Prominent family from Riga (probably originally from Westphalia), several members of which were members (Ratsherr) of the Riga city council in the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, a few of whom were also mayors (Bürgemeister) of Riga during the 16th century. The family disappears from Riga around the middle of the 17th century.

In documents, the name appears in a large number of permutations, such as:

• Spengkhusen
• Spenckhußen
• Spenckhuszen
• Spenckhusen
• Spenckhuße
• Spenghusen
• Spenkhusen
• Spenkhausen
• Spenckhausen
• Spenghausen
• Spedinckhusen
• Spedinghusen
• Spedinkhusen
• Spenckhuysen
• Speynckhusen
• Spenchusen
• Sprenckhuysen
• Sprenchuysen
• Spinchusius

Within the family the first names Melchior, Jasper and Hans / Johann appear frequently - sometimes even within the same generation. It is therefore not always possible to identify direct family connections.

Selected Family members

Mayors of Riga

• Jasper Spenkhusen (Die Rigische Rathslinie von 1226 bis 1876)
• Johann Spenkhausen (Die Rigische Rathslinie von 1226 bis 1876)

Members of the Riga City Council

• Melchior Spenckhusen (Die Rigische Rathslinie von 1226 bis 1876)
• Wyllem (Wilhelm) Spenkhusen (Die Rigische Rathslinie von 1226 bis 1876)

Others (direct lineage unclear)

• Johannes (Hans) Spenckhusen - merchant in Reval/Tallinn (citizen from 1613); is identical to "Hans Spenghausen (Spenkhusen), handelsman från Reval", mentioned in Stockholm in 1633 and 1635 - clearly a member of the family in Riga but it is not clear how he descended from that family
• a merchant named Hans Spenckhusen from the Baltic region lived in Amsterdam from around 1557 to 1600
• another merchant - Jacob Sprenchuysen - who died in Amsterdam around 1585 (De Vroedschap van Amsterdam, 1578-1795) was likely also from this family; in 1586 his widow Aefgen Gerritsdr. married Pieter Wijnolt of Winholt
• a silk merchant Jacob Spenckhuysen (Jacobus Spinchusius) in Antwerp, a contemporary of Hans Spenckhusen, published several prints engraved by Balthasar van den Bos (after Frans Floris) in 1558 (in Antwerp); He had a brother "Jan" (i.e. Johann) - that Jan could potentially be identical to Hans Spenckhusen
• Franziskus Spenkhusen (studied in Rostock)
• Thomas Spenkhusen (studied in Rostock)
• Margareta Spenckhusen who was buried in Riga's St. Petri church on the 4t of July 1669 - one of the last (possibly the last) family member in Riga (... apart from:)
• Wendula Spenckhausen (mentioned 1677) - perhaps identical to Wendula Schorsche (Spenckhusen)