Kisabeth Historical Review
Küspert
The Küspert version of our medieval surname Küschwert is probably the oldest spelling in use today. It is extremely difficult to actually pinpoint the exact date when Küspert was first used. In Weissenstadt Heinrich Küschwert (Küspert) was named as assistant or pastor from 1494-1513. Written records show that in 1569 one of the daughters of Jakob Küschwert of Wunsiedel was written in church books as Dorothea Kuspert. I also have some family tree records showing the early name listings as Küschwert (Küspert). Wolff Küschwert of Weissenstadt was also Wolff Küspert born September 3, 1620. In Marktredwitz the names are spelled Küschwert, Küschwerdt, Kischwerd, Küspert, Kispert and Kißbert from the 16th century on.
So we can assume that very early in our medieval history the names Küschwer(d)t and Küspert were quite often used interchangeably. It is the accepted theory (belief) that all Küsperts are the descendants of the old surname Küschwert and its variants. It was in 1998 that I first decided to investigate the Küspert spelling of our old name. In two short years I have had several contacts with distant cousins in Germany, England, The United States and even a contact in the French Polynesia island of Raiatea. The Küspert/Kispert cousins are so distant to our Kisseberth cousins that a relationship chart cannot be developed at this time but I know that a definite link is there with our common origin. It is my personal feeling that if DNA testing were done today on a Kuspert(h), a Kispert(h), a Kisse(n)berth, and a Kisabeth there would the Y Chromosome male match linking all of us to a common Küschwert ancestor many generations ago in the Fichtelgebirge. Today in Germany there are over 500 telephone listings for Küspert. About 85% are located in the Fichtelgebirge (medieval origin of our surname) area of Oberfranken in northeast Bavaria. The German umlaut (ü) is also written as an “ue”. In America the name is spelled only two ways; Kuespert and Kuspert(without the umlaut “u”). Special thanks to our various German cousins who have contributed valuable information on this specific line, namely; Wolf Christian Küspert, Holger Küspert, Michael Joe Küspert, Peter Küspert, Werner Küspert, Markus Küspert, Dr. Klaus Küspert, Wilfried Küspert, Stefan Küspert, Dr. Reinhard Küspert, Hanns Küspert and Josepf Küsperth. I would also like to thank our main American source Kenneth C. “Clem” Kuespert of Fort Wayne, Indiana
