Excerpts translated from:
"Wehr: A City's History"
The earliest record of a Trefzger is in 1333.
The following are excerpts from the book “Wehr: A City’s History” written in German, by Dr. Fridolin Jehke. Printed in the city of Wehr, 1969. Translated by Renate Scherzinger Sheblessy.
“The Trefzgers, one of the early and important families of Wehr, were heavily involved in public affairs. The beginning is set with ‘Cunrat Trefser’ who, in the year 1333, received some farmland from Johann Schiiri, priest of Dossenbach. and his brother Heinrich Schiiri of Wehr.”
“Around 1370 lived someone named Johann Trefser.”
“In 1563, Claus Trefsger was owner of a house called ‘the stone house under the castle’. By this time, the Trefsger family and the Nagelin family were considered to be the biggest families in Wehr.
”In old books, citizens were sometimes listed under two different names, so we find ‘Martin Trefsger, called Bauer’(which means farmer) occasionally listed as ‘Martin Bauer.’ He lived around 1567 in Enkendorf. In those days, and even earlier, last names were changed to start new family names for people.”
“There were three families with the name Trefsger in 1563:
1) The already-mentioned family of Claus Trefsger.
2) Martin Trefsger, also called ‘Bauer’, who lived in the valley.
3) Someone named Hans Trefger.”
“In Wehr, family Trefzger had a leading role in public life. Five Trefzgers were appointed ‘Vogte’, which means the old kind of landlord-mayor under the umbrella government of a King or a Duke, and later, two Trefzgers were elected ‘Burgermeister’, or mayor, as we define it:
Landlord-Mayor
1) Fridlin Trefzger (1699-1707)
2) Josef Trefzger (1754)
3) Michael Trefzger (1787-1791)
4) Johann Baptist Trefzger (1806/08)
5) Anton Trefzger (till 1820)
Mayor
1) Johann Baptist Trefzger (1882-1884)*
2) Adam Trefzger (1885-1909)
*In Oct. 1884, he was thrown out of office because he had rude manners.
Teacher
One after another: Joseph, Martin, and Fridolin Trefzger
“In the beginning of the 19th century there were 19 families with the name Trefzger in Wehr. The Trefzger family was the second largest in Wehr.”
“Event: In 1833, the law changed for servants, from being owned by landlords to now having a chance to buy their way out and be independent. In 1834, a commission of the mayor Berger and his council members (one of them was a Trefzger) worked out a plan for this matter. There was a problem, however, with Martin Trefzger. He was a teacher, city council secretary and one of the twelve landowners who had to be paid off accordingly. He and another landlord disagreed about how much the city should pay them at this buy-out. The fight between Trefzger and the commission came finally to an end in 1840.”
“Event: Enkendorf, part of Wehr, tried to secede from Wehr. Enkendorf claimed to have enough citizens (90) to receive its independence from Wehr (410 citizens). Against the independence of Enkendorf was the city council of Wehr, with members like Sebastian Trefzger and Karl Berger, as lawyers, and the scriptor (secretary) of law, Martin Trefzger.”
“Revolution in 1848 in Wehr: In 1847, the movement to create a republic in Baden began to increase dramatically. The idea started in France based on the July Revolution in 1830 against Napoleon. The government of Baden started, therefore, in 1848, a citizen patrol to calm this political movement down. Two of the leaders of the movement were Struwe and Hecker. The radicals declared a ‘German Republic’ on September 21,1848. Many citizens, and finally the Prussian army troupes, fought against the radicals. So did Wolfgang Trefzger, who belonged to
the mayor's council. Struwe and his movement finally gave up in May,1849. Some political activists immigrated to Switzerland and to America.”
Further Notes:
-Teresia Trefzger married, in 1778, the carpenter Blasius Baldischwiler. He worked on the church roof in Wehr and moved after this project with his family to Laufenberg. Blasius became a famous wooden bridge builder in Germany and Switzerland.
-Shoemaker Michael Trefzger was mentioned at one point.
-In 1832, Scriptor of Law was Anton Trefzger.
-Teresia Schrarnmberger, nee Trefzger, donated, in 1840, a considerable sum of money to the remodeling of the ‘Ackerrain’ chapel in Enkendorf (part of Wehr). This chapel, dedicated to Mary, has a beautiful baroque altar.
-Karl Ludwig Trefzger was chief of the fire brigade of Wehr in 1859. About 150 members belonged to it.
-In 1874, Adam Trefzger (scriptor of the city council) became conductor of the ‘Musikverein’ (Music Club), founded in 1859.
-On January 5, 1879, the first savings and loan bank was founded by businessman Johann Baptist Trefzger, Erhard Trefzger (city council scriptor), and four other members.
-An opening speech was given May 19,1890, by Erhard Trefzger, when the new train tracks were built.
-Around 1920, Cafe Trefzger and two other cafes were the first cafes opened in Wehr.
“Not many people departed Wehr during the otherwise massive emigration wave in the 18th century, because Wehr was one of the cities with enough industry, and therefore work, for its citizens. But it is known that Joseph Trefzger, son of
Michael Trefzger, emigrated around 1760 to Hungary. In the mid 1800's, however, between 1830 and 1890, about 150 people emigrated from Wehr and went to America, because many of the iron factories in Wehr were closing their doors.”
Died in WW I:
Trefzger, Alois 1894-1915
Trefzger, August 1887-1914
Trefzger, Emil 1896-1916
Trefzger, Franz Josef 1896-1917
Trefzger, Julius 1895-1915
Trefzger, Theodor Philipp 1898-1918
Died in WW II:
Trefzger, Emst 1917-1945 (seriously wounded)
Trefzger, Gustav 1911-1942
Trefzger, Hermann 1924-1945
Trefzger, Hermann 1916-1940
Trefzger, Karl Friedrich 1919-1943
Trefzger, Otto 1918-1944 (never found)
Trefzger, Otto 1918-1943
Trefzger, Robert 1925-1944 (never found)
Trefzger, Siegfried 1914-1940
Trefzger, Walter 1925-1944
Trefzger, Wolfgang 1913-1941
Note:
All history of family Trefzger found in:
“Wehr: A City’s History”. Written by Dr. Fridolin Jehle. Printed by the city of Wehr (Baden), 1969.
Translation by Renate Scherzinger Sheblessy, Cincinnati, July,2000.
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