In the Netherlands the name Wischhoff is pronounced in two ways: as "Wis-hof" and, as used by my part of the family, "Wiesj-hof". The former appears to be (or have been) the most common, given the many misspellings in official records. In earlier times, the name was often spelled phonetically. Also an "h" or "f" or both were often omitted. It is a difficult name to spell; of the nine letters, seven are consonants.

The name Wischhoff first appeared in the Netherlands in the second quart of the 18th Century, with the arrival of Albert (later also called Albertus) Wischhoff. When exactly he came to the Netherlands is still unknown to me, but in on May 18, 1750 he married Wilhemina van Asperen in Utrecht. A few years later in 1754 they got a son in the town of Breda, who was christened Friderich but later called Frederik. In Frederik's birth certificate the hometown of his father Albert was indicated as "Rehtem in the Hannover area". Nowadays there still is a small village called Rethem, some 50 kilometres southwest of Soltau. This supports the assumption that the "Heimat" of the German Wischhoffs lies between Hannover and Hamburg (more specifically the Soltau area). Based on Rethem's church records, Albert was christened as Albrecht on 3 February 1719.

Also according to the christening certificate of son Frederik, Albert was Capitain des Armes (subaltern officer responsible for arms maintenance) in the batallion of General-Major Becker in the compagnie of Colonel Van Hardenbroek. Given his German roots it is possible that he enlisted in the Dutch army as a mercenary, married a Dutch woman and raised his family in the Netherlands. A common career in those days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albert and Wilhelmina had five other children (Albertus, Wilhelmina, another Albertus, Dirk Hendrik, and Johanna), all born in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Utrecht and vicinity is the area where the main body of Dutch Wischhoffs have been living up to the present day. Both sons Frederik and Dirk Hendrik continued the lineage.

Frederik married Margaretha Lelyveld in Utrecht on 19 February 1772, but she died rather quickly. From this marriage a daughter was born. Frederik lived at that time in Scherpenzeel, the Netherlands, where he would also die in 1809. Frederik remarried in 1783 with Cornelia van Geesdorp, but this marriage remained childless. After Cornelia's death in 1789 Frederik remarried again with Hendrica van Lutzenburgh a year later. From this marriage eight children were born, including two sons who died in their youth, so this branch became extinct in Scherpenzeel in 1809.

Albert's other son, Dirk Hendrik, married on 25 July 1785 in Utrecht with Maria Hendrika de Kort. They had eight children, including six sons:

1. Frederik Willem (October 1797 - 4 April 1859). He married on 29 December 1819 in Utrecht with Johanna Elisabeth Gregoir and had ten children, including seven boys. Their son Christiaan Theodorus ( a name that occurs frequently in the Dutch Wischhoff genealogy) started through his son Christiaan Theodorus jr. a line that ends for the time being with my own sons Jip Sebastiaan, who was born in April 2000, and Storm Olivier, born in March 2003. Another son of Frederik Willem and Johanna, Theodorus Albertus (born 12 September 1833), was the first to carry the family name to Amsterdam, and his descendants to the Hague.

2. Dirk Frederik (April 1790 - 22 April 1826);

3. Johannes Hendrik (14 September 1786 - 21 September 1840);

4. Hermanus Albertus (August 1788 - 30 October 1812);

5. Jacobus Adrianus (10 March 1800 - 25 March 1800);

6. Albertus Marienus (24 May 1801 - 15 June 1844).

Besides the name Wischhoff, I have found that there have been two spellings that occurred for a longer period of time: Wishof and Wishoff. In Haarlem (Wishof, from 1649) and later also Amsterdam (Wishoff) these family names occur in the official archives. However, I have not been able to trace these names beyond 1850, so it appears they have become extinct. The Haarlem Wishofs are possible proof that the family resided in the Netherlands a century before the Wischhoffs did, but unfortunately the trail ends here for the time being.

 

In 2007, our country had 65 living people with the family name Wischhoff (source: Meertens Institute). They live predominantly in the middle part of the Netherlands. No people with another historical spelling of the name (such as Wischoff, Wishoff) are alive today. See also the chart below.

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