The surname Wertheim and Wertheimer referred to those whose Jewish ancestors originated in Wertheim, Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany. Whether the surname is spelled "WERTHEIM" or "WERTHEIMER" or even "VERTGEIM" is immaterial. Those who lived in Bavaria and Baden referred to themselves as WERTHEIMER and those in Hessen would use WERTHEIM. In Poland, Hungary and some other eastern european locals, the "W" was often replaced with a "V". This project is open to anyone with this surname (or known variation) along either the direct male "Y" line or the direct female "mtdna" line. The most famous Wertheimer lineage has documented descent from Isaac of Worms. He was born in Worms in 1588. HIs grandson Samson was perhaps the most famous Jew of all in the early 18th Century. His offspring lived in Bayreuth, Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt and all over Hungary and Czechoslovakia. So one of the main objectives of our project is to determine which Wertheim(er) lineages connect to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer. Because of his fame, the Wertheimer name also passed through many maternal lineages. So it may be that many of our members are related to each other, just not through the direct male "Y" line. We believe that Samson's y-DNA line is represnted by EITHER J-L560 or R-M269. Men in each of these clusters has a documented connection to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer. So the verdict is still out! The name WERTHEIM can also be found in Frankurt in the 15th Century. In some cases it appears as a family "zu Wertheim", or of Wertheim, in other cases it appears as a surname. I suspect that some of these Frankfurt Wertheim also had connections to the town of Fulda which was one of the top 5 rabbinical centers in Germany prior to their expulsion of all Jews in 1671. According to the Fulda expulsion list of 1671, there were three Wertheim(er) head of households forced to leave Fulda. Again, it is significant that they were one of the few famiies on the list who had surnames more than 100 years prior to the Napoleonic edict requiring Jews to take surnames. So that suggests a possible connection to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer and/or the other Wertheim families in Frankfurt. In addition, because there are rabbinical records stating that Rabbi Samson Wertheimer is related to Heilbronn/Halpern and because the Wertheim of Wehrda are a Y DNA match with 3 different Heilbronner/Halpern this further suggests that the Wertheims of Wehrda are likely to have an earlier matrilineal connection to line of Rabbi Samson Wertheimer. My family hales from an area very close to Fulda. In 1671 three Wertheimer head of households appear on the Fulda expulsion list. We know that Schmül Wertheim went to Eschwege, Germany, about 30 miles north of Fulda. We do not know for certain where Meir and Herz went, but they are likely to be the progenitors of many of the Wertheim of Hessen. My Wertheims are from a town only 13 miles north of Fulda and my Herz could easily be a grandson of this Herz of Fulda. I also think that they are related in some way to the famous Rabbi Samson Wertheimer. After all, Samson's wife was also from Fulda! I have information for many of the various Jewish Wertheim(er) lines in all parts of Germany and Eastern Europe. I have a database of more than 123,000 names. So please contact me and I'd be happy to help you connect your family to other Wertheim(er) lineages. Hopefully in the future representatives of all Wertheim(er) lines will join our project so we can see if or how we are all related to each other. Just because a name is spelled differently, or you think that your line can't be related because you came from a different town or even country isn't a reason to assume that you can't be related. Also, if you are not a WERTHEIM along EITHER your Y or mtDNA lines, but want to join because you have a Wertheim ancestor, please email me first. Family Tree DNA does not offer any kind of public website for autosomal DNA projects, so the only benefit in joining is the link to our project from your home page.