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The von Knorring Family |
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©2010
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The Knorr family in Eichsfeld
The von Knorring family are descended from German knights, who for several generations in the 12th century were wardens of the Episcopal castle of Rusteberg near Heiligenstadt in Eichsfeld, Thüringen. They originally bore the name von Rusteberg, later von Uder after the town nearby where they settled. During the 13th century they took the surname Knorr, sometimes spelt Knorre (in Latin Cnorre).
The earliest known ancestor Gunterus de Rusteberg (Gunther of Rusteberg), who is mentioned in legal documents in 1123, 1125 and 1145, was probably born around 1070. The family branches von Rusteberg and Knorr separated at the end of the 12th century, and the Rusteberg family line is now extinct.
The noble family Knorr were land owners in Thüringen throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th century they called themselves von Knorr, and in the 19th century they became barons. The last member of the German Knorr family, baron Christian Sittig von Knorr, died in 1847, but the name was kept by his two daughter's families, who added it to their own - the barons von Hanstein-Knorr and von Wintzengerode-Knorr.
The original Knorr family now survives only through the Baltic and Swedish/Finnish family branches. There are however other Knorr families originating from different regions of Germany, for example the family of the Swiss food manufacturer Knorr.
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The brothers Heiso Cnorre (Heinrich Knorr), Tilo Cnorre (Dietrich Knorr) and Conrad de Odera (Konrad von Uder) sealed this document in 1341. They had a fourth brother, mentioned as Herwicus de Othera dictus Cnorre (Hartwig von Uder, called Knorre), who is the forefather of the continuation of the Knorr family. The old seals on legal documents are the earliest examples of the family coat of arms. (Picture from the family chronicle) |