.

An Alternate Explanation for the Origin of the

DORNSEIF, DORNSEIFF, DORNSIFEN, DORNSIFER Name

According to a family history, Frederick John Dornseif (1884-1957) of the USA received a card from a Count von Lueckner which read as follows:

"New York, June 11, 1932

"My Dear Mr. Dornseif,

    Many thanks for your so kind letter. Your name, it is known to me well in Germany, East Prussia, and means thornsoap. In 1668 a regiment on a retreat had to march through bushes of thorns, which poisoned the bodies, many died from it. One man discovered a certain soap, which was helpful and according to this his name was turned to Dornseife. With best regards, I am sincerely yours,

Felix Lueckner"

DORNSEIFs in the United States bear the surnames of DORNSEIF, DORNSEIFF, DORNSEIFFER, DORNSEIFFEN, DORNSIFE, etc.