Germann

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Germann is a male first name and family name .

Origin and meaning

  • Germann refers to a person from Geren as the name of origin . The common place name Geren denotes a gently sloping piece of land. The root word Ger is still in use today in the designation miter .
  • As a patronymic name, Germann is a medieval spelling variant of the first name Gerhard and exists next to Germanni , Geremann , Gehrmann or Gerwig .

In Switzerland, the name was widespread before 1800 in Fürstenland , Thurgau , the city of St. Gallen , Toggenburg , Merishausen SH, Volketswil ZH and the Bernese Oberland .

Germann in Toggenburg

In Toggenburg the Germann, whose origins lie in the Lütisburg - Bazenheid - Jonschwil area, were an influential family. The first two officially documented representatives were already in the service of the prince abbey of St. Gallen : Johannes, called Kö (u) ffi (nickname of the branch he founded), was Obervogt in Lütisburg (1487), Ulrich officiated as Obervogt in Schwarzenbach (1503) . It is possible that they or their ancestors had previously proven themselves in more modest offices and were called in by Prince Abbot Ulrich Rösch of St. Gallen to set up the administration in these areas.

In the service of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen, the Germann developed into a dynasty of civil servants that always remained Catholic. They provided Hans Germann, a Toggenburg bailiff, senior bailiffs, councilors, judges and ammen, and an abbot with Johannes' son Kilian Germann . In the 16th and 17th centuries, the lower Toggenburg, including the Lütisburg bailiff, was more permanent Germann's sphere of activity. The Lichtensteiger Lines , founded by Gallus (1684) and Josef Germann , achieved great political importance : from 1641 to 1724 their members occupied top positions in the Toggenburg government; in the 18th century they were senior bailiffs at Iberg , Oberberg and in Schwarzenbach. There are also clergymen, nuns and officers in foreign services among the Germanns. However, most of the members of the families remained farmers until the end of the 19th century.

Despite their rather conservative attitude, the Germann managed the transition from the Ancien Régime to the 19th century effortlessly ( Pankraz Germann ). The activity in public offices shifted again more to the rural branches of Lütisburg and Jonschwil: The Germann provided district officials, local councilors, local presidents and grand councilors.

The above-mentioned land clerk Gallus set up a foundation in 1683 that paid scholarships to male family members . In 1990 the family doubled the foundation capital and changed the foundation's purpose so that women can also benefit from scholarships. Family meetings have been held regularly since 1746.

Name bearer

family name

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Franz Germann: 500 years of history of Germann in Toggenburg. Ziegler, Winterthur 1983, ISBN 3-906252-01-9 , p. 20
  2. ↑ ortsnames.ch. The portal for Swiss place name research. Schweizerisches Idiotikon , accessed on April 20, 2018
  3. ^ Family name book of Switzerland. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland (HLS). Online, accessed April 20, 2018
  4. ↑ a b c d Peter Müller: Germann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
    These sections are largely based on the entry in the Historical Lexicon of Switzerland (HLS), which, in accordance with the HLS's usage information, is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license .