Hans Friedrich von Ehrenkrook

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Friedrich von Ehrenkrook (born July 20, 1888 in Berlin ; † February 1, 1968 in Marburg (Lahn) ) was a German genealogist and aristocratic lawyer .

Ehrenkrook was significantly involved in the establishment of the German Aristocratic Archives , the continuation of the Gotha Pocket Books in the form of the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility and the re-establishment of the Nobility Law Committee of the German Nobility Associations .

Life

Ehrenkrook grew up with three brothers who all became officers. He himself became a lawyer with both state exams. Even during his studies he found his sphere of activity in aristocratic science, nobility law and genealogy . As early as 1920, he was active in the German Aristocratic Association in Magdeburg and was significantly involved in the establishment of a state department in Magdeburg / Anhalt. At the "Adelstag" held in Berlin on June 22nd, 1920, v. Ehrenkrook vehemently advocates that from now on no one who "'among his male ancestors has a non-Aryan born after 1800 or more than a quarter of a race other than Aryan, or is married to someone to whom this applies", becomes a member of the German Aristocratic Association. In the same year he became a member of the nobility committee, in 1922 first secretary of the board of directors of the German nobility cooperative, member of the marriage council and deputy member of the nobility chapter.

In 1926 he was a councilor in Ludwigslust and a member of the Mecklenburg regional department and secretary of the press office, later head of the family history department. Transferred to Silesia, he also became secretary of the regional department and devoted himself to the treatment and examination of pedigrees. During this time he published:

  • Pedigree from German districts (four volumes)
  • Ancestral lines of the Silesian noble families
  • Descendants of Johannes Gottfried Dietze
  • Family tables 1194–1940
  • as well as numerous smaller essays and treatises.

After the Second World War , his main activity began: Together with Jürgen von Flotow (1902–1976) he founded the German Aristocratic Archives - initially purely privately - because any association life was still forbidden by the Allied occupying powers. Family news was published under this name as early as October 1945 and shortly afterwards the “refugee lists” , which were a valuable instrument for finding noble families again. The archive was founded at his former residence at Wrisbergholzen Castle . Other aristocratic families who had fled or been expelled from their homeland in the east of the Greater German Empire also initially settled there. With the currency reform in 1948, the name of the association changed to "Deutsches Adelsarchiv" and later to Deutsches Adelsblatt .

Ehrenkrook's concern was to put an end to the then large number of name swindlers. He succeeded in unmasking more than 1,000 false "noble" namesake who were made known to the authorities and courts. The number of information and references given by the aristocratic archives can hardly be overlooked.

First at Wrisbergholzen Castle (Ehrenkrook's residence), then at Schönstadt Castle and finally in Marburg / Lahn , extensive collections were created and a specialist library for the nobility was established.

Ehrenkrook was married to Carola von Hagen (1890–1977) since 1913. The couple had 3 sons and 1 daughter. However, all 3 sons died in World War II. He was an honorary knight of the Order of St. John and since 1958 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class.

Genealogical manual of the nobility

Ehrenkrook's main concern, however, was the continuation of the Gotha paperbacks. Here he worked with the owner of the re-established Starke Verlag (formerly Görlitz , now Limburg ). In 1950 the first announcement appeared, in 1951 the first volume of the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility on German Princely Houses, which was followed in rapid succession by volumes on Counts, Barons and Untitled Nobility Houses. Today there are 149 volumes. A 17-volume new nobility lexicon was also published.

Works (selection)

  • Hans-Friedrich and Carola von Ehrenkrook: Lineage of Silesian noble families , published with the support of LA Silesia of the German Aristocratic Association, Görlitz 1941
  • Hans-Friedrich von Ehrenkrook: Lineage of the Barons von Braun , Starke Verlag, Limburg adL, 1959

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutsches Adelsblatt . 38th year July 31, 1920, p. 241-243 .
personal data
SURNAME Ehrenkrook, Hans Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ehrenkrook, Johann Friedrich Otto Kurt von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German genealogist and aristocratic lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 1968
Place of death Marburg (Lahn)