The Kipfmüller family is believed to have emigrated from Switzerland to Germany sometime in the 15th Century. No documentation of the family’s original nationality has been discovered, however. It’s Swiss origin is rather tenuous, based only upon a statement made by Adolph Kipfmüller of Markt Berolzheim, Germany with whom I visited in the summer of 2000. The Century of emigration is likewise tenuous, based upon a family crest, dated 1438, in the possession of Friedrich Kipfmüller and shown to the undersigned in the summer of 2000 in Gunzenhausen, Germany (illustrated below). In reality, the original nationality and date of emigration must be considered unknown.
Text of the Stammwappen der Familie Kipfmüller
Coat of Arms of the
Kipfmiller Family
The Kipfmüller family coming from the former Margrave territory of Ansbach, is a good and old race and bears in a black field an arm with a half of a silver Millwheel which represents the name of the family. A crowned Helmet on which two cornucopia with a _____ which represents the flower and youth of the family. This Coat of Arms was obtained under Kaiser Albrecht II in the year 1438.
Considered to belong exclusively to Max von Asten, Coat of Arms painter in Neustadt a. fr. Saale. Possesser of a Coat of Arms collection of 36,000 pieces.
At the present time the undersigned has identified some 151 addresses worldwide for the Kipfmüller family (various spellings):
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The official “home” of the Kipfmüller family in America is Frankentrost, Michigan, about six (6) miles from Frankenmuth. In Germany, its home is in the area of Gunzenhausen am Altmühl See, Bavaria. The Stammvater of the family in America -- Georg Adam Kipfmüller, born 1807 in Frickenfelden -- came to the United States in 1847 on board the ship Hermine, which sailed from Bremerhaven. (The original passenger list in Germany was lost in a fire and is no longer extant.)
The family’s home Lutheran church was located in Unterasbach, Germany, only a few kilometers distant from Frickenfelden and Gunzenhausen.
Today the majority of the Kipfmüller family lives in or around the vicinity of Gunzenhausen am Altmühlsee, Bavaria.
Pastor David A. Kipfmiller
Westland, Michigan
Contact: David A. Kipfmiller
