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Unresolved Stotzer Issues

Unresolved Stotzer Research Issues

Question: Where did the Stotzer name actually originate? Does the "Stotzer" name refer to an occupation or the place/geographic area for it's origin? The STOTZER surname may be descended from earlier (12th-14th Century) German surnames like STUCSE, STUZER and STÜTZER (STUETZER)-Please visit the German website of Dr. Andreas Stützer for more details. Might we all might ultimately come from some area or city named Stot" or "Stotz?" There is a city named "Stot" in Austria that is about 70km west of the city of Linz near the German border. Might our name come from the German word "stotzig" which means "steep" or "rise steeply?"

Question: What is the relationship between the Swiss Stotzers and other European (German?) Stotzers?
The oldest Stotzer on record so far is a "Hans der Stotzer" born in Rottweil, Germany in 1395. There are records of STOTZERs or STÖTZERs living in both Switzerland and Germany back into the 1500s. The German Stotzers seem to be clustered in the "Thüringen" and "Saarland" areas (states) of Germany. There are even a few records of Stotzers in what is now Hungary, Austria and Romania. The Stotzer crest, on the other hand, was officially approved/adopted in Switzerland in 1549. Obviously, either Switzerland or Germany must be the true origin of the Stotzer surname. I suspect Germany-but Austria is a very remote possibility.
Question: Where did the Stotzers in the USA before 1850 come from?
There are records of Stotzers living in the US before 1850 in the USA in PA, IL, IN and OH that seem to not (at this time) be connected to the Swiss Stotzer groups. (The exceptions are Swiss familes theat may have emigrated as early as 1798 and in the 1820s). I suspect that some of the the PA or NY Stotzers in the US before 1850 emigrated via New York City/other east coast ports and that some may be German emigrants. The Stotzers in IN and IL and OH may be from noted early Swiss emigrants.