My cousin Paul Drueke had his Y-chromosome DNA tested at Family Tree DNA in 2012. His kit number is 230496. His most recent Y-DNA match is BY3323, born in 400 BC.< /p>

Our Oldest Known Ancestor. Our oldest known ancestor with Paul's Y-DNA is our great, great, great grandfather, Johann Drücke (Börger). Johann was born in 1743 AD in Elspe, part of the town of Lennestadt in the region of Kreis Olpe in the south of Westphalia, Germany. Elspe is mentioned in a document that Emperor Otto III issued in the year 1000. Source: Lennestadt.

Johann Drücke lived most of his life nearby in a house in Ostentrop, part of the town of Finnentrop in the region of Kreis Olpe. He traded in Westphalian hams, which he bought from farmers in the area and sold in Münster to the north and Frankfurt to the south. He also traded in seltzer water, which he bought in Selters, a town between Ostentrop and Frankfurt. Father Franz Rinschen, pastor of Mariä Himmelfahrt Church in Schönholthausen, Germany, provided valuable information about Johann Drücke in 2007.

Volker Kennemann wrote an article about Johann Drücke in the December 2013 edition of the magazine of the Finnentrop historical society. See: Trader and Transporter.

Map of the Sauerland showing district and municipal borders (green) as well as rivers, reservoirs and lakes (blue).. Sources: Sauerland, Elspe, and Lennestadt.

Westphalia, where Johann Drücke was from, was part of Old Saxony. Old Saxony consisted of Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and western Saxony-Anhalt.

U106 Y-DNA

Y-DNA Test Result. We found out Paul had a SNP called U106 DNA. A SNP is a "single-nucleotide polymorphism," a mutation that occurs very infrequently. SNPs occur randomly. The number of SNPs can vary a lot by tester. SNPs shared by two or more testers are given a name. Rough estimates can be made of the age of these SNPs. U106 is estimated to have occurred in an ancestor born in 2950 BC. Paul shares 19 later SNPs with a decreasing number of testers. The most recent is BY3323, born in 400 BC.

Y-DNA Projects. Paul's DNA can be found in several projects at FTDNA: Drueke project, U106 project, Germany project, and Anglo-Saxon project.

Paul and I started a Drueke DNA project at FTDNA. We have no other Druekes yet, but we welcome anyone with U106 DNA.

Y-DNA Matches. It turns out Paul's closest DNA matches are mostly people with English sounding names. The large majority have not traced their ancestry back to Europe, which suggest that their ancestors were English colonists in America. As of September 2024, Paul had 58 STR matches (single tandem repeats) are based on 67 markers.

• 27 Unknown (Armstrong, Barnhart, Blair, Draper, Ellis, Goodwin, Greer, Jones, Lucas, Mitchell, Moore, Price, Riggleman, Scott, Suiter, Therrell, Wartell, Watkins, Wilson, Woods)
• 11 United States (Bell, Cobb, Coleman, Crowley, Greer, Orr, Mewis, Scott, Withiam, Woods)
• 7 England (Ellis, Margetts, Piety, Robson, Smith)
• 4 Wales (Ellis, Price)
• 4 Ireland (Greer, Grimes, Scott)
• 3 Scotland (Scott)
• 1 United Kingdom (Mewis)
• 1 Sweden (Wedin)

As discussed below, many people with English names have Germanic origins. And his U106 DNA is what they call Saxon DNA. The Saxons were Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Britain from the early 5th century up to the Norman conquest in 1066. Our ancestor is from Westphalia, which was part of Old Saxony.

Saxon Y-DNA. Saxons share a common heritage with Celts. They both descend from L151, which was born around the year 2950 BC. U106 Saxons broke off in 2950 BC. P312 Celts broke off im 2850 BC. As of as of September 18, 2024, there were 230,867 L151 testers, 62,187 U106 testers and 148,426 P312 testers. (Birth years are statistically estimated and rounded to the nearest multiple of 50.) A small minority of testers has provided Known ancestry. The major ancestries are Irish, English, Scottish, and German.

Saxon and Celtic Y-DNA

Paul's Y-DNA. Paul's Y-DNA is a SNP called BY3323. It was born in 400 BC. It is downstream of several SNPs, including the U106 SNP. Following is information from Family Tree DNA on testers as of September 18, 2024.

BY3323, 400 BC, Northern Germany

• 4 testers now with English ancestry
• 1 tester now with Scottish ancstry
• 1 tester now with German ancestry (Paul Drueke)

Paul shares the BY3323 SNP with 5 testers named Wright with English and Scottish ancestry. They, in turn, share BY11427, dated 1450 AD.

Migration Map for Z381. All human male lineages can be traced back to a single common ancestor in Africa who lived around 230,000 years ago, nicknamed Y-Adam. Below is the estimated migration route from Y-Adam to Z381, the latest SNP for which FTDNA constructs a map.

Map of Z381 (2500 BC). Source: Migration Map for Z381.

U106 Project. R-U106 is a patrilineal descended family that descends from an ancestral R-L151 group located among or near the Yamnaya culture, north of the Black Sea. The group rose to significance in the area of present Germany and the surrounding areas probably a bit before 3000 BC. Although U106 is found all over Europe, and in countries that Europeans have migrated to, it is most significant in Germany and surrounding countries, Scandinavia, and Britain. In its time-frame of 3000 BC, U106 likely arose in the Corded Ware culture. Depending on which branch of U106 a member descends from, the people on that branch adapted to a variety of different cultures along the way, including various derivatives of Slavic, Latin, Celtic, Belgae, Saxon, Viking, and other cultural groups. U106 is a family, not a culture. Source: U106 project at Family Tree DNA. Testers are listed on the Results page.

The administrator of the project is Charles Moore, who was the first to test positive for CTS10893.

The U106 project was founded in 2008. The project has a table of Y-DNA marker results for all members. It also has a table of SNP results for all members. Included with most members' results is his most distant Y-DNA ancestor.

DNA Testing in Germany. In April 2009 the German parliament effectively banned all direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Genetic tests can only be carried out by a doctor and require the full consent of all parties involved. Source: ISOGG.

Surname Projects. In addition to the U106 Project, all are encouraged to join their surname project.

U106 Group. Those who want to know the latest information about U106 may wish to participate in the U106 Group. The U106 site is administered by the same people who administer the U106 project at FTDNA. You can actively participate or just keep up to date with what is being said. The purpose of the group is to learn about U106 DNA from material submitted by group members and ask questions of group members. You can send messages to the group, respond to messages submitted by others, add Internet links and files relating to U106, and learn from links and files submitted by others.

U106 Testers. The R-U106 Story of Family Tree DNA states that U106 was born in 2950 BC. Their Country Frequency as of September 18, 2024, showed that there were 62,187 U106 testers and their earliest known origins were from 118 countries. The largest countries were:

• 40,477 Unknown
• 4,796 England
• 2,662 Germany
• 3,947 United States
• 1,474 Scotland
• 1,429 United Kingdom
• 1,230 Ireland
• 1,217 Sweden
• 556 Netherlands
• 525 France
• 478 Norway
• 292 Poland
• 285 Denmark
• 280 Northern Ireland

English Saxons

This map shows kingdoms in the island of Great Britain at about the year 800. The colors indicate ethnic groups: WESSEX: Anglo-Saxons (red) GWYNEDD: Celts (grey) FORTRIU: Picts (green). See: Heptarchy.

Saxon Settlements in England, 449 AD. Saxons had been raiding the eastern seaboard of Britain from Old Saxony during the 3rd and 4th centuries (prompting the construction of maritime defences in eastern Britain called the Saxon Shore) and it is thought that following the collapse of the Roman defences on the Rhine in 407 pressure from population movements in the east forced the Saxons and their neighbouring tribes the Angles and the Jutes to migrate westwards by sea and invade the fertile lowland areas of Britain. The traditional date for this invasion is 449 and is known as the Adventus Saxonum. However, there is little archaeological evidence of any subsequent long-term conflict. Nevertheless, the cultural and linguistic changes were stark and led to the creation of various Saxon kingdoms in England:

• South Saxons (Sussex)
• West Saxons (Wessex)
• East Saxons (Essex)

Heptarchy. The Heptarchy were the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that flourished from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until they were consolidated in the 8th century into the four kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex. The term 'Heptarchy' is used because of the traditional belief that there had been seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, usually described as East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, and Wessex. See: Heptarchy.

Old English. Old English was the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century. See: Old English.

Old Minster, 660 AD. Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the English diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. It stood on a site partially beneath its successor, Winchester Cathedral (The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun). See: Old Minster, Winchester.

Alfred the Great, 849-899 AD. Alfred the Great, born around 849 AD, was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.

After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, dividing England between Anglo-Saxon territory and the Viking-ruled Danelaw, composed of Scandinavian York, the north-east Midlands and East Anglia. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in England.

Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in English rather than Latin, and improving the legal system and military structure and his people's quality of life. See: Alfred the Great.

German Saxons

The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons, were the Germanic people of "Old" Saxony (Latin: Antiqua Saxonia) which became a Carolingian "stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. The political history of these inland Saxons, who were neighbours of the Franks, is unclear until the 8th century and the conflict between their semi-legendary hero Widukind and the Frankish emperor Charlemagne. They do not appear to have been politically united until about that time. See: Saxons.

Old Saxony, 1000 AD. Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons during the Early Middle Ages. It corresponds roughly to several modern German states in northwestern Germany:

• Lower Saxony
• eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia (Westphalia)
• southern part of Schleswig-Holstein (Holstein)
• western part of Saxony-Anhalt (Eastphalia)

Old Saxony had four provinces:

• Nordalbingia
• Eastphalia
• Westphalia
• Angria (or Angaria)

Map of Old Saxony (circa 1000 AD). Johann Drücke lived in Elspe which is 10 miles east of Attendorn. Attendorn is called Attandarra on the map, which can be seen in Saxonia near the southern tip of Westfalia. To the west southwest of Attandarra (Attendorn) is Colonia (Cologne) on the Rhine River. See: Old Saxony. To the northeast of Attandarra (Attendorn) is Paderbrunn (Paderborn), where Charlemagne receiving the submission of the Saxon leader Widukind in 785. East of Paderborn on the eastern border of Old Saxony on the Sala (Saale) River is Wittin (House of Wettin). See: Widukind.

Saint Boniface, 675-754 AD. Saint Boniface (born Wynfreth) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church in Germany and was made bishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which remains a site of Christian pilgrimage. Boniface is venerated as a saint in the Christian church and became the patron saint of Germania, known as the "Apostle to the Germans".

Boniface felled the Donar Oak, near the present-day town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse. Boniface started to chop the oak down, when suddenly a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the ancient oak over. When the gods did not strike him down, the people were amazed and converted to Christianity. He built a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter from its wood at the site/ The chapel was the beginning of the monastery in Fritzlar. See: Saint Boniface.

Saxon Wars, 772 AD. The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought, primarily in what is now northern Germany. They resulted in the incorporation of Saxony into the Frankish realm and their forcible conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity.. See: Saxon Wars.

Widukind, 777 AD. Widukind was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred thousands of Saxon nobles, and ordered conversions of the pagan Saxons to Christianity. In later times, Widukind became a symbol of Saxon independence and a figure of legend. He is also venerated as a blessed in the Catholic Church. See: Widukind.

Paderborn Cathedral, 777 AD. Today's Paderborn Cathedral is located in a position that has been occupied by churches for hundreds of years. Charlemagne had a Kaiserpfalz built near the sources of the Pader river. As early as 777 this palace had an attached church, dedicated to Christ (Salvator Mundi) and Brigit of Kildare. This church, located north of today's cathedral, served as chapel to the court as well as a basis for missionary work among the Pagan Saxons. Rebellious Saxons repeatedly destroyed this first church. After the locals converted to Christianity, the first cathedral was built. Pope Leo III met Charlemagne at Paderborn in 799 and consecrated an altar to Saint Stephen, depositing some relics of that saint in it. The first cathedral of the newly established bishopric was a three-aisled basilica, dedicated to Mary and Saint Kilian. After the See was initially administered from Würzburg, in 806 Hathumar became the first Bishop of Paderborn. See: Paderborn Cathedral.

Attendorn, 1072 AD. Attendorn lies at the crossroads of two former long-distance roads

• the Heidenstraße (“Heath Road”) and
• the so-called Königsstraße (“King’s Road”).

Saxon House of Wettin, 10th Century AD. The House of Wettin was a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. Sources: House of Wettin and Wettin House.

U106 Testers with German Ancestry

Source: States of Germany

The public results page for the U106 project at Family Tree DNA shows the kit number, ancestry, and Y-DNA of testers who agree to be shown. Approximately 8,000 U106 testers are members of the project. The number of testers providing a specific location in Germany as of September 2024 was 141. The table below shows the distribution of the 141 testers by German State.

Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons during the Early Middle Ages. It corresponds roughly to several modern German states in northwestern Germany:

• Lower Saxony
• eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia (Westphalia)
• southern part of Schleswig-Holstein (Holstein)
• western part of Saxony-Anhalt (Eastphalia)

Below is a list of those who provided a specific location in Germany as of September 2024.