As mentioned last month, Katja and Ulla and I are keeping our eyes open for other Wyneken relatives in the general area that we can invite to our semi-regular lunch get-togethers. For January I was able to reach Christoph Wyneken, who lives in Staufen, a village just south of Freiburg. The three of us got together last Friday for lunch at the little Afghan restaurant that I like to go to for lunch when I’m at work. Since we didn’t take a picture of ourselves I’m just using a photograph of what I had as the picture for the top of this page.
I have met with Christoph a few times in the past, once many, many years ago even together with Ruth Wyneken, who belongs to a completely different branch of the family from Christoph’s branch and from my own. I haven’t seen him in well over 18 years, though, despite the fact that we live so close to each other.
We spent an hour and a half eating and getting to know each other. Well into the discussion Christoph mentioned his grandchildren, of whom he is very proud. Back in 2006 I found out somehow that their second daughter had given birth to their first grandson, but I had no idea that the number was now four. And they’re all boys!!! That is additional hope that the name is not going to go extinct in the near future.
But wait, you say! If their mother is Christoph’s daughter, doesn’t that mean their last name is not Wyneken? Fortunately for the Wyneken clan the father of the four boys thought it was important for them to carry on his wife’s last name. Thus his wife retained her maiden name, which is not at all uncommon in Germany any more, and the children bear her name.
All I can say is, “hooray!”
I wonder if we can get other “guest Wynekens” to join us for lunch in the future?
Wyneken Family History 