CHORUS - a family from Aachen

The origin of the Chorus Family has to be situated in the German city of Aachen. The first written deeds that mention a person by the name of Chorus are from the 13th century. In a deed of 1232 a Tiricus (Diederik) Chorus is mentioned as a witness of a gift to a monastery. In 1250 two brothers Chorus (William and Henric) were witnesses of a land transaction to the main church of Aachen, the later cathedral. These deeds nowadays are preserved in the State Archives of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany. One of them is to be seen in the section pictures of this web page. It is a deed from 1335, written in Avignon on behalf of Pope Benedictus XII. It was a letter of indulgence, addressed to the most famous ancestor of the family: Gerhard Chorus, who was first mentioned in a deed of 1327 as alderman of Aachen. Later he has become mayor of the city.

A former supposition that Gerhard was the first one to be named Chorus because he founded the quire (the Latin word chorus = quire, choir, chancel) in the famous cathedral of Aachen is no longer valid, while there were persons with the same family name before him. Nevertheless Gerhard Chorus has been very important to the city of Aachen. On several occasions he was diplomatic ambassador of Aachen. He also represented the city as the nobility of all shires and cities gathered to choose a new king. Gerhard Chorus managed the matters of the Communal Hospital (1327), initiated the construction of the outer city wall (1329-1336), instituted an important civil rights rule (Kurgericht 1338) that applied until the end of the 18th century, and founded the town hall (1350) on the remains of the palace of Charles the Great. Gerhard Chorus is honoured as its founder with his statue at the southern façade of the building. There is also a statue of Gerhard Chorus on the roof of the cathedral (octagon).

Gerhard Chorus has been buried in the cathedral of Aachen, a very honourable fact, as until than only the emperors Charles the Great (742-814) and Otto III (980-1002) of the 'Holy Roman Empire', were buried there too. The tombstone on the Chorus grave referred to Ritter (Knight) Gerhard Chorus, as he was honoured with this ancient title by empress Margaretha, wife of Ludwig IV, who visited Aachen in 1338. Now an engraved copperplate in the cathedral remembers this Ritter of Aachen. Outside, near the cathedral there is the Ritter Chorus Strasse (street) that reminds of our famous ancestor.

Up to now no one has been able to prove that Tiricus, William, Henric and Gerhard Chorus really are the forefathers of the nowadays Chorus families. Still it is not a very unlike supposition. There is clear evidence that the proven ancestors of mine were also born in Aachen, and that three of their descendants, who are my documented ancestors, moved to the Netherlands, in the late 18th century to marry farmer daughters that would inherit prosperous estates. They all succeeded in that purpose. Thus started the Dutch connection of the Chorus family. There are still several Chorus families in Germany too, a.o. Aachen, Köln, Trier, Bonn, Jülich, Mainz, Hannover, Düsseldorf.

So far I have traced my family line back to 1650, when a Quirinus Chorus was born in Aachen. At the website [www.chorusgen.nl] you'll find more about my research. There is also a German website, written by my uncle Gerhard Müller-Chorus, see the link below. Furthermore you'll find extra information in a few files that are linked below. I would appreciate any marks of interest on this subject.

GEDCOM Trees (viewing trees requires 4.0 or later)

• Descendants of Quirin Chorus 1650-2010 (214 KB)
  This file contains the names and most of the known dates of the descendants of the oldest proven ancestor of the Dutch Chorus family.

Family Photos

• Letter of indulgence to Gerhard Chorus, Jan. 1335 (3007 KB)
  This deed was written in Avignon on behalf of Pope Benedictus XII by the Archbishop Quillelmus von Antivari and 14 other bishops. The indulgence was meant for Gerhard Chorus and his wife Catharine, pictures of whom are to be seen at the deed in the corners left and right under. (State Archives Düsseldorf)
• Needle brands of Chorus 17/18th Century (619 KB)
  Needle brands as used by Quirinus Chorus (ca. 1632-1687), his son Cornelius Chorus (1659-1754) and grandson Cornelius Chorus (1701-1774). These brands have spread all over the world.
• My great-grandparents (132 KB)
  My great-grandparents Joseph Alphons Chorus (1851-1925) and Aloisa Savelberg (1856-1880). They lived and worked on the homestead 'Schiffeler' near Heerlen. My great-grandfather became an alderman and deputy mayor of the city Sittard in his later days. In 1882 he had a 2nd marriage with Maria Lausberg (1860-1941).
• Chorushoeve, homestead of my grandparents. (235 KB)
  The Chorushoeve at the time my grandparents were farming there, in Munstergeleen, Limburg, 19th/20st century.
• Family Arm (239 KB)
  One of the heraldic family arms in the family, 17th century. Probably a 20th century artist's impression of the family arm of Johann Chorus, Burtscheid 1682.
• My father Alfons Chorus in 1954 at his 45th. (852 KB)
  My father Alfons Chorus in 1954 at the age of 45. In that year he was giving lectures and researching psychology at the Leiden University.
• Other family arms, 14th-18th century. (386 KB)
  Family arms as used by a.o. Johann Chorus, mayor of Aachen 1364; Henric Chorus, alderman of Aachen in the same year 1364; Jakob Chorus 1351, Gerhard Chorus of Burtscheid 1408, Johann Chorus 1682, Gottfried Chorus 1725. Important sign is the 'A', which is really a harrow.
• Painting of my mother Herma Chorus-Borgers (1056 KB)
  My mother Herma Chorus-Borgers painted by Sierk Schreuder in the late fifties of the 20th century.
• Church deed 1774 by Father Z. Chorus (1076 KB)
  This deed, dated 30st of July 1774, is written in Latin and describes details of a family Flecken in the parish of Eygelshoven. The deed is signed by Father Z.B.J. Chorus. Notice the harrow-sign in the seal.
• Simple ancestor tree of my father Alfons Chorus (192 KB)
  Simple ancestor tree of my father Alfons Chorus, as far as we could trace up to now.
• Grandmother of my father (from his mother's side) (102 KB)
  Catharina ('Netje') Kallen, mother of the mother of my father (Alfons Chorus 1909-1998). Catharina was born in 1844 in Munstergeleen and died in 1921 in Beeringen. She lived and worked on a homestead in Munstergeleen that later became known as the Chorus Homestead. This homestead is still there in the village. Netje Kallen was married to Reinier Pijls (1832-1889).
• Simple ancestor tree of my mother Herma Borgers (118 KB)
  Simple ancestor tree of my mother Herma Chorus-Borgers, as far as we could trace until now.
• Choir of the cathedral of Aachen (371 KB)
  The cathedral of Aachen, of which the extreme high choir was constructed in the early 14th century when Ritter Gerhard Chorus was mayor of the city. The supposition that the family name of Chorus was a result of the fact that he started the building of this choir (= chorus) is no longer valid. It is now documented that there were already earlier persons in Aachen named Chorus. The name is a really old Latin (Roman) name.
• My parents on their weddingday (364 KB)
  My parents Alfons Chorus and Herma Chorus-Borgers on their wedding day, 27th of May 1937. They met in Nijmegen where they both studied. My father came from Munstergeleen (1909), my mother was born in Tintea, Rumania (1915) from a German mother and Dutch father. She died 88 years old Xmass 2003. My father became a well known university professor in psychology in Leiden, who has written more than 35 books. He also published some effective family stories about his uncles and aunts from his mothers side (family Pijls). He died Jan. 15th 1998, 88 years old.
• Inscription on the grave of Ritter Chorus (288 KB)
  An engraved copperplate on his grave in the cathedral of Aachen praises the merits of Ritter Gerhard Chorus to the city of Aachen.
• My grandmother in 1898 when she was 18 (220 KB)
  My grandmother Paulina Chorus-Pijls at the age of 18. She was born in 1880 in Schinnen and died in 1973 in Echt. In 1921 she became the first female town councillor in Limburg, in Munstergeleen, where she lived and worked on the homestead that is still known as the Chorus Homestead (Chorushoeve). Her husband, my grandfather Arnold Chorus, achieved the age of 101.

Related Files

• Recovering of the remains of Gerhard Chorus (6 KB)
  The remains of Gerhard Chorus (1290-1367) have been recovered in 1843 and buried again on the same location. However his tombstone was removed and replaced by a copper plate into the wall.
• Dissertation (1913) about Ritter Chorus (Dutch) (226 KB)
  Parts of a dissertation by Martin Birmanns, published in Aachen, 1913. A detailed documentary about the life and deeds of Ritter Gerhard Chorus (1290-1367), translated from German in Dutch.
• Corn. Chorus Needle Industry 17/18th Cnt (Dutch) (230 KB)
  In this documentation you'll find the history of three generations Chorus in the Needle Industry in Aachen, 17th/18th century. Cornelius Chorus (1659-1754) was a pioneer in this business. He built up a company that finally employed more than 1.500 citizens of Aachen.
• Biographical note: Gerhard Chorus (German & Dutch) (41 KB)
  Biographical note about Ritter Gerhard Chorus in 'Allgemeine deutsche Biographie', Leipzig 1876 (page 137-138), incl. translation in Dutch.
• Familytree: descendants of Quirin Chorus 1650-2010 (109 KB)
  This file contains in numbered generations the civil data of the descendants of the oldest proven ancestor of the Dutch Chorus family.

Related Links

• Website of the Chorus Family in Holland
• Website of the Chorus Family in Germany