G01 · Altenbochum line · Altenbochum · Hellweg
Sybertus is the earliest ancestor of the family documented in surviving records. A free landowner and Free Count of Bochum, he stands at the beginning of the traceable family history.
Key facts and family background
The family chronicle identifies Sybertus as the earliest ancestor of the family documented in surviving records. He is attested as Free Count of Bochum between 1319 and 1327. The byname ‘der Vryge’ referred to his status as a free landowner. No reliable information survives about his parents, siblings, or wife; Everhardus der Vryge is assigned to him as a son in the genealogical tradition.
Basis: Family Chronicle, Volume 1
The biographical account
Documented facts, family relationships, and historical interpretation are kept clearly distinguishable.
The Middle Low German byname ‘der Vryge’ identified Sybertus as the personally free owner of an allodial or freehold farm. This status distinguished him from dependent farmers and linked economic independence with responsibilities in local justice.
Sybertus is documented as Free Count between 1319 and 1327. He presided over proceedings at the free-court seat, pronounced judgments, and used the court seal. He acted within an imperial judicial tradition as representative of the Count of the Mark, without necessarily belonging to the knightly nobility.
The freehold farm was both the family’s economic foundation and a prerequisite for public office. Altenbochum lay on the important commercial and legal corridor of the Hellweg, where farming, long-distance traffic, and the free courts met.
No wife is named in the evaluated sources. The chronicle presents Sybertus as the first documented ancestor of the family. Everhardus der Vryge is regarded as his son and successor in office, but this relationship belongs to the genealogical tradition and is identified accordingly.
Season 1 · Episode 1 · G01 · The Friemanns in Altenbochum
This German-language audio story explores the family’s earliest traces between free landownership, medieval jurisdiction, and life along the Hellweg.
Listen to the episode →
Source note This biographical account follows the presentation and references in Friemann aus Altenbochum—Family Chronicle, Volume 1, fourth edition, 2026. Missing partner names, descendants, and uncertain details remain explicitly identified. Historical reconstructions do not replace individual documentary evidence.