Richter Name History

The Richter name originated in the land which became the modern German state of Prussia. The medival area now known as Prussia was populated by clans who warred over ownership of the land. The Richter family came from the Brandenburg area which was known as West Prussia area.

There were later variations of the name Richter; Ricter, Rickter, Rychter, Rycter and many more.

source: House of Names

Surname: Richter
Recorded in several spellings including Richter, Richters, and Richteering (German), Rickers (English), de Rechter (Flemish), Rigter (Danish), Rychter (Polish), Rychtar (Czech), and others, this is a surname of pre 7th century origins. It derives from the ancient German word 'rihtoere' meaning 'to make right', and hence this was an occupational or status name for a part time judge or chief. It is said that in the Middle Ages the term was used to mean an amateur settler of disputes, perhaps a village wiseman or somebody so considered, and certainly one held in high esteem by the local community. In some areas there was later a role reversal in that the word and hence the surname, came to mean a full time headman or chief. With this type of name it is always difficult to say after the passage or seven centuries or more, what the actual meaning was at the moment when the name was 'bestowed'. It is always possible that it was a nickname, and might even mean the literally reverse meaning of what it seems to mean. The first known recording in any spelling anywhere is believed to be that of Hugo Richters of Eblingen, Germany in the charters of that town in 1279.

I was also told that Richter meant Judge. similiar to headman or chief.

source: surnameDB

Definition: The Lord's administrator of a village; an occupational surname from the Middle High German "rihtære" meaning judge.
Surname Origin: German, Czech
Alternate Surname Spellings: RYCHTR, RYCHTAR, RECTOR

source: genealogy about.com

Zallenfelde - family names

Zallenfelde

I've been spending quite a bit of time pouring over the Zallenfelde's Evangelish Kirche's Birth and Baptism Records 1838- 1944.

The most frequent family names in the family tree are; of course Richter, Porsch, Maschitzki. The Richter women married and family names include Viohl, Knoblauch, Heck, Thiedman and Daniel.

I discovered that comparing the oral family history to the actual birth/baptism records that most folks seemed to go by the second or third names. For instance Gr. Gma was known as "Ida" but it turns out her full name is "Emilie Maria Ida". So I was able to add the full names to the information we already knew.

I've been able to puzzle together what I think are the marriages and children from 1938 to 1944 but without the marriage records I will not be able to know for sure. I have turned my efforts towards this endeavor. If you have any information from the Zallenfelde's marriage or death records I would appreciate hearing from you.

In turn I have quite a bit of information on the families of Zallenfelde. I think the Richter/Maschitzki's were related to pretty much everyone in town if they were Evangelisch that is.

Einwohnerverzeichnis for Marienburg 1938/39

An Einwohnerverzeichnis is a list of inhabitants names and addresses in a town.

In the 1938/39 Einwohnerverzeichnis for Marienburg we find eight listing under Porsch. It's in the Gothic German print. So with the aid of a Gothic print sheet and a german translation site this is what I've come up with.


Porsch
FIRST NAME OCCUPATION ADDRESS
Bruno - Urb., Breussenster 47
Gust. - Schreibgeh / ?Scribe, Ulmenweg 10
Hilda - Um., Topfertor 7
Joh. - maurer/bricklayer, Gneisenastr 9
Johann - Urb., Gtr. 25
Julius - Zugfuhrer / Conductor Ulmenweg 109
Karl - hausdiener / hotel servant, Welsch Gart 11
Marie - Ww., Preussenstr 47


I'm not sure what Ww., Um. or Urb. stands for. Ww. might be Widower. I'm off to find out.
I note that Gust. and Julius both live on Ulmenweg, but it may be a way apart. It'll be interesting to find out how many are related to each other. Only time will tell.

Porsch - Coat of Arms

The Porsch coat of arms is in the top right hand corner.

This illustration is from the Siebmachers Wappebuch who wrote two heraldic multivolume book series of armorial bearings or coats of arms of the nobility within the Holy Roman empire including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc.

SURNAMES IN GERMANY

Phonetics

In Germany names were spelled phonetically. Over the several generations a surname can change. For example Porsch could be spelled Porsch, Borsch, Porschke, or Busch. Also it depended on whether the writer used high or low German. Each village developed their own dialect. the farther the person was away from their village the more chance of the name being spelled differently.

Sources: LDS website, A Geneological Handbook of German Research, Chapter 7: Analyzing surnames and placenames

MERTINS Johanna, birth record

I found this birth record in the same name as my great grandmother Johanna Mertins, born in Dirshau, 24 June 1888. Her Taufen name is Helene Johanna Grethe. I can't make out her father, Friedrich Wilhelm's, occupation.

Passenger List for Helmuth Porsch