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| Bregenz in Austria | Hindelang in south Germany |
Hans Fügenschuh immigrated to Copenhagen - together with his wife and children in december 1599 - after invitation from King Christian IV. - because he was a well known seddler. He states that his last place of recidence was Bregenz i Austria and that his parents are Mathias og Katharina Fügenschuh, living in Hindelang i Allgäu in south Germany - a region called "the gate to Italy" and surrounded by high mountains.
Court (hoff) saddler Hans Fügenschuh changed the writing of his last name to Fiigenschouf / Fiigenschow. Different spellings in documents. A note from a wedding found in "Dansk-Norske Registranter" concerning the court saddler's grandson - saddler Niclas Jeremiassen Fiigenschow who in 3. generasjon in Copenhagen continued the business his grandfather founded there. The ancestors had been saddlers in generations.
In those times a saddler was a powerful man, similar to a owner of a car factory today. He decorated the saddle and horse equipment with gold and silver, diamonds and pearls, he made fashionable saddles for kings and noble men, and the name Fügenschuh well known in Europe. They had workshops in the Allgäu region, also their workshops in Wien were famous. In Wien members of the family ennobled and their palées still today can be seen in the old part of the town.
