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  back    The German Vittali`s. Is there a connection?

 

 
While searching  in the archives in Rotterdam, for a Vittali who, so I was told, had died in Rotterdam I came across an interesting newspaper clipping

 

                     Farewell
On my departure for Deli I send my family , friends and acquaintances a last farewell.
              August Vittali
On board of the steamship
    ss Massalia.

 Hamburg
Rotterdam  30 Oct. 1884
                                          32129  
Who was August Vittali? Deli where? India, Sumatra? What was the purpose of his journey? What was the homeport of the steamship “Massalia”? There is no one in the Amsterdam branch of Vittali`s named August.

Furhter research revealed that August was born in Rotterdam on the 3rd of  Januar 1860.He was baptized August Carl Emil Vittali. He was married to Anna Elizabeth van Hoof. It is not known if there are any descendants. August was a son of  Carl Emil August Vittali and Henriette Agate Laurentius. The last mentioned Carl Emil August Vittali was born in Donaueschingen Germany. He was an illegitimate son of Sophia Vittali.

Her second son, also born out of wedlock, was Otto Herman Leopold Vittali. According to the church register in DonauEschingen the father of those two men was Karl Leopold Friederich, Grand Duke of Baden. Sophia Vittali was the 6th child of  Pietro Antonio Vitali from Como Italy. He settled as a merchant in Rippolsau in 1795. We do not know when he moved to Donaueschingen but he married  Katharina Goeringer there on

 the 29th of July 1806.Out of this marriage came 13 children. As was the case with the Vittali`s in Amsterdam a spelling error was made at some point in time. Therefore 11 of the 13 children are registered by the family name Vittali. Although we have the birth dates on all 13 children it has so far been nearly impossible to find any descendants.The exception in that regard is the second son of Sophia Vittali,

Otto Herman Leopold. We have found more than 60 of his descendants. Some of his descendants are well known names in Germany. In the German version of this Web-site we`ll elaborate a bit more on that. Is there a connection between the “Dutch” and the “German” Vit(t)ali`s? Your guess is as good as mine. We strongly suspect that such is the case. Time will show.  

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