Save $201. Archival Quality Reprints of the 1899 Phelps Family in America family history are now available.
Descendants of Arnold de Rodenesheim and Later Bremsers of Germany
Circa 1000 AD to the Present to Norwalk, Ohio
Origin of the Bremser Name
The name Bremser was originally Brömser. Sometime in the middle ages, in a story known to many family members, the elder son of the family wanted to marry a women not of his upper class. He was forbidden to use the Brömser name, and thus changed its spelling to Bremser. Reiner Bremser has been able to establish four Bremsers emigrating to the United States from whom all American Bremsers are descended. According to Reiner, nearly all of these Bremsers emigrated from a small village named Niedertiefenbach, which is south of and between Singhofen and Burgschwalbach. Research on the church records shows many, many Bremsers living in historic Niedertiefenbach.
 |
| The Brömserburg Castle is the oldest castle in the Rhine Gorge and is a World Heritage Site. It was built in the 10th century on the site of a Roman fortification. From the 10th to the 13th century it was owned by the Archbishop of Mainz. |
The Bremser family emigrated from German to Norwalk, Ohio over several years beginning in 1892.
The ancestral home of the Bremser family is the Brömserburg Castle in Germany. "From the early 10th to the early 19th centuries it was the property of the archbishops of Mainz. They converted the old fortress into a residence in the 12th century. Originally, it was right on the banks of the Rhine, surrounded by water. Its more than two-meter-thick walls withstood all offensives. Only the southeastern portion destroyed by the Duke Of Longville. A mine path to the keep bears witness to its invincibility. After being secularized in 1803, the castle had several owners until the town of Ruesdeheim purchased it in 1941. Today, it is the home of the vast collections that comprise the Rheingau wine museum. Historic wine presses form several centuries are displayed in the garden."
"On Oberstrasse, there is a row of beautiful old mansions from various periods, including the Frankensteiner Hof, Ritter'scher Hof and Bassenheimer Hof. Howwever, the Broemserhof, constructed from 1542 onward, is doubtlessly the most beautiful of all the noble manors on this street. This former residence of Ruedesheriim's ancient Broemser dynasty has an impressive Gothic chapel and an ancestral hall with splendid frescoes. Today, the Broemserhof houses a museum."*
Also in Ruedesheim is St. Jakobus Church. The "Catholic parish church on market square. The church dates form the 14th century and is said to have been built by the knight and Crusader Johann Broemser. The half moon and star on the weather vane atop the chruch tower are a reminder of the days of the Crusades, The church was almost completely destroyed in 1944, but was rebuilt of quarried brick typical of the Rhine area. Of special note are the medieval tombsones with effigies of Ruedesheim's nobility, situated in the northern aisle, as well as the Gothic tyjmpanium above the western portal."*
The Bremser and Brömser families originated in the area of present-day Rüdesheim, Germany. There is a detailed history describing the family ancestry descending from the von Rüdesheim nobility, and how the Bremser name became distinct from the Brömser family name around 1590.
German Immigrants to America
Reiner Bremser of Obersaul, Germany has done considerable research documenting the large number of Bremser who have immigrated to America. The first of these were Hessian soldiers who served in the American Revolutionary War for the English armed forces. Reiner found a total 38 families who immigrated within 37 years, an average of about one family per year. Immigration to America was at its height in 1854 and 1872. In all other years there were 0—2 immigrants per year, except for 1869, when there were three.
* From Rudesheim Assman Hausen Am Rhein, June 2003.
Contributors
The greatest part of the history of the Bremsers, from 1000 to 1858, is the notable work of my very generous 10th cousin Reiner Bremser of Oberursel, near Weisbaden, Germany. Nancy Verhelst of Wisconsin also contributed the descendants of Johann Gerlach Bremser, a brother to Reiner's ancestor Johann Konrad Bremser, and also a 10th cousin.
We extend thanks to Dale Norwood of North Carolina for information on his wife's Ann Bremser's family, descendants of Phillip Bremser. Ann is our third cousin. And from Utah, Keith Bremser contributed the ancestry of his g-g-grandfather Johann Philip Bremser. Keith is our eighth cousin once removed. One branch of the Bremsers moved to Michigan, where they married the Scheid family, related to the Enderle family of Germany. We thank Horst Hemminger for his contribution of the Enderle family history.
We are indebted to second cousin Ron Miller of Michigan for contributing several hundred descendents of Hattie Klein. We also thank our first cousin, once removed, Marge Miller More Barr of Norwalk, Ohio, for her notes on the Bremser and Klein genealogies.