If you have a Stauber surname or a known Stauber ancestor, please consider participating in the Stauber surname DNA project: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/stauber/

The goal of our project is to determine the geographical origin of the surname Stauber and to evaluate the genetic relationship between anyone who bears this surname or one of its variants. The earliest record of the surname Stauber (with that spelling) is in what is now known as the Alsace Lorraine region. Since that time, the Stauber surname spread south and west across Bavria, throught the Kingdom of Austro-Bohemia and into Switzerland. It also spread north into England and has even been associated with royalty.

The earliest ancestor in the DNA project is currently Wolfgang Stauber of Maxberg, Taus District, Pilsen Region of Bohemia born ca. 1650. It is presumed he was born in a nearby village or perhaps in Bavaria. His direct-line descendants are still alive today and spread out across the northern United States and into Canada. There was also an Andreas Stauber in Maxberg around 1670 who may have been a brother or uncle of Wolfgang. If you are researching ancestors from this region, you can browse original Catholic Church registers courtesy of the Czech National Archives: http://www.portafontium.de

Maxberg was one of the "10 Privileged Villages" of the Chodenschloss along with Schneiderhof (and Klein Schneiderhof), Fuchsberg, Friedrichsthal, Ploß (Ploss), Chudiwa, Hadruwa, Flecken, Neuprennet and Altprennet. The residents of these villages and about 40 others were expelled after the end of World War II because their inhabitants were mainly ethnic Germans, even though it's not clear whether any of them had been Nazi sympathizers. The villages themselves were razed by Communist forces in the 1950's and its inhabitants were scattered across West Germany, Austria and America. In the future we may also create a DNA project for anyone who can trace any of their ancestors back to one of these 10 villages.