The family's history begins in the 18th century in Insterburg. JOHANN ADAM JUDEICH (?-1749) and ANNA EUPHROSYNE (1701-1779) are the first known ancestors of the Judeich family. They had seven children. All of them left Insterburg for Kaliningrad (modern day Russia), except for one of their sons, THOMAS JUDEICH (1739-1787) who settled in Dresden (Germany) and worked as a locksmith. He was the only one who passed the name Judeich on to the next generation. For the next hundred years Dresden and the area around Dresden will become the center of the family's history. It was in Dresden where the economic and social rise of the family began. THOMAS JUDEICH married LEONORE PAUSEWEIN. They had 13 children. Two of their sons shaped the family's history to a great extent: GOTTFRIED and GOTTHELF JUDEICH.

Dresden in the 18th century

GOTTFRIED JUDEICH (1780-1841) was a teacher in the area around Dresden.

GOTTHELF JUDEICH (1783-1855) was the treasurer for the Saxon king in Dresden, but the revolution of 1848/49 destroyed his life. The Saxon king fled and large amounts of money disappeared. Since GOTTHELF had been responsible for taking care of the state's money, he was imprisoned. He died embittered in prison. Nevertheless, his children were able to start a successful carrier.

Son ALBERT JUDEICH (1813-1864) became an expert of financial politics and married PAULINE BROCKHAUS who was a member of the Brockhaus family, of the famous publishing house Brockhaus. Son EDMUND JUDEICH (1826-1876) became an attorney and writer. Son JOHANN FRIEDRICH JUDEICH (1828-1894) attained a worldwide reputation for his pioneering theories about forestry, which are still regarded as trailblazing today. His sister THERESE JUDEICH (1831-1914) became a painter and was a friend of the painter Ludwig Richter.

While the children of GOTTHELF JUDEICH became part of the high society of Dresden, the children of GOTTFRIED JUDEICH lived a modest life in the country. They became officials, weaver or tailors. Due to this great difference in social class, the two families lost contact. The following generations did not even know each other anymore.

The story of the children of Gotthelf's children was a success as well. PROFESSOR WALTHER JUDEICH (1859-1942) attained worldwide acknowledgment for his scientific work of Greek history and his book "Topography of Athens". He married MATHILDE BUNSEN, the niece of the inventor of the Bunsen burner. BRUNO JUDEICH (1862-1929) became a journalist and married SIDONIE JUDEICH-MIERSWA who was an author of woman novels. Aside from being a teacher, HELENE JUDEICH (1863-1951) became a writer as well.

The story of Gottfried's grandchildren is quite different. LISBETH JUDEICH (1895-1992) left Germany around 1930 and immigrated to Canada. Her son FRED WALTER JUDEICH (1918-1978) emigrated too, but to the USA. A new offspring of the family began in the USA.

However, contact between the European and the US part of the Judeich family has only been established very recently. In 2002, RHONDA JUDEICH (1976), granddaughter of FRED WALTER JUDEICH from the USA, surfed on the internet in order to find out something about her grandfather. Coincidentally, she found the email address of LINDA JUDEICH (1983) from Germany and she wrote her an email. The question arose: Do they belong to the same family? CLAUS JUDEICH and FRIEDERIKE BEER began research and they actually found the answer. Yes, LINDA JUDEICH and RHONDA JUDEICH are relatives. After a period of over 100 years the family is finally reunited!