The DORNSEIF Family
This site is dedicated to the descendants of Gottschalk DORNSEIFF (1463-1533) from the town of Bromskirchen (and other towns) in Hessen, Germany.
    Bromskirchen was founded in the year 1238 and celebrated its 750th anniversary in 1988 with the publication of a book 750 Jahre Bromskirchen which mentions various DORNSEIFs through the years.

DORNSEIFs in the United States bear the surnames of DORNSEIF, DORNSEIFF, DORNSEIFFER, DORNSEIFFEN, DORNSIFE, etc.
Bromskirchen, Hessen, Germany
Latitude 51.0931N    Longitude 8.6247E
Click on this link for Additional Information and Photos of Bromskirchen
Origin of the DORNSEIF Name
DORNSEIF, DORNSEIFF, DORNSIFEN, DORNSIFER
by Wolfgang G. Sonneborn, Wuppertal

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. (1)
Excerpt From:
Click on this link to go to the page which carries the complete text, including a PDF file
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 stands where the original house stood).
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.
St. Martinskirche
in Bromskirchen
Click on this link to go to the web page for St. Martinskirche in Bromskirchen
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"
Coats of Arms of
DORNSEIF,  DORNSEIFFE,  DORNSEIFFEN
Click on this link to go to the "Coats of Arms" page
Click on this link to go to the web page of the book "750 Jahre Bromskirchen"
Click here to go to The DORNSEIF Family Home Page at http://dornseif.org/