The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname Weisel

During the course of our research into the name Weisel we have traced its origin to West Prussia. Similar to East Prussia, this state on the river Vistula (Weichsel) used to belong to the Order of the German Knights. The Teutonic Order, as they are also named, was composed of pious noblemen who had participated in the Crusades.
They expanded their territories eastwards, supporting their colonization by building fortresses as they moved. Except for some church territories, the Order's empire stretched from here to the land of Estonia on the Baltic coast. to West Prussia. It was a Polish territory under the Duchy of Pomerellen until 1309, when the Order made it a part of its territory.
The knights founded Elbing, Thorn, Culm, and Graudenz, and built several fortified castles, the most famous being Marienburg, an architectural jewel on the river Nogat that was the seat of the Order's "Hochmeister" (grand master).
Under the protection of the Order's fortified castles, German farmers colonized the rich lands and developed the soil's potential, while the Slavic tribes were converted to Christianity. Here the Weichsel (Vistula) plain was an ideal area for growing crops such as wheat and sugar beets. Towns were built according to plan, rather than allowed to expand by chance, one of the first uses of urban planning in the Middle Ages.
During the medieval period, members of the Weisel family were found in West Prussia and Pomerelia, where the name emerged in medieval times as one of the notable families in the western region. From the 13th century onwards the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation.
Throughout the course of history, the spelling of a name may even vary from father to son, as the name evolved and changed with the German language. Since only the scribes could read and write, names were often recorded based on the way they sounded, which produced great variations due to regional dialects. It was also common in German to add elements to a name, which gave information about the person's religion, place of origin, or even character. Variations of the family name Weisel include Wessling , Weseling, Wesseling, Wesslin, Weselin, Wesselin, Weissling, Weisseling, Weiseling, Wesling, Weissling, Weselling, Wesselling, to name a few examples.
After the Order broke up in 1466, West Prussia became a "class state" under the protection of the Polish King. This form of government worked by mutual agreement between the different levels of society: the nobility, church, the citizens, and the free landholders. In 1569 a large part of West Prussia came completely under Polish domination, until it was incorporated as a province in the expanding state of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1772, after the partition of Poland, Danzig and Thorn remained Polish until 1793. The two regions of East and West Prussia were briefly united between 1824 and 1878.
During this period of transition the Weisels moved to Prussia, where they continued to be an important contributor to the life of Europe in the middle ages. From the 16th century onwards they held significant positions of prestige and power becoming involved in tribal struggles for supremacy. They branched into Germany where they held titles and estates . Notable figures of the time bearing the name Weisel were the Wessling family of West Prussia.
The major cities of West Prussia are Bromberg, which is an important industrial center, and Culm, which was a member of the Hanseatic league. Most important of all is the ancient port of Danzig, which was the capital city of West Prussia from 1878 to 1919. Mentioned in documents as early as 997, Danzig was a part of the German Order and as a center of commerce and shipbuilding was also a member of the Hanseatic league, a trading association. It received the status of a city from the Duke of Pomerellen in 1224, and was built by the wealthy merchants and its citizens.
Danzig became a center of culture and was renowned for its beautiful Renaissance and Baroque architecture, which earned Danzig praise as the "Venice of the North". Artists such as Memmling and Veit Stoss were commissioned by the wealthy citizens to create beautiful interiors and altars for the local churches and houses.
After the defeat of Germany in the Great War, Danzig became a a Free State in 1919, facilitating Poland's link to the Baltic by its separation from Germany until 1939, following Germany's invasion of Poland. In 1945, following the end of the Second World War, Danzig (now Gdansk) was once again a part of Poland, and many hundreds of thousands of Germans were forced to leave this territory and move to the West. Gdansk is the site of major shipbuilding industries, and the city of the Polish labor movement.
Many settlers came to the New World after 1650, leaving their German home land to seek a better life in the American colonies. The majority of them settled in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, and California, while the Canada-bound immigrants settled in Ontario and in the Prairie provinces. Among these immigrants bearing the Weisel name, were found settlers who travelled to the New World and established themselves along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Contemporary bearers of the name Weisel distinguished themselves in the modern period, such as those notable personalities whose social, cultural and professional accomplishments were known on both sides of the Atlantic.