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Central Germany, where Erfurt/Gernode/Magedeburg are located, may be
one of the oldest, continuously populated areas of Germany. It may
be the area to which our 3rd and 4th century Roman relatives emigrated to
avoid death during the FINAL Great Persecution of
Roman Emperor Diocletian.
Alternatively, it could be the area from which our family sprang after
taking the name of the one of the most revered Saints in Germany (and the
rest of the world in the first millennium) as their own. [ Given that the same name is predominant in Greek culture
and history TO THIS DAY, this webmaster believes the former is more
likely than the latter. DNA tests should prove or disprove that
possibility. ]
Although the CYRIAX
spelling of our family name predominates the greater Erfurt area, and the
current pronunciation of CYRIAX
(SEER - EE - AX) is the same as that for CYRIACKS and CIRIACKS, the original
pronunciation seems to have been more like CYRIAC
(SEER - EE - ACK) with the X at the end like the
Greek CHI. The Greek CHI (X) was also used as an ancient symbol
associated with Christianity, as in CHI-RHO.
In any case, our becoming increasingly connected family has
ancestors who migrated from Thüringen (central Germany) to
Africa, Berlin, Bremen, Great Britain, Leipzig, Schwerin, South America, the
United
States and elsewhere throughout the world.
(1) Saxonia is probably Neider Sachsen, Sachsen and/or Sachsen-Anhalt,
the ?provinces? northwest, east and north-northeast of Thüringen,
respectively. Thüringen is where Gotha, Erfurt and Weimar
are located. More research needs to be done regarding the
motivation for choosing St. Cyriacus as the one providing
"patrocinium" for this area in the 10th century and how and when the Cult of St. Cyriacus actually began.
(2) Back in 1914, the Hecht Motor Routes of Germany book has: ... Its military strength, dominated by the citadels of the
Cyriaxberg and the Petersberg, made it a place of importance during the
Napoleonic wars. ... There are delightful surroundings to the
town, a favourite walk being up to the Cyriaxberg.
(3) Kunitz is a non-mapped suburb of Jena next to the Saale River 48
kilometers (30 miles) east of Erfurt. There's another Cyriaks church in the area - not included among the others reflected on this web site.
(4) Naumberg is another 30 miles (48 kilometers) up the Saale toward
Leipzig. There are three separate Cyriacus branches centered
around Leipzig whose ancestry goes back to the mid-1500s. Note
that Werner found both Cyriax and Cyriacus spellings for
one of the Michaels shown above.)
The saint is known to be the one with his own page on this web
site. The flag narrative also makes reference to it being named
after the Wurzburger patron saint. Wurzburg is southwest of Erfurt
between Frankfurt and Nürnberg.
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CHAPTER 1D
Many of the earliest name discoveries were obtained from the research
done by Werner Ciriack. His efforts were
discussed in Chapter 1D of the written Family History released in 1985,
which is reproduced herewith in its entirety.
ORIGIN OF CYRIACKS NAME
The diligence of Werner Ciriack, a Berlin, Germany, mathematics teacher born
around 1890, gives us some great insight into both the origin and changes
in the Cyriacks' family name.
The fact that St. Cyriacus was a martyr under Roman
emperor Diocletian has been established previously. However, part
of St. Cyriacus' popularity in Germany according to Werner Ciriack dates back to 1046 when Kaiser Heinrich III
brought from Italy the arm of St. Cyriacus. This
relic apparently went to a convent named after the saint in Strassburg in
Elsass (Alsace). St. Cyriacus, one of the 14 holy
helpers, was especially popular from Hessen to Thüringen (now in East
Germany) and in Alsace and the Rhein River area. One early German
version of the name was Cyliax.
The Stadtarchiv in Erfurt (East Germany) found a
1493 mention of Elsa Celiax as its earliest record of any
name like Cyriacks. Werner Ciriack
traced his family back to Veit Celiax, who died May 18th,
1602 in Kunitz. Michael Cyriax, 1581-1638, one of
Veit's eight children, was Werner's next relative.
Another Michael Cyriax (or Cyriacus), born
in 1623 in Kunitz, was a currier/driver and died in 1678 in nearby
Naumburg. Kunitz is on the Saale River and is a suburb of Jena
(East Germany). There is a Cyriaks church in this
area.
Johann Christoph Cyriax, born 1690 in Naumburg, is the
next relative following Michael that Werner knew about. He was a
belt master and had a large family of 7 to 10 children in Naumburg.
Johann Gottfried Ciriack,
1798-1867, a clothes maker born in Reichenbach in Vogtland,
"Mitteldeutschland," was the last name Werner Ciriack
listed. Note how the name "Celiax" in the 1500s and
very likely originating from the popular saint's name, became Cyriax in the next generation. Then several generations
later in the 1800s, the spelling is Ciriack. This variation in spelling was also seen in North
Germany. In the records of churches just south of Bremen, the name
varied from Ciriacs to Cirjacs, Cyriacs, Ciriaks, Cyriaks,
Ciriacks, Cyriack, and finally Cyriacks.)
FOOTNOTES:
Werner Ciriack saw the death notice of Diedrich Cyriacks in the "Weser-Kurier" in 1963 and wrote to
Diedrich's son, Helmut, in Bremen. Helmut's 19 year old daughter,
Friederike, visited the U.S.A. in 1984 and helped translate Werner's two
letters to her father. Friederike said in Greek, Kyros, and Cyros in Latin, means Herr (Lord in
English). Cyriacus means dem Herrn gehorend
(belonging to the Lord).
March 5, 1957 letter to Helmut Cyriacks , Bremen.
This letter also mentioned the "Berg" (hill) and "Nonnenkloster"
(convent) in Erfurt since about 1123 and named after "Heiligen
Cyriakus."
A large family has descended from German-born Charles (Carl) Louis Ciriack, 1826-1882, and
Irish-born Hannorah Mahoney, 1823-1898, who settled in the area of
Boston, Massachusetts (p. 193). Charles' father, John G.
Ciriack, remained in Germany and was very likely part of the family
Werner described. Another likely part of Werner's family is the Cyriax from which Julius
Cyriax , 1840-1892, London, England descended. Julius was born
in Gotha (now East Germany) and came to London as a manufacturing chemist
in the late 1860s according to his granddaughter, Dr. Enid Houghton (nee
Cyriax). Julius' father came from a small peasant
village near Gotha called Bienstedt. Gotha is just west of Erfurt
and Jena. The family in Bienstedt goes back to Christoph Cyriax born in 1680 (see
p. ). Enid's cousin, Margret Lasch (geboren Cyriax), lives in Dusseldorf, West Germany. Her mother
was Julius Cyriax' daughter, Eva, a chemist. Her
father was Karl Cyriax, a farmer's son born 1876 in
Bienstedt and orphaned at a young age. Karl lived with his uncle (Ernst Carl) Caesar Cyriax in Bienstedt. At age 16 he
went to Cario, Egypt, to live with his cousin Hulda. He returned to
Germany at age 20 and travelled to England in 1903. There he
visited the Cyriax relatives and met Eva. They were
married in 1906 and moved back to Germany (Cologne and later
Dusseldorf). Karl and Eva's grandfathers were brothers. (Their great grandparents Johann Christoph
CYRIAX (1767~1845) & Eva Elis GROBE (1771~1839)
were their common ancestors; making them 2nd cousins - Kinship
Charts.)
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family surname references found in
Germany are in Erfurt, Gernrode and Magedeburg. The earliest
reference is the Cyriacus chapel (St.
Stephanskapelle) built around 780/781 in Magdeburg that's no longer
there. The next earliest reference is the St. Cyriacus convent church built in Gernrode in 963
that is still there. The first reference to a living person is to
Cyriacus aus Hersfeld, student in 1402 in Erfurt.
Described by Martin Luther as "in the center of the center" of Germany
(at that time), Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia, is more relevant to our
