Our goal is to identify descendants of the geographic region of Steinfurt, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, and even possibly identify the town or municipality where their ancestors originated within Kreis Steinfurt.

The current towns within Kreis Steinfurt are:  Emsdetten, Greven, Hörstel, Horstmar, Ibbenbüren, Lengerich, Ochtrup, Rheine, Steinfurt, and Tecklenburg.  The current municipalities within Kreis Steinfurt are:   Altenberge, Hopsten, Ladbergen, Laer, Lienen, Lotte, Metelen, Mettingen, Neuenkirchen, Nordwalde, Recke, Saerbeck, Westerkappeln, and Wettringen.

With Y-DNA results, we hope to identify new surnames for many men who have been tested.  In this area of Germany frequently men changed their surnames when marrying the heir or owner of a family farm.  Many men will find a different surname than that used by their families in recent generations. 

Please note that the two initial administrators of the group project have the most knowledge about Ladbergen and the immediate vicinity.  If other project members would like to become the contact person for any of the other municipalities, please let us know.

We are also very interested in the mtDNA lineage of Kreis Steinfurt, and hope to have many mtDNA results of participants to compare. 

Additionally, we want to encourage descendants of this region who have their Family Finder results to join the project.  Many of these communities were somewhat isolated populations, marrying within their own community and local church.  We believe many descendants  will find that they share 4, 6, or even more ancestors in their lineage.