Greve (Office)

Greve (or also Grebe , Grefe , Gräffe or also home citizen ) was in some areas of Germany the official designation of a village director, mayor or village judge. The Greve was subordinate to the court lord of the respective higher office.

In the Aachen area, the designations “Greve” and “Griev” for “guild leader” or “Gildemeister” are used, as well as the official designation “Holzgreve” (also: Holtgreve) from forest management.

Greve or Grebe can also be a variant of the class name Graf, which is derived from the Old High German "gravo".

etymology

The name is derived from the Old High German “gravio”, the Middle German “grebe” and the Middle Low German “greve”; Related are the old English official designation gerefa , new English reeve , next to high-reeve and hogrefe .

The German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm says:

GREBE, m., Village chief, specif. hess .: schultheisz, which one calls greben in the villages in the state of zů Hessen KIRCHHOF wendunmuth 1, 178 Österley; see. VILMAR 136; from grêve, the md. shape for grâve. also common as a family name in Hessen.
GREVE, m., Was grebe (sd): in some areas of Germany the name greve or grebe has been used for the village chief right up to the very latest SAVIGNY gesch. Roman right 1, 236; 'griev, in local documents greve, guild leader' MÜLLER-WEITZ aach. 74.

The word is related to the French "le greffe" (= office, secretariat) and "le greffier" (clerk), as well as to the "greffier" (= official clerk) still in use today in Jersey and Guernsey .

Web links

Dieter Carl: Grebenordnung of the Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel from 1739 on archive.org, click on "Book reviews" and "The Grebenordnung" extra; still accessible link

Individual evidence

↑ Grebe. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 9 : Greander gymnastics - (IV, 1st section, part 6). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1935, Sp. 1 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
↑ Greve. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 9 : Greander gymnastics - (IV, 1st section, part 6). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1935, Sp. 248 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
↑ statesassembly.gov.je

[1] Grebe. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 9 : Greander gymnastics - (IV, 1st section, part 6). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1935, Sp. 1 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).

[2] Greve. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 9 : Greander gymnastics - (IV, 1st section, part 6). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1935, Sp. 248 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).

[3] statesassembly.gov.je