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In some cases, even an existing non-noble von became noble, or vice versa, therefore the same surname sometimes would be shared by noble and non-noble individuals. Especially in the Northwest (Bremen, Hamburg, Holstein, Lower Saxony, Schleswig, Westphalia) and in German-speaking Switzerland, von is a frequent element in non-noble surnames. [1]
In German personal names, von is a preposition which approximately means 'of' or 'from' and usually denotes some sort of nobility.While von (always lower case) is part of the family name or territorial designation, not a first or middle name, if the noble is referred to by their last name, use Schiller, Clausewitz or Goethe, not von Schiller, etc.
Von has also been used in some noble families of German or Swedish origin. Thus Carl Linnaeus , upon his ennoblement, took the name Carl von Linné . The particles af and von do not have to be used with a toponym; they can simply be attached to the pre-noble surname.
von – "of", "from"; often a sign of nobility, but also just a geographical term of the name originated of a location. zu - ( German ) "at"; a sign of nobility, sometimes in the combination von und zu , meaning the noble family still owns the place of naming
Von is a Germanic-language preposition that approximately means of or from. When it prefixes a surname it is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. When it prefixes a surname it is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence.
Historically, German entities that recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the German Confederation (1814–1866), and the German Empire (1871–1918). Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the German Empire had a policy of expanding his political base by ennobling nouveau riche industrialists and businessmen who ...
Sometimes von is also used in geographical names that are not noble, as in von Däniken. With family names originating locally, many names display particular characteristics of the local dialects, such as the south German, Austrian and Swiss diminutive endings -l-el, -erl, -le or -li as in Kleibl, Schäuble or Nägeli (from 'Nagel', nail). The ...
This list of German abbreviations includes abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms found in the German language. Because German words can be famously long, use of abbreviation is particularly common. Even the language's shortest words are often abbreviated, such as the conjunction und (and) written just as "u." This article covers standard ...