Merian (family)

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Matthäus Merian (1593–1650)

Merian is a Basel family name. There are two branches of the family (older and younger lines) that were incorporated into Basel's citizenship in 1498 and 1549/1553. The Merian distinguished themselves as the "councilor family" (numerous representatives in the councils, i.e. public organs of the city of Basel since 1532) and as a family of artists during the Baroque period . The Frankfurt branch of the family founded by Matthäus Merian ran one of the largest European publishers in the 17th century.

Origin and Distribution

The family name is not limited to Basel and can also be found (in variants such as Meria , Mérian , Meriam and von Merian ) in Alsace , Lorraine , Provence , Lower Austria and Mecklenburg . However, these families are probably in no direct relationship with the Basler Merian, although it can be assumed from a common root in the former Principality of Basel ; there are the earliest forms of name Merillate , Merylat , Miregla , Mureglat or Latinized Mariatte . The name is probably derived from the Meieramt ; On the other hand, it is unlikely that there is a connection with the municipality of Meria on Corsica or an alleged Merian abbey in the bishopric of Strasbourg , the same applies to references to the noble families Marioni from Milan or de Muriaux in the Principality of Basel.

The oldest documented mention of the family in the prince-bishopric comes from the year 1385 with the mention of a Jehannin dit Mariatte de Buratte (Johann, called Mariatte, citizen of Pruntrut ), who lived in the Bure dairy . This dairy has belonged to the bishops of Basel since 1283 , previously the dukes of Alsace and the counts of Mömpelgard and Pfirt .

Naturalization in Basel

A Theobald Merian (around 1415 - around 1505), episcopal Basler Meier or bailiff in Lüttelsdorf / Courroux near Delsberg / Delémont is considered the progenitor of all Basel Merians . The two Basel family branches are said to have descended from this Theobald. The older line goes back to the son Theobald Merian (around 1465–1544), who moved as a shipman from Lüttelsdorf to Basel around 1480 and later ran a sawmill in Kleinbasel on the right bank of the Rhine. The younger line was founded by Johann Peter Merian (around 1468/1478 - after 1519), who also came to Basel as an episcopal Basler Meier in Lüttelsdorf. There is no documentary evidence of whether Theobald (son) and Johann Peter were actually brothers and thus sons of Theobald (father), as tradition claims.

Important representatives

Several people descend from both branches of the family whose importance extends beyond Basel:

Older line
  • Christoph Merian (senior) (1769–1849) - businessman and banker, brother of Philipp, seven-times-great-grandson of Theobald Merian.
  • Philipp Merian (1773–1848), brother of Christoph (senior), lives in Freiburg im Breisgau, businessman, philanthropist and founder of the foundation, honorary citizen of Freiburg i. B.
  • Peter Merian (1795–1883), 3rd cousin of Christoph Merian, geologist, co-founder of industrial salt production in Switzerland ( Schweizerhalle ), brother of Johann Rudolf.
  • Johann Rudolf Merian (1797–1871) - mathematician and politician, brother of Peter.
  • Christoph Merian (1800–1858), son of Christoph (senior), nephew of Philipp Merian and 3rd cousin of Peter Merian, landowner, philanthropist and founder of the Christoph Merian Foundation , from which the Christoph Merian Verlag emerged in 1976 .
Younger line

Frankfurt line

In 1624, Matthäus Merian took over the Frankfurt publishing house from his father-in-law Johann Theodor de Bry and in 1626 acquired Frankfurt citizenship. After his death on June 19, 1650, his sons Matthäus d. J. and Caspar founded the publishing house under the name of Matthäus Merians Seel. Inherit away. In 1687 the publishing house passed to the third generation, namely to Johann Matthäus Merian (1659-1716), a son of Matthäus Merian the Younger, who was later raised to the nobility and appointed by the Elector of Mainz to the Privy Councilor. After the death of Johann Matthäus von Merian in 1716, his niece Charlotte Maria von Merian (1691–1729) ran the company until it was dissolved in 1727. With the painter Carl Matthäus Merian (1705–1770), a great-grandson of Matthäus the Elder. Ä., The Frankfurt line died out. The Merianstrasse , the Merianplatz and the Merianschule in the north end remind of them .

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows a black house sign in red on a green three-mountain. In 1563 the family received an improvement in the coat of arms from Emperor Ferdinand I : diagonally divided by black with a golden six-pointed star and gold with a black house symbol on a green three-mountain.

In addition, a variant with the house sign and a stork appeared as early as the 16th century. This coat of arms was confirmed in the nobility diploma of August 15, 1706 for the grandchildren of the elder Matthew (Carl Gustav and Johann Matthäus) with the following blazon: In gold, a natural-colored stork on a green background; Gem: two natural-colored stork wings with a blue house logo.

literature

Web links

Commons : Merian  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.merianverlag.ch/verlag/geschichte.cfm  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.merianverlag.ch  
  2. ↑ Swiss Gender Book , 1955