The Klitz Family can be dated back to the mid 18th century with Christophorus Klitz who married in 1773. Bernard (or Johan Bernard) Klitz immigrated with his family to the United States on August 20, 1869 aboard the Passenger Ship "Freihandel". (John Henry, or Johann Englebert, immigrated 11 days later on August 31, 1869.) All were bound for Illinois according to the passenger list from the ship.
The Klitz Family History includes many other families of whom we have found much information. They include the Schragges, Kluthes, Grovijohns, Eikmeiers, and many more.
So far, we have been unable to determine how the Klitz name originated. Some theories are that when last names came into fashion in the late middle ages, the our ancestors, most likely peasants or people of the land, may have taken their name from their lords/landowners name. In eastern Germany, the von Klitzing family were noble landowners going as far back as the 10th century.
Another possibility is that our ancestors took the name of their town for their last name. There exist the towns of Klitzschen and Klitzschena in eastern central Germany that could be the original hometown(s).
We have found that there are Klitzes in England. They have also documented their research online. Clicking on Klitzes on England above will take you to their website. Though no links between their family and ours have been found yet, the possibility does exist that we are kin. The two families both originated in the same general area of Westphalia.
This page was last updated on: May 11, 2009
