Van den Kloppenburg - a controversial family history.

Kloppenburg family history in English

'Kloppenburg'
 'Castrum, Praedonum Perfugium' 

St Andreas Church in Cloppenburg - founded around the year 800 AD

On the grounds behind St Andreas Church in Cloppenburg, a commemorative plaque bears the inscription: "Since the parish was founded in 800 to 1876, the citizens of Crapendorf-Cloppenburg have found their final resting place in this courtyard of St Andrew's Church. May they rest in peace"

It can be asserted with reasonable certainty, that the ancestors of almost all Kloppenburgers whose blood flows through the veins of us descendants, visited this church for several centuries.! They were baptised in St. Andrew's, prayed there Sundays with their families, got married there... and were finally buried in the cemetery behind this church!

Since Charlemagne's reign (768-814), the Crapendorf community somewhat evolved as the cradle of what centuries later would be called.. a 'Kloppenburg' person or family !

However, resting in peace was the last thing the 'Kloppenburg' future had then in store for them...

1. Kloppenburg during the pre-history

As the science of genetics developed expeditiously in recent years, I thought it sensible to complete a DNA test and gain insight into where my.. and a great many other Kloppenburg ancestors, came from.

The DNA test done is part of the worldwide 'Genographic Project'. This project is an initiative of National Geographic. Renowned scientists use advanced genetic and computerised technologies to analyse historical patterns in the DNA of participants from all over the world. This enables us to improve our understanding of humanity's common history and development.

DNA test results - R. Kloppenburg

European - 97%

Anglo-Saxon - 55%

Nordic - 28%

West and Central Europe - 7%

Southeast Europe - 7%

Oceania - <1%

East Europe - <2%  

West Middle East - <2%

*Percentages smaller that 2% are negligible and should be considered a kind of background noise.

Well... at first I was a little disappointed with the DNA test results. As an authentic Kloppenburger, I now have to admit being a thoroughbred Northern Europeaan (83%) and not much else. Unfortunately, there is nothing remarkable in my genetic background, nothing surprising, no mysterious details, interesting facts or exotic fantasies...

My Kloppenburg ancestors (including maternal side) are predominantly Anglo-Saxons, who only maintained limited (or forced) relationships with the Norsemen and no-one else. It is therefore not unreasonable to conclude that during the last 10,000 years, our Kloppenburg forefathers mainly subsisted on the edge of the North Sea.

Considering the physical appearance of the Kloppenburgers (in my extended family), I believe the Nordic influence mainly derives from my mother's DNA and that from the beginning of the Mesolithic period, the Kloppenburg forebears had settled in Lower Saxony between the Elms and Elbe rivers.

The Mesolithic is a cultural period that started in Europe about 11.500 BC after the end of the last ice age. This period ended when people switched to agriculture and cattle breeding while developing or taking over many new technologies. This economic transformation had been accompanied by a whole series of social, cultural and ideological changes, which together are called the Neolithic. Economically man was no longer dependent on what nature had to offer, as he increasingly succeeded in domesticating plants and animals for his livelihood and survival.

The DNA result indicates beyond doubt that the Kloppenburg ancestors most likely lived for thousands of years in the same homogeneous Anglo-Saxon communities. The natural boundaries of the North Sea, flanked by the Elms and the Elbe rivers, limited social mobility and was probably one of the reasons why little or no extensive contacts with other cultures or different ethnicities were developed.

Of course its pure speculation but nevertheless plausible to conclude that during the Mesolithic period, the primeval Kloppenburger gradually switched from hunting, fishing and gathering food.. to agriculture as their main means of livelihood. 

And as a result of this conversion, did they now settle permanently as farmers between the Elms and Elbe rivers? We know little about these ancestors and we can only speculate about their existence...

But during Charlemagne's reign (768-814 A.D.) they unexpectedly emerge as a small community, in the old church archives of Crapendorf (Cloppenburg)..!

 2.  Van den Kloppenburg - 'Castrum, Praedonum Perfugium'

Und wirklich - wurde nicht die Kloppenburg angelegt,

um von da aus nach allen Seiten hin loszuschlagen, zu ‘kloppen’?

The old foundation of the fortress / castle 'Kloppenburg'

During the middle ages, the meaning of the verb 'Kloppen' was restricted to 'fighting', beating, defeating, quarrelling or creating hell on earth. The word Kloppen is derived from the (old) high German word 'Klöphon' that later evolved into the middle-low German and Dutch word 'kloppen'. It was a sound-associated word.

Searching for quarrel and creating problems is in the blood of our ancestors and if I just look at my own family, I can unequivocally confirm this...

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Count Otto III, of the house Von Tecklenburg (Tekenenburg,Titkelenborg), had among others fortresses in Friesoyte (26 km NW of Cloppenburg) and Essen (18 km, south). He is considered the founder of the castle or fortress 'Kloppen-Burg'.

Count Otto was a robber knight who ruled from 1284 to 1307 and tried to expand his power and possessions through robbery and fighting. He also had to protect his conquered possessions (Schwaneburg, Hartebrügge, Lohe and Barszel).

Count Otto had major conflicts with the bishop of Osnabrück. He had leased his castle in Tecklenburg to the bishop, but he refused to give it back. Consequently, Count Otto impetuously invaded the diocese during lent in 1291. For eight hectic days, the bishop and his cohorts had to seek refuge behind the safe walls of Osnabrück.

Eventually Count Otto needed a new establishment anyway, as his relations with "bishops" would not get any better...

Count Otto chose the geographically most suitable location in Crapendorf (now the western part of the city of Cloppenburg). A castle or stronghold in this strategically ideal area, could also serve to support his fortress in Friesoyte. Crapendorf was central to the prosperous trade centres and fairs of Oldenburg, Wildehausen, Vechta, Quakenbrück, Haselünne and Friesoyte. Furthermore, Crapendorf lay exactly at the crossroads of the above locations and was one of the oldest municipalities in the area. A long-distance road, which operated from the Bronze Age onwards, runs along the south of the town of Cloppenburg. This ancient 'Folkweg' led traders and other travellers from the Netherlands (Utrecht) via the Ems and the Weser to Hamburg (Lüneburger Heide).

It was without doubt the ideal place to collect tolls.. and start robbing!

Count Otto bought a large farm with a watermill on the river Soeste in Hemesbühren and built his fortress there, which on 5 January 1297 in an official charter was named 'Kloppenburg'.

A modelled representation of the 'Kloppenburg' from 1650

"It is mainly the local residents around the castle from whom the modern Kloppenburg descends" 

In fact, the 'robber knights' reputation of fortress Kloppenburg was convincingly maintained throughout the 14th century and this is well documented!

Dr.G.L.Niemann writes about Count Otto V (1360-1388): "If the predecessors were difficult neighbours, this was nothing compared to Count Otto V. Apart from the great feuds in which he was constantly entangled, his thirst for looting made him throughout the region a real terror for the dioceses of Münster and Osnabrück. Defences such as walls, canals, towers and gates had to be erected around the cities of Münster and Osnabrück as protection against invasions of the counts of Kloppenburg".

The Drost (Bailiff) of Meppen issued a report about the damage done within one year (1364 or 1365) and stated: "Let it be known, ye Lords of Münster, that in this year the Count of Tekeneburg (established in the KloppenBurg) has taken the following loot from you and from your subjects in this parish of Meppen:

·   In the parish of Meppen: 105 cows worth more than 90 marks, 500 sheep worth 60 marks.

·   From the village of Nödike: 154 cows worth 120 marks.

·   From the village of Schwenighen: 124 cows worth 100 marks.

·   From the village of Barlo: 30 cows worth 27 marks.

·   From Gehse: 60 cows, worth 50 marks. Furthermore, arson in this village had caused damage estimated at 40 marks.

·   In the parish of Hesepe zu Dalhem: 138 marks for geese, 24 cattle worth 18 marks and 1005 sheep worth 120 marks.

·   From Lünne: 92 cows worth 93 marks, more than 80 horses worth at least 98 marks.

·   From Lerte: 92 cows and 140 sheep, worth 100 marks, as well as looting worth 10 marks.

·   In Büchelte: 105 cows worth over 90 marks, 200 sheep worth about 24 marks, 10 horses   worth 14 marks., - 'VIII marc reder penninghe to Dinghetale ' - (the cost for the owners to   buy back what was stolen from them),. Plus 14 fat pigs worth about 7 marks, as well as   looting and the value of a house that burned down to the ground, worth about 60 marks.

·    Damage in Haverbeck: about 24 marks.

·    In Huden: 112 cows, 10 pigs, plus a looting totalling over 110 marks.

·    In Lare: 111 oxen, 5 horses, 6 pigs, a house burned down and looted more than 98 marks.

·    In the parish Holte: 111 cows, 50 pigs, 15 horses were taken, two people were beaten to   death and looted for a total of 250 marks.

·    In the parish Herzlake in the village of Helminghausen: 1000 sheep and a large quantity of   oats were paid as bribes to prevent further theft, worth at least 100 marks.

·    On Christmas Day 1364, from the village of Werlte and the local parish: 94 cows, 993   sheep, one person killed, 300 fat pigs, 33 horses and 98 marks as a reward and a similar   amount in looting, so the total damage is about 2000 marks".

Just to be sure, the Drost added: "The truth of the above statements in the bailiff's report has been verified under oath by practising parishioners". 
Understandably, 'De KloppenBurg' was eventually declared 'Castrum, Praedonum Perfugium' - a stronghold that was a refuge for robbers. -

In 1393 bishop Dietrich of Osnabrück, bishop Otto of Münster and the municipalities of Osnabrück and Münster had enough and joined forces. They besieged the Burg with gathered reinforcements from the numerous victims of the counts of the Kloppenburg. The siege, which began on 29 June 1393, lasted 54 days. The fighting was fierce and bloody and the inhabitants of Kloppenburg defended themselves bravely, but on 22 August 1393 it was all over and 'de Kloppenburg' was taken. The armies then marched on to the fortress at Friesoyte, which was always considered to be impregnable. Regardless of being an even stronger defence than the fortress in Essen.. this fortress also fell.

Despite the fact that the counts of Kloppenburg were defeated, the castle remained and the name Kloppenburg lived on among the local population. Inhabitants or people from the immediate surroundings who were associated with 'De KloppenBurg' through housing, labour or other social circumstances, called themselves van den or van Kloppenburg. it's mainly these people from whom the modern Kloppenburger descended and not (or to a very limited extent) from the nobles of the castle itself, who at birth usually retained the name of their noble family.

On 24 August 1716 the castle buildings were finally destroyed during the great fire in Cloppenburg. At last when the Oldenburg Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig took over sovereignty in 1803, the remains of the castle were  blown up (1805) to make way for the Amtshaus.

De KloppenBurg' is no longer there although contentious, useless combativeness still seems to live on with us descendants... "Long lives the legacy of the wretched Count Otto"

3. The St. Andreas Church

The current St. Andreas church in Cloppenburg with its very old foundations still shows an impressive age. The great fire of 1716 destroyed the old church, but it was restored and the reconstruction was completed in 1728. The current interior is decorated with white and gold colours in Baroque or Rococo style.

During the disastrous 14th century, our ancestors must have worshipped quite a lot in St. Andreas Church...! The great famine of 1315-1317 was the first in a series of large-scale crises that struck Europe during the calamitous fourteenth century. The subsequent 'Plague' or 'Black Death' of 1347-1351 also claimed many victims in Kloppenburg. It was a period characterised by an extreme degree of crime, disease, mass mortality and even cannibalism and infanticide. Obviously, the robbery of the counts of Kloppenburg did not simplify the existence and survival of the local population.

Presumably the church of St. Andrew, driven by the 14th century disasters, was mostly full on Sundays. I see the scene vividly before me. The nobles in front and the common people (the serf, the farmer, the miller, the craftsman, etc.) behind them.. with families and children filling the rest of the pews. During the Middle Ages, the community of Crapendorf-Cloppenburg will not have been larger than at most 100-200 people*. However, these ordinary churchgoers with immense 14th century problems, were almost all ancestors of later Kloppenburgers and blood relatives!

*The population statistics of 1473 indicate a population of about 250 people.

4.  Emigration to the Netherlands

The Folkweg (or Kriegerpad, Ossenträde, Reuterweg), which has been in use since the Bronze Age (3000 BC-1200 BC), runs from Soesterberg (Utrecht) via Apeldoorn, Oldenzaal, Lingen along the south of the city Cloppenburg. The walking distance Utrecht- Cloppenburg is 221 km, or about a 5 days walk. The road then continues via Bremen to Hamburg (Stapelfeld). In the late middle ages, the total length Utrecht-Hamburg had a walking distance of 410 km. or about a 10 days walk.

De Volkweg - From Hamburg to Utrecht.. with connecting route to Brugge

This ancient road was most likely an essential part of the Hamburg-Bruges trade route, of which the Flemish city also maintained extensive trade relations with England. For centuries, the Folkweg ('Road of the People') had been of crucial importance in promoting the local trade interests with the West. It almost certainly must have been an important connecting road for the flourishing 12th and 13th century trade between mighty Bruges (Flanders) and the hanseatic city of Hamburg. Count Otto knew what he was doing when he chose the strategic location in Crapendorf for his new fortress. (2 km from the Folkweg.!)

Our Kloppenburg ancestors will have used that road a lot in the past. They most likely must have been informed by other traders or travellers about the economic rise and prosperity of Bruges and later Amsterdam. I suspect that during the 14th-15th century some civilians of the Kloppenburg were already trading (to a certain extent) with Hamburg and Bruges, but no proof has been found (yet). 

I suspect that during the rise of the Dutch Republic in the 16th and especially the 17th century, several Kloppenburg’s moved to the Netherlands. Most of them would have been enticed by the flourishing trade in Amsterdam and the demand for labour for the VOC, which had a shortage of seamen.
I also think that several Kloppenburgers moved into Friesland, Drenthe and especially Groningen, where many Kloppenborgers were found later on. Little or no official documentation has been discovered that Kloppenburgers immigrated to the Netherlands in the early 16th century... but that does not mean it didn't happen.

At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century the first Kloppenburg registrations are documented;
- Wilm Jans van Kloppenburgh (Cloppenburg) married Maria Berndts on 06-02-1603 in Nijmegen (!). Willem Jans must have been born between about 1575 and 1580.
- Johannes Dirks Cloppenburg was born on 13 May 1592 in Franeker. On his wife's gravestone is written: 'Here lies buried the virtuous godly matron Miss Elizabeth Wessels, widow of the high scholars Johannes Cloppenburg, in his life theologian professor to Franeker'. (Source Heritage Institution - AlleFriezen)
- Jan Evertsz Cloppenburgh is accused in an attestation by notary Palm Mathijsz, dated 15 Aug.1611 in Amsterdam, that: 'Bookseller Josias Marisjael bought 2 bales of writing paper, and found that it was forged paper'.
Finally, around 1620 several Kloppenburgers eventually appear in Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht, Brummen en Nijmegen (!).

5.    The Kloppenburg clan from Huissen

" I speculate, or rather fantasise 

that an immediate family member took the Folkweg towards the west

and got stuck in Brummen or Nijmegen "...

Although my story about the Kloppenburg family history has so far been quite general with no individually identified individuals, I eventually come to our direct ancestors from the historic town of Huissen. (Near Arnhem)

After nearly 50 years of genealogical research, the 17th-century 'Joannes Kloppenborgh' (born ±1680) has now been identified and accepted as the -documented and verifiable- progenitor of all Kloppenburgers/ descendants from Huissen and the surrounding area.*

After much detective work I can now somewhat satisfactory conclude, that almost all Kloppenburg families from Huissen have been arranged in verifiable genealogical order.(Currently, 663+ descendants of ancestor Joannes Kloppenborgh are recorded.)

Many Kloppenburg relatives from the 18th and 19th centuries were mainly known in the Huissen community, as independent enterprising tobacco planters... and musicians! *

In 1775, the grandson of ancestor Joannes, 'Bernard Kloppenborg', came through his marriage to Petronella Vermaes into possession of a 'Hofstede (farmstead) with; 'house, yard, orchard and arable land together 1 morgen and 450 roede in size' (±1.5 ha). 

                                                                            Huissen - 2021

I don't think the 'Kloppenburg Hofstede' really made Bernard and his family rich, but it seems that by local standards with 1.5 hectares of excellent fertile land, they were fairly to reasonable well off.*

Despite the fact that both Bernard and Petronella were illiterate, one should not underestimate that they were born in -and influenced by- the age of enlightenment. The sons of Bernard and his second wife Anna Maria Koenders, were probably the first in the family to learn to read and write!

It is also noteworthy that all the children of Bernd Kloppenburg (and many descendants..) learnt to play a musical instrument. I have the pleasant suspicion that numerous musical evenings will have taken place at the Kloppenburg farm with the widely known 'Huissense conviviality'...! (* See section Genealogy, chapter 4 - The Kloppenburg Hofstede)

Nevertheless, the story about the Kloppenburg clan from Huissen probably begins across the river Rhine in Duiven, with a certain 'Jan den Kloppenborger' This Jan or Joannes, is initially the first documented Kloppenburger from the nearby area. It is almost certain, that this Jan den Kloppenborger (married to Grietjen Koeymans) is a direct relative of ancestor Joannes Kloppenborgh and that Jan den Kloppenborger is most likely his father... or else his uncle.*

He must have been born around 1650-1660. During this period, two Kloppenburg families have been documented near Huissen: one in Nijmegen (14 km south of Huissen) and one in the town of Brummen. (26 km north-east)

Did the 17th-century ancestors of the 'Kloppenburg clan of Huissen' come from Brummen, Nijmegen... or maybe from somewhere in the northeast via a still unknown community? That crucial question will probably occupy future generations of family researchers..

The search continues...!

* For more details scroll down to section Genealogy: Research, Developments and Stories.

6.  In retrospect

More than 35 years ago, during a work related epigenetic research presentation, it was suggested that our genes not only transmit physical hereditary traits, but that behavioural experiences are also genetically passed on to the offspring. Although in all those years, very little conclusive evidences has been found.. but the hypothesis inspired me to take the history of the Kloppenburg family, and genealogy in general, seriously.

Nevertheless, for a non-biologist, the unravelling of dominant, recessive and mutating genetic influences on our contemporary existence remains a complicated, fascinating, sometimes frustrating... but also relativizing activity.

Could after 25-30 generations, the combative behaviour of our 14th century ancestors still be influencing the Kloppenburgers of the 21st century? Could the quarrelsome 'Kloppen' be genetically determined... and is this behaviour therefore inevitably predestined in our descendants?                         

In principle, there is for every person (and every other living organism) a direct hereditary line between that person and the last universal common ancestor. A person's genes are, of course, 100% ancestral, but one has inherited different amounts from different ancestors, shuffling genes from each generation into new combinations.

With each new generation, the amount of autosomal genetic material passed on by an ancestor is expected to halve. After approximately 5 generations, one has therefore inherited much less genetic material from one of the 16 ancestors than, for example, the 4 grandparents from generation 3 have passed on. Since genetic material is inherited in chunks, we really only need to go back 9 generations to find a specific ancestor who contributed nothing to the autosomal material of a particular person's offspring 9 generations later.

Today's Kloppenburg Family Tree is therefore (byway of the castle) primarily a socio-cultural and historical relationship.. and to a lesser extent a genetic connection.

Although physical and character traits often show clear similarities with those of parents or grandparents, this does not seem to mean that this is naturally always the case.

Due to a mutation, the structure of my personality can show much more affinity with, for example, a (completely unknown) great-grandfather/mother from generation 7, then my grandparents. This ancestor from generation 7 can, in principle, show more identity similarities than all the physical and character traits together, I inherited from ancestor Theodorus Kloppenburg (from the same generation 7).

In a family tree, one always remains genealogically related through the ages...but sometimes genetically not anymore after about 9 generations,.

Perhaps, 7 centuries and 25-30 generations later, few residual behaviours can probably be found that directly connects us descendants with the KloppenBurg mentality from 1297.. but I am still not entirely sure about that.

Perhaps other Kloppenburgers will be encouraged by this report to complete a genetic test themselves. I hope so...I also suspect that the further scientific development of genetics will be able to gather more specific and detailed information about how our ancestors lived, and confirm my suspicion that they are pure Saxons with limited Frisian and Angles influences.

There are numerous gaps in the time story of our ancestors in this report. Lack of data is compensated by analysing/interpreting the local history of the city of Cloppenburg and surrounding area, without confusing facts with too much speculation.

I hope this report will encourage others to investigate further. Corrections and additions are needed to get an accurate picture of our ancestors, and how today their behavioural experiences can convince us descendants to stop 'Kloppen' altogether...

 ** Special thanks to Fred Kloppenburg† from Ontario (Canada). His research has provided a lot of information for this report. Fred did the research the old fashion way...he visited the place...!

© 2021 R.P.L.G. Kloppenburg All Rights Reserved.

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Click here for >>> The Kloppenburg Family Tree

 Genealogy of the Kloppenburg clan from Huissen - Netherlands

 - Research, developments and stories -

                Contents (link below)

1.   A 17th and 18th century overview map Brummen - Huissen.

      - Distribution map in the 21st century.

2.   Ancestor Joannes Kloppenborgh.

      - Who are the parents of progenitor Joannes Kloppenborgh?

      - Clues and speculations for the future researcher.

3.   Bernard a quest of 45 years.

      - The chronology of the life of Bernard Kloppenburg.

      - Bernard's family tree / family composition.

      - Testament Bernard Kloppenburg and Anna Maria Koenders.     

4.   The 'Kloppenburg Hofstede' in Huissen.

      - 8 Oct 1775 Contract Vermaes/Janssen and Bernd Cloppenburg /Petronella Vermaes. 

      - The location of the Kloppenburg farmstead with ±1.5 hectares of fertile land.

      - Inheritance rights and partition in 1840 and 1866

      - The great fire of 13 July 1879

      - Walking in footsteps from the past..

5.   Tobacco planters. 

     - Growing tobacco in Huissen 1610 - 1870.

     - Tobacco trade in the Netherlands.

     - Cultivating the tobacco plant in 1825.

     - The prosperity of the tobacco planter.

6.   The legend of the 'White Lady'.

     - Great-grandfather Gradus and the mystery of an apparition.

7.   The Musicians.

     - The performance of the 'Kloppenburg Orchestra'.

     - Café Kloppenburg in Huissen.

8.   Maria Catherina, a 19th century family tragedy.

     - The nine o'clock church bell.

9.   The 652+ descendants of Joannes Kloppenborgh 

    - The complete Kloppenburg family tree.

10. Collection of unidentified Kloppenburgers.

*For details: click here and scroll down until you reach the section Genealogy (in Dutch)