Grandfather

Altvater is an obsolete word in today's standard German, only used in a few idioms ("Altväter Sitte"), derivatives ("Altväterisch", "Altväterlich") and in proper names, and also used in dialectal and church language. The Russified form of the personal name is Altfater in the transcription (Russian Альтфатер).

• As an appellative it describes:
  • an ancestor or progenitor
  • in the narrower, genealogical sense a great-great-grandfather, see generation designations
  • a grandfather in some dialects
  • in legends about the Jeseníky Mountains in the Sudetenland, a mountain spirit
  • correct but uncommon generation name for the great-great-grandfather
  • the Old Testament patriarchs
  • the Old Testament prophets
  • the desert fathers in the early history of Christianity
  • a hermit monk of the Eastern Church, see Starez
  • a leader of the Yeniche, see Jenischer Altvater

• As a place name it describes:
  • the highest mountain of the Jeseníky Mountains in the Sudetes, see Praděd
  • the Altväterbrücke in Freiberg
  • the Altvaterturm and its replica in Thuringia

• As a family name:
  • Elmar Altvater (1938–2018), German political scientist
  • Heinrich Altvater (1902–1994), German football player
  • Karl Otto Altvater (1885–1948), German officer and manager
  • Richard Altvater (1923–2001), German sports official and building contractor
  • Simon Altvater (* 1982), German cyclist
  • Wassili Michailowitsch Altfater (1883–1919), Russian rear admiral and commander in chief of the naval fleet
  • Wilhelm Altvater (1920–2001), German politician (SPD)

• As part of the company or as a product name of the following companies:
  • Jakob Altvater, waste disposal company, see Veolia Umweltservice
  • Gessler produces the "Altvater" herb liqueur

This is a disambiguation page for differentiating between several terms identified with the same word.