My Family Crest .....
Ranked #99 in Relationships & Family, #14,212 overall
THE ENNOBLEMENT of a Meyer
A NOTE: When I first started this lens (webpage) I mentioned that this crest was earned by my g.g.grandfather Johann Meyer for his philanthropy, however during my 2011 research I discovered some inconsistencies about the von, so now I'm trying to find out the how, when and why. Possibly my grandfather Ludwig Adolf von Meyer was the one earning the title since he had the 'von' come back often, the search goes on!
I was always curious about the framed original painting of our family crest that I own. What did the colors mean, the images and motto? so I did some research.
This original drawing...is just one of the items in an old suitcase that I inherited.
My mom told me the crest was originated for my g.g.grandfather Johann Meyer, ennobled and given the title "Baron" the "von" in front of Meyer, although I have never seen it used with his name. However as of late research, I am now thinking it could have been my grandfather that was ennobled, so the search goes on for who was the beginning of the 'von' and the crest? (a small "v" meaning a title it can also mean 'from', meaning not a Nobel) the titles have been passed down to my sister and me as "Baroness." As far as the 'von' the end of the line, is my sister and me. I have two daughters and I believe the title is not transferable to them, although I have heard it can be...but neither of them have any interest.
I have not used my title since I got married and became a citizen of the United States...In the US everyone thinks you are Royalty because you have a title, that's not true, each title is earned or either past on in families depending how it came about.
What I have written here is what I have been told or heard through conversations over the years. The items I have inherited including a hand written Genealogy chart are a few things shown on this lens. Since most records have been destroyed in the war, it's extremely hard to find information on my family...I just know who I am, who my parents were and what was told to me and what I have experienced.
Please watch this Video!!
it's entered in a Contest!
- CLICK HERE: Searching to conclude the path to Who I am..
Searching the path to Who I am...
a short Video entered in an Ancestry.com contest to help me find the empty spaces of who I am. We survived the war and lost everything except a few things in a suitcase (see lens) which led me to the contest...to find help for the missing pieces...
Thanks for watching!
von Meyer
USAGE OF MY CREST!
This notice is for those that have inquired about my crest on this lens. This original painted crest for von Meyer can not be used, saved, copied or transferred to any other individual...a copyright restriction applies and it is illegal to use this image for the purpose of reproducing, and the making of Heraldry, Family Crests, Armorial, insignia rings/items for profit and other purposes including personal.
Coat of Arms & Crests belong to individuals, NOT surnames
interesting reading at fleurdelis...
oats of Arms and Crests Belong to Individuals, Not Surnames.
Coats of arms are not awarded to a family or a name, but to an individual. That's why there's no coat of arms or family crest for the family name "Hardin" -- only a coat of arms and crest granted to someone with that name many years ago...and that's the reason why there's often more than one coat of arms associated with a given surname. Check out the various Hardin arms from different countries and regions. In England, direct descent is required for any heir to have the legal right to bear his ancestor's coat of arms.
Narrowing the search by geographic region of origin, you'll find there also may be more than one coat of arms awarded to several people in ancient Germany. Further complicating the issue is that the authoritative source information for most coats of arms only lists a city and/or county or origin, and sometimes only a country.
That is why, unless you can trace your family history to one individual, and unless the sources list that individual, the best that you can hope for is to find a coat of arms that is the oldest for a given name from a given region or the one most frequently used. Coats of arms usually started out fairly simple in design, then subsequent generations added onto or made slight variations to the design to make it their own. Marriages often resulted in a combination of two different family lines' coats of arms.
reference
T he Motto inscribed beneath the 'von Meyer' Crest Banner:
Dum Spiro Spero
While I live, I hope; or, While there's life, there's hope.
Hope while you live, for who would care to cope
With life's three foes, unpanoplied with hope?
Hope against hope, while fed with vital breath.
Hope be your anchor in the hour of death
E.C.B.
Whilst I breathe my hope is in the cross
Dum Spiro Spero
informative links on who uses this motto
Not only do family names use this motto, but Hospitals, Military, Schools, Towns and a State have affiliations with the usage of this motto.
- Dum spiro spero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Dum spiro spero means "While I breathe, I hope" or "Live - a century of Hope"[1] in Latin and is generally attributed to Cicero
- Dum spiro spero -
- eNotes.com Reference
- Dum spiro spero Summary | BookRags.com
- Dum spiro spero. Dum spiro spero summary with 2 pages of encyclopedia entries, research information, and more.
- Family Crest Motto
- Do you need information on a family crest motto? Family crests don't have motto's but coats of arms do, so for purposes of this article the terms will be used interchangeably. There is lots to learn about these motto's, as well as about the crests and coats of arms they are found on.
the MEANING of the Crest
EVERYTHING ON A CREST HAS A MEANING AND PURPOSE
Gold (Or) Generosity and elevation of the mind
Silver or White (Argent) Peace and sincerity
Blue (Azure) Truth and loyalty
Green (Vert) Hope, joy, and loyalty in love
Olive Branch
or Leaves Peace and concordance
Plant Hope and joy
The star,
celestial, noble person
The helm
or helmet is used to indicate the rank of the bearer of the arms from the gold full-faced helm of royalty to the steel helmet with closed visor of a gentleman.
The mantle
Originally intended to shield the knight from the heat of the sun and to ward off rain, the mantle was a piece of cloth placed over the helmet, draping down the back to the base of the helm. The mantle, contoise, or lambrequin is often embellished on the artistic coat of arms to give prominence to the arms and crest, and is usually presented as ribbons over the helm.
The wreath
The wreath is a twisted silken scarf used to cover the joint where the crest is attached to the helmet. Modern heraldry depicts the wreath as if two colored scarves had been braided together, the colors showing alternately. These colors are the same as the first named metal and the first named color in the blazon, and are known as "the colors."
The motto
Not officially granted with a coat of arms, motto's are a phrase which incorporates the basic philosophy of the family or an ancient war cry. They may or may not be present on an individual coat of arms, and are normally placed below the shield or occasionally above the crest.
dum spiro spero: Whilst I breathe my hope is in the cross.
Title reads: 50 Years he's been dead, the "RUSSIAN MEYER"
Article written January 7, 1933
n article written about my g.g. grandfather, detailing his journey and Russian involvement with Industries that gave him the name Salt and Cotton Mogul and Grosskaufmann (great merchant), the rest of the story honoring him for all he had done for the city of Dresden Germany.
January 1937 newpaper article
He had been dead for 50 year but they remember him
January 20, 1994 Sachsische Zeitung article
recently found another article in the online SZ Sächsische Zeitung written Jan. 6, 2006
Letter from STADTMUSEUM (State Museum)
recordings of his Philanthropy time table and amounts.
nfortunately this letter is in German, for those that can read German you might be able to understand it. It basically starts with 1863 with 1200 Mark and went total 575,200 Marks, which in those days was a great deal of money...With his philanthropy Johann Meyer was given the title of Honored Citizen of Dresden.
Also stating in the letter that in October 1991 and January 1994 the newspapers had articles commemorating his Philanthropy. The first Newspaper article was written in 1933, I can't find the ones written earlier in my research, most likely they where destroyed from the in Firebombing of Dresden 1945.
Page 1 explaining his donations and reasons for ennoblement
2nd page more philanthropy records
Seven Point Baroness Crown
and the meaning behind it.
N
ow whoever was ennobled also received the 7 point crown that goes with the title Baroness/Baron.
My grandmother passed on her Baroness crown (brooch) to my mother. The brooch was about 2 inches wide, platinum with seven 3/4 diamonds each and a small safety chain for protection of loss. Sadly this brooch and some rings were stolen from mom in San Francisco many years ago.
*Below is a description of the meaning of the crown (click on the above crown image, it will take you to wikipedia.)
Families which had been ennobled at a definite point in time (Briefadel or "nobility by patent") had seven points on their coronet. These families held their fief in vassalage from a suzerain. The holder of an allodial (i.e. suzerain-free) barony was thus called a Free Lord, or Freiherr. Subsequently, sovereigns in Germany conferred the title of Freiherr as a rank in the nobility, without implication of allodial or feudal status.
Johann Meyer 1800-1887
PHILANTHROPIST
n 2006 we visited Dresden, and the Stadt Museum invited us to view a "Wood Cutting" of the image of Johann Meyer by famed Hugo Bürkner. The visit to the Museum was very interesting, they took us to a vault and gave us white gloves to wear so that we might handle the books. It is by pure luck that these items from the Museum survived through the Anglo-American firebombing of Dresden in 1945. My father and my aunt where caught in the midst of the bombing, I heard some very terrible stories about that night.
We visited many places in Dresden and it's nice to see that the city is being rebuilt. I still have a hard time understanding why of all the cities in Germany, they chose to destroy this most beautiful cultured city, with over 250,000 innocent children, women, old people and prisoners of war dying that night.
A wood-cutting by the famed Hugo Burkner in Dresden Museum
Allgemainder Bildniskatalog by Hans W. Singer
presented to us in the Museum for viewing
Inside the book with the listing of the woodcuting of Johann Meyer
Villa Meyer
designed by Georg Hermann Nicolai
While in Dresden I wanted to see where his Villa Meyer once stood, I knew it had been firebombed and destroyed. It was designed and built by the famed Georg Hermann Nicolai, but for some reason we never made it there, a big regret.
When I saw the Villa Meyer listed on Nicolai's Wikipedia, I knew there had to be more information available.
Can you imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to find images of the Villa on Wikepedia! I had just mentioned that I wished I had images of this Villa after seeing it listed on Georg Nicolai data.
Unfortunately this house on Beuststraße 1/Parkstraße Dresden was destroyed in 1945 from the firebombing and then completely torn down in 1952.
Back portion
Hermann Nicolais' drawing of the plan
Villa Meyer drawing
My first visit 2006 Dresden
Today there are even many more buildings in the background
Johann-Meyer-Str.
and a plaque
A Commemoration Plaque
and a Street Name
The Museum director gave us directions to see the Street that was named after Johann Meyer the "Johann-Meyer-Strasse"... as you can see there is Graffiti on the street plaque sign, you can't get away from it...what a shame!
I also found out not only did he build one building but the whole street with MANY buildings. His first building was to accommodate the poor working people at the Factories. He also built Schools, Hospitals and helped Churches, setting up trusts that to this day are still in affect. These are just some of the things he did to warrant his ennoblement, and for one year he was the Honorary Citizen Mayor of that beautiful city Dresden.
Johann Meyer's heartfelt concern for those that worked so hard in the city factories living in deplorable disease ridden conditions was without notice, and the fact he gave a huge amount of money to the poor to be distributed amongst them, makes me exceedingly proud of him...how lucky I am and that his blood flows through my veins...
Street name on the corner
This is the corner of the street with the street name. I'm standing in front of one of the buildings.
An apartment complex
for workers in the earlier years
This was on the corner across the street, a very large apartment complex...interesting that most these buildings survived the fire bombing of 1945.
One Building
and many more
This photo was taken kidicorner, looking down the street with more buildings he had built.
Information about Johann Meyer
Short History about his accomplishments and philanthropy written in German, sent to me by the Museum Director.)
I found my Meyer family-grave sites
but more mistakes have been found...
When we visited Dresden I found out from the Museum where the Trinitatis Cemetery was located, we took a bus there and a nice lady took us to the area that the Meyer family grave site was. I took photos, but never noticed the discrepancy until just recently when things just didn't mesh with my g.g.grandfathers' Johann Meyer name. You must understand that the name Meyer is as popular as Smith is here in the states, So you can see that this research has been frustrating especially finding some more mistakes.
I happen to find a photo on Flicker that showed the same grave site that I took a photo of, and that's when I noticed the last name was wrongly spelled Mayer, but the years were correct - also I noticed on the name below his, it said Frau, and that usually means wife, but can also mean woman. The first name Auguste was correct, but Muller was not the correct last name, it also said she was born Mayer, now that could be a daughter because there was a Muller in the family...Johann's wife's' name was Auguste Dorothea 'Fehst'
Oh boy, how does one correct all this? And the mystery just gets deeper....I believe this is Johann Meyer headstone even though the headstone looks fairly new I just wonder who replaced this from the original. My grandfather and great grandfather are right next to him, as seen in the photograph.
Mistake on gravestone?
now to find out what is what and who is who...
Grandfather and great grandfather's grave site
Noticing the Meyer and von Meyer on this plaque it makes me wonder now who got the ennoblement...I noticed Johann Meyer name was never used with the von, but that could mean the next generation could...I doubt I will ever find out the whole story...shame on me for not asking more questions when my mom was alive.
Now I wonder where my Uncle Eugen v. Meyer (dad's brother) is buried, I know he died in 1962 and childless (the story about him kidnapping my sister and me is in the lens "my US citizenship"
Ludwig Adolf von Meyer
my grandfather
T
his is my grandfather Ludwig Adolf von Meyer...during my research as I mentioned above, I discovered his name on his Grave site the title of "von" so maybe he was the one ennobled and given the title and crest. Of course this von now included my grandmother, and then my father Alexander, my mom and sister and me.
I don't understand why I'm having such difficulty in establishing this...I'm in the process of verification and more information....
A list of names that I know of from my Meyer side
* von Meyer
* Meyer
* Fhest
* Feest
* Streit
* Watson
* Toal
-----------------------
Georgianna von Meyer (Ives)
my grandmother...click on her image to go to her lens
The list of names from her Ives side
* Thrall
* Bissell
* Upson
* Grannis
* Thorp
* Shailer
* Fitch
* Welch
* Whitmore
* Roberts
* Captain J. Cone (Cane?)
* Loomis
* William Ives (line from England)
-----------------------------
Ahnentafel (genealogy chart) of my fathers family
front page
Ahnentafel (genealogy chart)
page two
Ahnentafel (genealogy chart)
page three
Some items with the family crest
This ring is known to be called a Siegel-Ring, Wappen-Ring, Signet-Ring, Seal-Ring, Crest-Ring. The other one is gold and quite worn, but the one shown here was replaced by the German government during WWII when you had to turn in your gold...it's made out of some kind of metal...this was also used to sign with a wax seal.
********************* Thank You for the Purple Star! ***********************
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Thanks for stopping by and viewing this lens...hope it was informative. I will be adding all new research as I find it, so come back often.
Anyone who visits my lens can comment!
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typing-jobs-from-home
May 23, 2012 @ 1:00 pm | delete
- Wow! This is one of the biggest lens' I've seen. Great Job!!
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Steve_Kaye
May 21, 2012 @ 3:45 pm | delete
- You have done a lot of work researching your family history. It's amazing what you find through such a quest.
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sandyswriter-review
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- Interesting lens.
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HenkWillemse
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- Family Tree Builder - Free genealogy program - MyHeritage.com
- Download Family Tree Builder - excellent free genealogy software. Downloaded more than 5 million times.
- Free Genealogy - AncestralFindings.com
- Free genealogy research of birth, census, death, land, marriage, military and state records indexes. A must see for those conducting a family genealogical searches
- FamilySearch.org — Free Family History and Genealogy Records
- Discover your family history. Explore the world's largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.
- RootsWeb.com Home Page
- RootsWeb - the Internet's oldest and largest FREE genealogical community. An award winning genealogical resource with searchable databases, free Web space, mailing lists, message boards, and more.
- Genealogy lookups
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- 101 Ways to Research Your Family Tree for Free
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- Olive Tree Genealogy - free genealogy for your ancestors
- Search for ancestors in Free Genealogy and history site specializing in free primary source genealogy records especially ships' passenger lists, church records, military records, Huguenots and more
- ancestry.com
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copyright protected
A diagram of a Coat of Arms
Image credit fleurdelis.com
listed description above diagram::
1. left side: part of an official coat of arms
2. right side: items not specified in any particular coat of arms
Crest Signet Rings
Link List to Coat of Arms, Crest items, Genealogy, Motto's, Achitectures
and more interesting information concerning JM
- Johann-Meyer-Stra
- Interesting and wonderful images of Dresden, this site can be translated into English...the man on the latter(right side picture on site) is my father, the Frauen Kirche behind him...pre 1945
- Dresden's future takes shape in the Hechtviertel
- 2010 article recalling Johann Meyers involvement in this city project
- Family Crest and Coat of Arms: Parts of a Coat of Arms
- Heraldry & the Parts of a Coat of Arms The Meanings Behind the Symbols
- Coat of arms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Coat of arms From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Motto Coat of arms elements coat of arms or armorial bearings ( - Dum spiro spero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Dum spiro spero From Wikipedia,
"While I breathe, I hope" in Latin and is generally attributed to Cicero[1].
It is a motto of various places and families.
Contents
1 States and Towns
2 Families
3 Organizations
4 Refer - Wapedia - Wiki: Dum spiro spero
- Wiki: Dum spiro speroAd: Fashion at Art Institute Dum spiro spero means
"While I breathe, I hope" in Latin and is generally attributed to
Cicero [1] . - Dum spiro spero: Information from Answers.com
- Dum spiro spero While I breathe I hope
- while there's life there's hope: Information from Answers.com
- While there's life there's hope Cf. [Theocritus Idyll iv. 42] there's hope among the living; [Cicero Ad Atticum ix
- Family Crest
- Family Crest. Copyright free Family Crest images from my personal collection for you to use in your art work.
- Coats of Arms and Crests Belong to Individuals, Not Surnames
- This is a good site to learn about the meanings behind a family name crest.
- Armorial Gold Heraldry Art - Family Mottoes
- 8,000 Family Mottoes-A Free Resource.
- Excuse Me, But There's No Such Thing As A Family Crest
- The Term "Family Crest" -- A Problem of Semantics?
- von - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- In German, von is a preposition which approximately means of or from.
When it is used as a part of a German family name, it is usually a nobility particle. - German Titles of Nobility
- German Titles of Nobility updated: 2007-02-25 At first some explanations
considering German titles of nobility:
Passing the title on:
German titles of nobility DON'T work like English titles. - Category:Hugo Bürkner - Wikimedia Commons
- Bürkner Hugo(1818-1897),a German illustrator and wood cutter, much to the development of the woodcuts in Germany was contributed by him. My grt.grt.grandfather Johann Meyers image was done by Bürkner.
- Liste deutscher Adelsgeschlechter A-M - Wikipedia
- List of German Nobility names...with great images of crests.
- Coat of Arms.....Myths - Family Timeline
- To begin with, coats of arms are never issued to families; they are issued to individuals. Coats of arms are issued by Heralds and there are different Heralds in each country in the UK and in Europe.
- Family Crest Motto
- Do you need information on a family crest motto? Family crests don't have motto's but coats of arms do, so for purposes of this article the terms will be used interchangeably. There is lots to learn about these motto's, as well as about the crests and coats of arms they are found on.
- Find Your Noble Ancestors:
- Would you like to find out if you belong to an ancient noble family?
*Are you interested in genealogy and family search?
*Are you by birth or marriage related to an old family?
Check out this site, interesting and very informative with lots of LINKS... - College of Arms
- College of Arms London - Arms Resources - Recent Grants -
Frequently Asked Questions - State Archives Schaffhausen: Genealogie, Wappen der Schaffhauser Familien
- This is a real neat website with images of Crests.
Genealogy and Heraldry of the town of Schaffhausen Genealogical Register
(Genealogie und Wappen der Stadt Schaffhausen Genealogische Register)
In Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance Speech Nov 4, 2008
he quoted, "that while we breathe, we hope!"
Dum Spiro, Spero
More links I found about Johann Meyer
and the Villa Meyer
- Georg Hermann Nicolai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Georg Hermann Nicolai was a German architect who built Johann von Meyers villa, listed as "Villa Meyer"
- The Cambridge companion to modern ... - Google Book Search
- This book The Cambridge companion to modern German culture By Eva Kolinsky, Wilfried van der Will mentions the "Villa Meyer"
- Die Bauten, technischen und ... - Google Books
- I found this German online library that shows in a book some of the buildings Johann Meyer had built.
Advanced Book SearchDie Bauten, technischen und industriellen Anlagen von Dresden By Sächsischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein, Dresden - Wissenschaftlicher Führer durch Dresden - Google Books
- Another book related to the donating money by J. v.Meyer for the poor working class to have decent housing.
Wissenschaftlicher Führer durch Dresden edited by Fr Schäfer - Zur Wohnungsfrage im königreich ... - Google Books
- Amazing what has been listed on the internet...another mention of J. v.Meyers generosity.
Wohnungsfrage im königreich Sachsen: Inaugural-Dissertation zur ... By Walther Naumann - Georg Hermann Nicolai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is the architect that designed and built Johann v. Meyers' Villa...
Georg Hermann Nicolai (born Torgau, 10 January 1812 - died Bodenbach (Elbe) 10 July 1881) was a German architect and educator, Professor of Arch - Renaissance Revival architecture: Information from Answers.com
- Renaissance Revival architecture 'Neo-Renaissance' Mentions the Villa MEYER
For the style of Among the most accomplished examples of the style were Villa Meyer in Dresden,
Another type of Crest for a Von Meyer
notice the capitol 'Von'
I had run across this image when researching a few years back, if you notice the name is with a capitol Von....I'm not sure who this was given to or inherited, but thought it was interesting to see and wanted to share it here.
Family Coat of Arms & Crest items
on eBay
German Genealogy Book
on Amazon Spotlight
For those genealogists who have not done any research abroad, this book will be a valuable resource. Should you need a hand, small, no frills reference book, this is the book for your personal library.
Finding Your German Ancestors : A Beginner's Guide (Finding Your Ancestors)
Amazon Price: $5.16 (as of 05/31/2012)
List Price: $9.95
Used Price: $2.12
Release Date: 12/31/1969
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Genealogy items
on eBay
Genealogy books and related items
on eBay
Postcards from Germany
on eBay
Family research items
on Amazon
More of my lenses related to family research
Originally Created on 12/17/2007
by d-artist
I have a great deal of pride in my family name on both sides...my fathers "von Meyer", my mothers "Fredersdorff" Both sides have great history...This lens... more »
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