In 1954 our father Johan Gigengack (1933 - 1976) published the book 'Geschiedenis van het Geslacht Gigengack' (History of the Gigengack Family). For this purpose he of course did a lot of research, which he largely could do from the Netherlands. A trip of more than 1000 kilometers by moped (!) into Germany, together with his cousin Ben Gigengack, was also part of the investigation. They drove all the way to Duderstad where they got a good impression of the circumstances under which our forefathers had lived. At that time it wasn't possible to go further, across the border of East Germany (D.D.R.). Later on Johan Gigengack was able to add some information from sources in Thüringen (Germany) and he worked out a more complete Family Tree in 1972. The book and the Family Tree that resulted from his work were and still are appreciated by many family members.

We think this great initiative to document the history of our family should get a follow up. The medium internet is perfect: the site is traceable and reachable all over the world, visitors can react and send information and it's easy for us to add or change information if needed.

It is our intention to publish a summary of the family history and the family trees in the next months. Your information thereby is indispensable for us. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your corrections and new information.

We hope to please many with this site!

Also see: the Johan Gigengack website (in Dutch).

Erik and Frank Gigengack,
Hengelo (Ov.), the Netherlands, August 2003.