Our earliest known ancestor, Balthasar Walte, was born during 1665 to unknown parents. Balthasar’s birthplace was the city known as Bregenz am Bodensee. Bregenz is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost federal state of Austria. The city is located on the eastern shores of Lake Constance (German: Bodensee) — the third-largest freshwater glacial lake in Central Europe — between Switzerland in the west and Germany (Bavaria / Bayern and Baden-Württemberg federal states) in the northwest. 3 See lower right corner of map below.
Balthasar’s childhood is sketchy. But, a personal characteristic captured in genealogical documents is that Balthasar “loved the sea.”4 Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian, referred to Lake Constance by the name Lacus Brigantinus – after the Roman city of Brigantium (German: Bregenz). The lake is also known as the Swabian Sea (das schwäbische Meer).5 
Living in Bregenz am Bodensee, one can imagine Balthasar spending time on the sea shore, or even swimming and trout-fishing as a boy. It’s easy to see why he was fond of the water. Photos of the area today are breathtaking.
Fortunately, Bregenz has kept most of its medieval charm, which is mainly due to the well-kept city wall surrounding the old town. Much of what we can see today as tourists, Balthasar Walte would have walked past, visited or even helped renovate during his young adulthood. Today’s city of Bregenz is divided into two parts – known as the “Upper Town” and “Lower Town.” The upper town has remains from the 13th and 16th centuries with town walls still standing and the old town hall built back in 1662. The Martinsturm (German: Martins Tower) is considered the landmark building of Bregenz. 
Not any less lovely, picturesque and important is the lower town. In his youth, Balthasar apprenticed as a mason – both making and laying bricks. A significant expansion occurred in the Bregenz settlement beginning in 1650. Large municipal projects continued for the remainder of the 17th century – especially in lower town. Still standing today is the old “lower” town hall built in 1686 (with a façade added in 1898).7 How fascinating to think Balthasar may have made bricks for this structure’s foundation and maybe even built its inner walls as a young man.
In spring 1691, at the age of 26, Balthasar moved to Urspringen – about 220 miles due north of his hometown of Bregenz am Bodensee. Urspringen is a small community in the Main-Spessart district of the Wurzburg region, in Bavaria (German: Bayern), Germany.8 Even by today’s standards, this is a very small town (less than 2,000 residents) in a predominantly rural setting. The area is noted for rich farmland and vineyards. 
You just have to ask yourself: What would influence a single, medieval man – trained as a builder in a major metropolitan seaport – to move so far inland from his birthplace, and away from immediate family, to a small village surrounded by very little but farmland, vineyards and rolling hillsides?
Certainly, one can propose a variety of individualized reasons. But, movement away from one’s birthplace was not common in Balthasar’s lifetime. During the late 17th century, there were two predominant historical events which statistically increased emigration: (1) the Plague revisited seaports and forced city dwellers into relative rural safety; (2) all Jews were ejected from Austria and recruited free tradesmen to Germany.
As a product of his times, Balthasar may have fled the devastation of the Bubonic Plague and its winter companion, the Pneumonic Plague. The worst plague epidemics were in the 6th, 14th and 17th centuries. The death rate for those exposed to Bubonic Plague was 90%. In the most severe epidemics, the plague was responsible for some two million victims a year. As a result of the epidemic and the reduction in the work force, survivors suffered famine and malnutrition.9 Many folks left the cities for less populated areas and an agricultural lifestyle that promised food. Balthasar may have relocated to Urspringen with his parents and siblings. But, just as likely, he may have lost all of them to the plague in Bregenz before leaving.
In 1670 King Leopold I began expelling all Jews from Austria. So, by 1691, many Jews remaining in Austria looked to Germany for their futures. The first Jews settled in Urspringen, Germany in the early 17th century after their expulsion from the city of Wuerzburg, Germany. A large influx of Jews from Bregenz, Austria arrived in 1670 with the forced relocation. By 1691, approximately 10-15% of the farming community was Jewish – a considerable number for this time period. Historical records note that the first synagogue was still a “minor timber-framed building.” The permanent [stone] structure was first mentioned in 1702. 11 By this time, Balthasar Walte was a recognized builder – specifically, a stone mason. Could he have been recruited by the Jews who left Bregenz for Urspringen? Is construction of a synagogue the reason for his relocation to this burgeoning town?
We may not know the impetus for his relocation, but we can certainly conjecture with more certainty on his reason for remaining in Urspringen. On April 30, 1691, at age 26, Balthasar Walte married Kunigunde Riedmann in Urspringen, Main-Spessart, Bavaria (Bayern), Germany. Kunigunde was Balthasar’s contemporary – being only five years younger. She was the daughter of locals Valtin “Valentine” and Anna (Lang) Riedmann.
Six children were born to this marriage.14 The three daughters were: Maria in 1692, Anna in 1695 and Margaretha in 1710. Nothing more is known about these female offspring. The given name of all three sons was Johann – presumably, distinguished by their middle names. The eldest, Johann Michael was born in 1697 and married Margaret Tremer at the age of 27 – producing three grandchildren for Balthasar. This eldest son continued in the father’s occupation – becoming a bricklayer in Urspringen. The youngest son, also known as Johann “The Youngest” with no documented middle name, was born in 1702. His fate is unknown. It is the middle child, Johann “The Younger” born in 1700, who continues the family line toward Sebastian Walby with two wives and six children. He, too, follows his father as a bricklayer.
In 1709, at the age of 44, Balthasar changed his surname from Walte to Wallpe. Prior to this year, “Wallpe” does not appear in German church records. Very likely, Balthasar wished to distinguish himself from other craftsmen with similar names. Variations like Wold, Walde, Walter and Dewald were common derivations. Along the same note, the given name Balthasar alternately appears in genealogical records as Balthazar, Balthius or Balthes. Our ancestor maintains Balthasar Wallpe as his adult, professional name.
By this time, Balthasar was referred to as “Faber Murarius” – labeling him a master in the building trade. 16 The Latin term Faber Murarius is detailed in a textbook for children written by educator Johann Comenius. This first “picture book” called Orbis Pictus, or Orbis Sensualium Pictus (The Visible World in Pictures) was originally published in Nuremburg, Germany during 1658 and may have been part of Balthasar’s schooling. Later editions translated the Latin (in right column) to English (on left). It reads: “The Mason…lays foundations and builds walls…either of stone which quarrier excavates in quarry and stone-cutter squares…or with bricks from sand and clay soaked in water are shaped and with fire burned…Walls are surfaced with plaster with the help of trowel and dressed with stucco.” 17
Average life expectancy at birth for [European] people in the late 16th/early 17th centuries was just under forty – 39.7 years. However, this low figure was mostly due to the high rate of infant and child mortality (over 12% of all children born would die within their first year.) General weakness or sickness will kill many babies soon after birth. The survivors may die from any one of the many diseases they will be exposed to in the next ten to fifteen years of their lives. Once beyond the risk of childhood diseases, young adults have a much greater likelihood of living considerably beyond the 40 years predicted for them at birth. A man or woman who reached the age of 30 could expect to live to 59.20
Balthasar Walte dies in the year 1721 at the age of 56. So, he lived just a couple of years shy of the expected adult lifespan. Balthasar’s wife, Kunigunde, outlived him by 18 years and died at age 69 in Urspringen during 1739. Balthasar and Kunigunde’s burial place is unknown. Presumably, he and his family have a plot in a Catholic cemetery in or near Urspringen. More research or a visit to the village is required to validate.
walbyancestry 
