In 1735, a man by the name of Martin Ludwig Neüffer (ca. 1693-1763) published the compilation of perhaps years of research. His work was, as he put it, a "genealogy of the ancestors, covering 300 years in Württemberg of the renowned Neüffer family." Martin traced the Neüffer line back as far as his research would take him, which was to approximately 1419. He identified what he considered to be the ancestral father of the Neüffer family. He also noted distinct divisions in the Neüffer line and the fathers of both of those divisions. He put together three ancestral tables or charts which started with the oldest known relative and showed his descendants and their descendants up to his present time.

He published his work in 1735. It consisted of his three charts and footnotes with interesting tidbits about the people, as well as additional relatives, such as relations for the in-laws. In his brief, concise way, he wrote of butchers, shop keepers, pastors, and professors. He also wrote of children orphaned by the plague, and kind men who took such orphans into their homes.

He wrote in an old, gothic style German script, mingled with Latin. He included abbreviations for terms that were undoubtedly commonly known to his contemporaries, but not to more recent generations. In spite of an intense learning curve, his original charts and notes have been retranslated so far as this author is capable of accomplishing, and included in this book.

This new translation includes additional commentary and assumptions made about the ancestors listed. For example, where no date for a person's birth or death was recorded, such dates for that person's immediate relations (e.g. parents, siblings, or cousins) were sought out. Based on those dates, estimates were made for the individual's birth or death. Each estimated dates is flagged with a footnote identifying what the estimate was based upon.

In addition to the translation, there is a rewriting of the mini biographies of a paragraph or two of some of the relations. The majority of these are those who were directly related to Johann Christoph Neuffer who lived from 18 -1908. These mini biographies include historical references to help the reader place them in history and the events of their day, such as being alive when Columbus discovered the Americas.

This book also contains several images of the towns and cities where these people lived, coats of arms for several of those cities, and points of interest or statistics gleaned from the original manuscript, such as lists of all of the first names, middle names and surnames, and their frequency.

Each page of the original manuscript is included, juxtaposed to a letter-by-letter transcription of it on the facing page. By including this, a reader more fluent in German and Latin is able to validate or improve on the translation provided in this book. As one descended from this line of men and women, I am not a scholar of either of those languages. I was simply very interested in learning the stories held within the original work and have gone to tremendous pains to now make it available to others who may have a similar interest. I apologize for any inaccuracies or omissions, and have included as much of the original text as possible to enable others to continue and improve upon the work.

This book is called "The Red Book" because the cover of the 1961 reprinting of the original manuscript, which was the basis for this work, was red.

This book identifies the variations of the Neuffer name such as "Neifer," "Neyffer," "Nuffer," and "Nufer," and contains the names of the "ancestral parents" of the Neuffer, Harpprecht, Dannenberger and Zeller families, and others, such as the Baur, Camerer, Gerlach, Heller, Hochstetter, Hoffmann, Koch, Lederer, Majer, Moser, Osiander, Palm, and Reis families, among many others.
About the Author: Doug Nufer is the product of small-town values exposed to numerous environments. Born overseas in Norway, as the son of a US Air Force officer, he lived in two countries and four States - on both US coasts - before his eighth birthday. His summers growing up were alternately spent roaming the woods and hills of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, or on long, cross-country drives with his family of eight to visit family and friends. In his adult life, he returned to Norway where he spent 18 months learning to love its people, language, culture, and customs. He has informally studied five languages in addition to English and visited 49 States and two dozen countries. He and his wife have celebrated over a quarter century together and are raising five unique and energetic children. He spends his days working as a program manager in the computer software industry, and spends his free time traveling and camping with his family, woodworking, creating tangram puzzles, and writing.