Daily AncestorWitwer
Witwer is German for "widower": a man whose wife had died, noted in marriage registers when he married again.
A Witwer is a man whose wife has died. A groom described as Witwer sends you looking for the death of his first wife, often in the same parish, and for children of the first marriage.
The short forms are Wwer. and Ww. The female form is Witwe, which was spelled Wittwe until 1901.
As seen in a recordMarriage register of a German parish, 1850s
Bräutigam: Kaspar Ochsenreiter, Witwer, Tagelöhner, 41 J.
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How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Witwer." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/german/witwer. Last checked 2026-10-28.