My Family Crest .....

THE ENNOBLEMENT of Johann von Meyer

I always wondered what the the image of the framed crest I owned meant, I mean all the colors and the motto, so I did this research.

I am fortunate enough to own the original drawing of our family crest...This crest was originated for my Grt.grt. grandfather Johann Meyer, he was ennobled and given the title "baron" the "von" in front of Meyer ( a small "v" meaning a title) the titles have been passed down to my sister and me as "baroness". However, it is the end of the line there, I have two daughters and I believe it is not transferrable to them. I have not used my title since I became a citizen of the United States and got married...

One must note, not everyone can use the crest of a family, mine can only be passed on and never used outside of the immediate family, this is part of the ennoblement.

The Motto inscribed:

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.

Dum Spiro, Spero, Whilst I breathe my hope is in the cross.

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, mottos 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.

von Meyer

USAGE OF MY CREST!

This notice is for those that have inquired about the crest displayed here on the lens. Unfortunately this crest for v."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 Armorials for profit and other purposes.

COAT of ARMS & CRESTS belong to INIVIDUALS, NOT SURNAMES

interesting reading...

Coats 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. This is why there is 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. This is why there is often more than one coat of arms associated with a given surname. See 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. You can try to narrow the search by geographic region of origin, but there may also 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, then 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.

You can try to narrow the search by geographic region of origin, but there may also 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, then 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.

A 1933 ARTICLE

this is an article written about my grandfather, it actually was written in 1933 honoring him for all he had done for the town of Dresden Germany.
I have a translation of the article that I will post here soon and find a larger version of this image.

Johann Meyer 1800-1887

PHILANTHROPIST

When we visited Dresden in 2006, we where invited to the Dresden Stadt Museum to view a "Wood Cutting" of the image of Johann v. Meyer. 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 is nice to see that the city is being rebuilt, it's still hard for me to understand why of all the cities in Germany they chose to destroy this most beautiful cultured city, with over 250,000 innocent children women and old people dying that night.

Johann von Meyer

A COMMEMORATION PLAQUE

While in Dresden the Museum director gave me 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!

While there, I found out not only did he build one building but the whole street. His first building was to accomodate the poor working people at the Meissen Factory. He also built schools and helped churches, set up trusts that to this day are still in affect. These are just some of the things he did to warrent his ennoblement. And for one year he was the Honorary Citizen Mayor of that beautiful city Dresden.
Johann Meyer's concern for those that worked so hard in the city factories and no place to live, makes me very proud of his philanthropy...to this day grants are still active.

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.

ONE BUILDING

This photo was taken kidicorner, looking down the street with more builings he had built.

AN APARTMENT COMPLEX

this was on the corner across the street, a very large apartment complex...interesting that all these buildings survived the fire bombing of 1945.

a DIAGRAM of a COAT OF ARMS

listed
1. part of the official coat of arms
2. items not specified in any particular coat of arms

interesting diagram

A LINK LIST

very interesting information

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.
when I lived in a Castle: a time during WWII when we lived in a castle.
Turkish (Ottoman Empire) Gallipoli Star Medal of WW1: a medal that was awarded to my dad in WWI, the history behind it.
Johann-Meyer-Stra: Intersting 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
Family Crest and Coat of Arms: Parts of a Coat of Arms: Heraldry & the Parts of a Coat of
Arms The Meanings Behind the
SymbolsSample
Crests | Variations for One
NameHeraldry
Bookstore | Home
A Brief History of Heraldry
Heraldry has been defined as the art of blazoning, assigning, and
marshallin
Leipziger Vorstadt: This page is in German, however you can translate it. Information and a brief history on Johann v. Meyer and the naming of the street.
It explains that he gave money to build many buildings for the working class people that needed housing, the trust still exsists today.

Feedback would be nice!

if you find this of interest, let me know and sign my Guestbook

I have a lot to add on this page, but will do it slowly...so come back and check often, or bookmark this page.

******************************************************

EverythingMouse

Another great lens!

You have been Blessed by a Squid Angel

Posted September 13, 2008

edah1308

I really enjoyed this lens. I will be checking out more of your lenses in the future. I also wanted to thank you for your comment on my Finding Ephraim series. You made my day. You're invited to join my genealogy group Genealodocious. This lens is perfect Genealodocious material. I gave it a 5.

Posted September 11, 2008

Societygifts

While I've been interested in Heraldry for a number of years, I find your lens extremely interesting and informative.
Family Crests

Posted September 10, 2008

ElizabethJeanAllen

Very informative lens. Family histories make for great reading.
5 *
Lizzy

Posted September 08, 2008

ms-giggles

Wonderful lens 5***** I really had know idea about Family Crest untill I read your lens. Very informative. I wanted to thank you for signing my guess book, what you said meant a lot to me.
God Bless Beth

Posted September 05, 2008

lisadh

Great reading. I always thought a coat of arms was associated with a family name. That's for the education! 5*

Posted August 12, 2008

Margo_Arrowsmith

I had one done as a gift to my parents years ago. I thought it was just a gimmick as they must be ancient to be 'real'.

Well, thanks for this, now I know better.

While you seem to know so much of your history, I would bet that there are also some legends. I would love for you to visit http://www.squidoo.com/familylegends.

I have read a few of your lenses this morning, they are unique and I thank you.

Posted August 09, 2008

driewe

Your Grandfather sounds like a great man. My Great Grandfather came over from Prussia by himself when he was 14. Well actually, he had everything planned to come by himself and had already done the funding when his older brother (16) said he was going to go along to look out after him :-) It shocks me what our ancestors did and went up against. May God grant them all eternal memory. Oh, 5 stars too!

Posted March 08, 2008

Nathanville

5* and lens roll for a very informative lens. I note your interest in genealogy and history, you may be interested in visiting A Victorian Scrapbook by George Burgess which is packed with both.

Posted January 03, 2008

FAMILY COAT OF ARMS CREST ITEMS on eBay

great research for genealogy and such...

just a note, this is just a glitch!
if there is nothing showing for ebay here, click on their eBay logo and put in the words Family Crest Coat of Arms, you will find many nice items...