The name AFFOLHOLDER comes from an ancient Germanic word meaning Apple Tree, Affoltra in old-high-German. This root is to be found in the toponym Affoltern (three Swiss villages have this name).
The first person to have this name must have lived close to an apple tree, unless of course he came from one of the Swiss Affoltern villages. The family name AFFHOLDER is found in several places in Switzerland, for example at Grenchen and Hasle.
In this latter village, situated in part of the canton of Lucerne called Entlebuch, the AFFOLTERs possessed their Coat of Arms. These are coats of arms called "expressive", since they represent the apple tree (Source: Blätter für Heimatkunderhaus dem Entlebuch 1955).
A branch of the AFFHOLDERs coming from Lutterbach in the Canton of Solothurn settled in Seppois-le-Haut in 1783. In that year Urs AFFHOLDER, a widower, married Marie-Ursule HELTERLIN.
She was a very pious lady, who played an important role during the Terror. It was in her house that the priest VERNIER, a Pfetterhouse resident who refused to take the oath if allegiance to the Revolution, took refuge. It was also to the AFFHOLDER house that was taken the brain of the priest Jean BOCHELEN of Illfurth. Fleeing to avoid taking the oath of allegiance, he secretly returned to Seppois-le-Haut, where he was arrested in July 1798. He was condemned to death and executed at Colmar on July 24th of that same year. His brain was piously returned to Seppois (Source: Kammerer)
On June 12th 1668, Jean-Jacques EHA of Wolschwiller married Verene AFFHOLTER, originally from Solothurn, at Franken. It was perhaps she who died in Jettingen on February 14th 1708.
The records at Franken also mention for January 25 1683 the marriage of Christophe AFFHOLTER from Deutigen in the Canton of Solothurn to Barbe SCHERER. At Jettingen, on August 19th 1752, Joseph son of Victor AFOLTER and Cléophée HARTMANN of Grencken, also in the Canton of Solothurn.
In 1992 a reunion of the great AFFHOLDER family took place (source: "L'Alsace" of June 5th 1992) at which 120 descendants took part, and this family is the subject of a paper by Josiane AFFHOLDER from Hochstatt.
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One of the old houses in Hagenbach
where the Affholder family settled
in the 18th century.
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Working from parish records, official birth, death and marriage records of the pre-revolutionary times, as well as from traditonal and family memories, she was able to trace on a family tree the descendants of Alexandre AFFHOLDER. From his two marriages at Soppe, in 1695 (with Madeleine TSCHIRRET) and in 1724 (with Eve HATTENBERGER) he had several children who gave him a very large number of descendants.
From Soppe, a branch came to Hagenbach. The fine family tree produced by Madame AFFHOLDER, and the rich documentation which accompanied it, were given to members of the family. A copy which was presented by the author can be consulted at the Departmental Family History Centre at Guebwiller.
Jean-Pierre AFFHOLDER, a journeyman from Burnhaupt-le-Bas, received his passport in Colmar on May 13th 1839, prior to his departure for New York. His father, François-Joseph lived in Burnhaupt-le-Bas where he had married in 1814 Marie-Thérèse, daughter of Jean GRABER and Anne-Marie TSCHIRRET. François-Joseph was from Soppe-le-Haut, where he was born in 1769. Jean-Pierre, who had both brothers and sisters, perhaps had descendents in the United States . . .
Translator's note: all names are given the modern French form, rather than the Germanic form often found in the original documents, e.g.: François-Joseph rather than Franz-Josef.
