once upon a time i got mail from a guy from the states whose last name was piefke. he wanted to know if i could tell him where the name originates from. i could not be very helpful since i only knew that austrians like to call germans that way and that the sausage dog in erich kästner's "pünktchen und anton" is called piefke, too. now here is a german gloss reflecting about the word. it does not provide a real answer either, but i know that a wise man knows more questions than answers (or so they say).