Grzimek

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Coat of arms of the Grzimek family

Grzimek [ ˈgʒɪmɛk ] is the name of a Silesian family that was first mentioned in a document in 1700 with Thomas Grzimek .

Surname

overview

The name Grzimek most likely goes back to the old Polish nickname Pielgrzym and is formed with the suffix -ek ( Slavic diminutive syllable). Pielgrzym, on the other hand, comes from the Middle Latin word peregrinus = pilgrim .

variants

In addition to the most common spelling (Grzimek), there is the more modern Polish Grzymek , which was used by almost all Grzimeks who emigrated to Poland or had to be adopted by the Grzimeks living in the former eastern regions of the German Empire after the Second World War .

Name changes exist in the form of Grimek (e.g. John Grimek ) and Griek (first half of the 20th century). In the church registers of the municipality of Oberglogau there are also the names Grzinek (first 1713), Grzymeck (first 1727), Krzimek (first 1728) and Grzimeg (first 1752).

The name Grzimek also occurs in the form of the place name Grzymki , which is once present in Poland.

coat of arms

In 1954, Gerhard Grzimek donated the family coat of arms shown in the introduction based on the design by the Göttingen heraldist Heinz Reise .

The coat of arms shows: In black a golden vine tendril with three (2: 1) leaves, next to 2 fallen silver plowshares ; on the black and gold puffed helmet with black and gold covers a growing, red armored black eagle , on the chest covered with a silver crescent moon, which is decorated with a silver cross in the cavity . The vine tendril and the ploughshare are the symbols of the professions of the first verifiable ancestors, the crest is the Silesian eagle, the heraldic symbol and black and gold the coat of arms of the country that is the homeland of the Grzimeks.

The coat of arms was registered and published in the German herald's roll of arms under No. 5389/54 and in the collection of German family coats of arms of the Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Göttingen eV in Volume 2, 1954.

origin

Before the Second World War , most of the name bearers lived in Upper Silesia ; their ancestors come mainly from the Oberglogau region in Upper Silesia. The earliest officially documented bearer of the name, Thomas Grzimek (* around 1670), lived as a winegrower in Oberglogau and married there as a widower in 1700. Whether other bearers of this name lived here before him, or whether there were more children than one from his marriages proven son is not known for sure. An assumption is probable, however, as research repeatedly found bearers of names who lived in and around Oberglogau at the same time without the exact relationship being ascertainable: For example, Johannes Grzimek, who was married on October 24, 1685 in Oberglogau, in whose marriage certificate is noted as the place of origin Krivernitz in Bohemia ( Grzimek de Krivernitz ).

There is also a Grzimek clan who emigrated from Silesia in the 12th century, i.e. before Germanization , and have since lived in a village in the Tatra Mountains . In addition, the name could also be found in East Prussia .

Name bearer

literature

  • Gerhard Grzimek, Rupprecht Grzimek: The Grzimek family from Oberglogau in Upper Silesia . In: Gerhard Geßner (Ed.): German Family Archives. A genealogical compilation. Volume 10 . Verlag Degener & Co., Neustadt an der Aisch 1959, ISSN  0012-1266 ; - 4th, expanded and revised edition, Herder Institute, Reutlingen 2000.