| content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gattendorf | |
| Coat of arms | Location |
 |
  |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Bavaria |
| Admin. region | Upper Franconia |
| District | Hof |
| Municipal assoc. | Feilitzsch |
| Local subdivisions | 15 Ortsteile |
| Mayor | Siegfried Schörner (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 22.18 km² (8.6 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 544 m (1785 ft) |
| Population | 1,163 (31/12/2006) |
| - Density | 52 /km² (136 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | HO |
| Postal code | 95185 |
| Area code | 09281 |
| Website | www.gattendorf.de |
For the town in Burgenland, see Gattendorf, Austria.
Gattendorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany.
The distinctive swan coat-of-arms of the municipality of Gattendorf was adopted as municipal coat-of-arms in 1974 after the extinction, in 1944, of the local baronial line. This was the noble German dynasty of von Schmidt auf Altenstadt, local barons in Gattendorf for several centuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt which dated back to Fabricius in the 1500s who, originally surnamed Schmidt, had changed his name to the Latin form "Fabricius" in order to attract the attention of the Emperor Maximilian who ennobled him. During the 1600s his heirs resumed the surname Schmidt to which was added the suffix "auf Altenstadt". http://search.swyrich.com/samplehistory/schmidt.htm The family were established as local barons in Gattendorf.
The family line was represented in the eighteenth century by generations 6 through 11: 6 Wolf-Christoph who in 18 October 1712/23 and February 1713 was granted augmentation by Emperor Charles VI of a knight's arm holding a sword to is family's swan coat-of-arms, extended to his heirs Anton Johann Christoph, Johan George, and Christopher Wolf (successive lords of Gattendorf)--to clarify, three brothers succeeded each other, as the first two died without leaving heirs;finally, the third brother to succeed had children so that the line was able to continue. 7 Johan George (above) 8 Christoph Wolf died 7 December 1720. 9 Daniel Wolf, Johann Friedrich, and Johan Daniel 10 Johann George Schmidt who applied 13 May 1740 that the coat-of-arms and title be re-issued, married Hedwig Eva and his will was probated 15 September 1766 11 three brothers: Carl Wilhelm, Chamber Junker, Lt. Hussars; George Moritz, Lt. Hannover; Johann Daniel August and three daughters: Charlotte; Christina Caroline Hedwig; and Eleonora.
The family was reperesented in the nineteenth century by (12) Christoph August von Schmidt who was ennobled by the Tsar orf Russia while serving as a Provost at the University of St Petersburg and awarded the orders of St Stanislaus and Sts Ann-and-Vladimir; erected a monument in the city of Hof http://www.verschoenerungsverein-hof.de/vv_htm/ob_vstaf.htm on which is depicted the simplified version of the Schmidt coat-of-arms: the swan of Gattendorf.
http://www.kirchgattendorf.de/geschichte/haus.jpg http://www.kirchgattendorf.de/geschichte/wall.jpg http://upload.wikipedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Wappen_Gattendorf_OF.png and the swan from their coat-of-arms is still used today in various ways in Gattendorf http://www.kirchgattendorf.de/geschichte/ as well as figuring on a monument in nearby Hof http://www.verschoenerungsverein-hof.de/vv_htm/ob_vstaf.htm and the baronial line became extinct with the death in 1944 of the last baron Hans-Georg Schmidt von Altenstadt of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War. Born 21 August 1904 at Danzig-Lanfur, died 25 July 1944 Lazarett Bad Toelz (field hospital) blinded and wounded; promoted to Major-General 1 July 1944 and posthumously awarded Iron Cross (star) 5 August 1944. http://www.unithistories.com/officers/bio/german/HeerS1.htm http://www.verbrechen-der-wehrmacht.de/pdf/vdw_en.pdf by scrolling down to the article on "Kamenez-Podolsk" it is possible to read about his career during the war. Decades after his death, the municipality of Gattendorf voted to adopt the von Schmidt auf Altenstadt family arms as their municipal coat-of-arms, usually by simplifying it to the original swan. The original version had been just a swan on a shield http://www.kirchgattendorf.de/geschichte/wall.jpg and had later been augmented by the addition of an armoured knight's arm holding a sword http://www.kirchgattendorf.de/geschichte/haus.jpg which can also be seen carved in stone above the doorway of Schloss Gattendorf http://www.schloss-gattendorf.de/img/Hochzeit.jpg though the more elaborate version is still used as the logo http://www.schloss-gattendorf.de/kontakt/ of the Schloss (palace) which is now run as a luxury hotel by the city of Gattendorf.
|
|||||||
 |
This Hof district location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
