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Barry Keippel
John Keippel III
Grandson of Tobias Kaipel
Great
Great Great Grandson of Janos Kaipel
Thispage is going to undergo a major transaction and rebuild. Barry Keippel
and John Keippel III, have joined forces to make the Keippel page greater
in depth. Thanks to John Keippel III, the page now has a home where which
to rest. In the future we hope to have separate sections which include
Barry's family (Tobias Kaipel) and John's family (Janos Kaipel).
Tobias is Barry's Grandfather, and Janos is John's Great Great Great Grandfather. Please stop by from time to time to check on our progress. We
thank Lee Keippel whose research into our family has provided a great deal
of the information contained on this web site.
The
Old Country
Our
family has its roots back to the little town of Riedlingsdorf, in the northern
limits of southern Burgenland, what was back
then in the empire of Austria-Hungary. I could go on and explain all the changes of
political power and border placement through out the centuries, but that would
be like sitting through a history class. In the end, Austria finally
became its own independent country. This web site presently contains two families
from Riedlingsdorf at the time it was the Austria-Hungary empire. The
Keippel family as a whole is shown in Riedlingsdorf as far back as
1645. This web site presently follows the paths of two of the brothers, Tobias Kaipel and Franz
Kaipel as they emigrate from Austria to America.
Little is known about the third brother Jano's background at this time.
Both
brothers had reasons for leaving their homeland, such as invading troops
from other countries, economic conditions etc. They were leaving behind an area not unlike the terrain and climate of
Wisconsin and Illinois, except for the various castles dotting the landscape. Most of
these men were either farmers or skilled in a trade such as a Aufbauarbeiter (construction worker) and as a Steinarbeiter
(stone worker, mason). The dwellings they inhabited were part residence
and part stable. The Keippel residence, built in 1825 , has seen at least 32
Keippels born there. The house originally had dirt floors with storage
underneath and in the attic for crop storage and food preservation. Along with
the house on the property, there was a barn, which was remodeled in 1985 to
increase the size of the house, an animal driven grinding wheel, an
orchard, an open well, and a vineyard. It was on this
grinding wheel that the kids also used as a big merry-go-round. The animals provided the family with its meat and dairy products and of course
the orchard and vineyard supplied not only fruit, but wine which was a not only
regularly consumed, but also used as a bartering item with the neighbors and
shop people in the neighboring town of Pinkasfeld. The town has steadily grown
over the centuries and we will place links on a page that should offer
other interesting pictures and stories of present day Riedlingsdorf.
The house is
presently owned by the Tunkel family of which Karoline Kaipel married into
back in 1921. Other lineages will be shown on their own pages as well as
seperate pages for Tobias's family and Franz's family.
The Keippel Residence
/Then
The Tunkel Residence/Now
#20, Riedlingsdorf,
Austria
#20, Riedlingsdorf, Austria
