Jan 20, 2013

Mozart's Great-great-great-grandfather: an Update

One really should not conduct research, unless one is determined to actually publish it. It turns out that in February 2012 I did not pursue my research to the necessary extent and therefore did not try to locate the entry pertaining to the wedding of Mozart's great-great-great-grandfather Leonhard Altmann. Shortly after 22 June 1595, Leonhard Altmann married the widow Agnes Hoffmeister (A-Wd, Tom. 7, fol. 252v):

Leonhardt Altman von arbin[g] aus paiern nimbt / Agnes weiland Georg Hoffmeister Wittib.                    Domenica 1a  3[ni]tatis
Leonhardt Altmann from Arbing in Bavaria takes Agnes, the widow of the deceased Georg Hofmeister    Fist Sunday after Trinity
This document proves that Mozart's Viennese ancestors originally hailed from Bavaria. Arbing cannot be identified, because there are simply too many places with that name. Furthermore, no baptismal records of these villages survive from the sixteenth century. Since I have not been able so far to find the marriage entry of the "vintner on the Landstraße" Georg Hoffmeister in the Vienna church records, the maiden name of Mozart's great-great-great-grandmother Agnes Altmann (widowed Hoffmeister) still remains unknown. The baptisms of the following children from her first marriage are documented in the records of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
Johann Hoffmeister, born 13 December 1585 (A-Wd, Tom. 1, fol. 23v)
Adam Hoffmeister, born 18 February 1587 (A-Wd, Tom. 1, fol. 67r)
Barbara Hoffmeister, born 11 January 1589 (one of the  stepdaughters mentioned in Leonhard Altmann's will) (A-Wd, Tom. 1, fol. 136v)
The 1589 baptismal entry of Barbara Hofmeister
Maria Hoffmeister, born 9 October 1590 (one of the stepdaughters mentioned in Leonhard Altmann's will) (A-Wd, Tom. 2, fol. 42v)
The 1590 baptismal entry of Maria Hofmeister

Research in the earliest baptismal records of St. Stephen's Cathedral turns out to be difficult, because of very fragmentary indexes.

© Dr. Michael Lorenz 2013. All rights reserved.

Updated: 5 January 2021

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