The following family of Aufrichtigs are descended from Ferdinand A Aufrichtig, born 28 November 1837 in Valec, Bohemia [Waltsch bei Buchau]. a painter and Principal of the Art Academy of Prague. He was father to Hans Sigmund Aufrichtig, whose namesake son, Hans Birger Aufrichtig was patriarch to most of those included in this section. Despite the strong Finnish connections of this family, Hans Sigmund is known to have been born in Prague, sufficiently close to Boskovice to suggest the possibility of a link to Aufrichtigs from that town.

Ferdinand is known to have had six children, of which Hans Sigmund (b.1869) was the eldest. Details of Ferdinand, his wife Louise [Aloisie] Hvizdalek amd their family are all documented on  Prague Meldezettel (Police Records), and advise that their other children were Robert Aufrichtig (1870), Heinrich Aufrichtig (1872), Gottfried Aufrichtig (1875), Julia Aufrichtig (1875) and Karl Aufrichtig (1877). From these dates, it would appear that Gottfried and Julia may have been twins. This may be seen as another pointer to a potential link to the Boskovice Aufrichtigs since there are several recorded instances of double births.

Hans Sigmund apart, little is known about Ferdinand's other descendants, Third-born Henrich has been identified as Heinrich Valentine Josef Aufrichtig who married Ernestine Wilhelmine Hopp in Hamm Dortmund, Westphalia in April 1898. This was established by the inclusion in marriage records of father's name Ferdinand Aufrichtig and mother's maiden name Hvizdalek. Gottfried could potentially be the same Gottfried Aufrichtig, a photographer, whose first of many entries in the Berlin Address Books took place in 1907. A Gottfried Aufrichtig is known to have had a son named Ferdinand, born in 1911. It would seem more than just coincidence that the name Ferdinand should reappear in this way. Adding weight to the likelihood of the two Gottfrieds being the same person is the fact that the second Ferdinand had two sons, one of whom still lives in Berlin. The other lives in north-west Czechoslovakia (formerly Bohemia), and confirms his father acknowledged that the family had links with Boskovice.

Hans Sigmund Aufrichtig was head of an extraordinarily gifted family, his artistic talents displayed first as a singing teacher, next as a conductor and finally as Choir Master of The Finnish National Opera (then known as Finnish Opera Company). All but one of his six children displayed musicianship. Among them were eldest son, Ture Leopold Aufrichtig (b.1894), who had been a violinist, daughter Magda Johanna Aufrichtig (1896) who followed her father as a music teacher and conductor, and youngest son Karl Gustaf Aufrichtig (1909), who sang bass in the Finnish Opera Choir in the Thirties. The family's musical connections continued with Magda's son, Ilkka Johannes Lipsanen, who achieved outstanding success as major Finnish pop singer turned entertainer and producer, Danny.

By an extraordinary coincidence, one of Hans Sigmund's sons, Georg Robert Aufrichtig, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1917, subsequently changed his surname to Roberts - the same name as that selected by my mother following her separation from my father, Robert Aufrichtig. 

I am indebted to Wallace Marbach and Cody Aufrichtig, two of the youngest members of this family, for the vast detail they have provided. Their groundwork enabled me to embark on research in Finland which has succeeded in tracing this family's roots back to the first half of the 19th century.

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