Blumenthal family
The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Jewish) called Blumenthal, without "von", are to be found worldwide. The family was already noble from earliest times ("Uradel"), dating from the days of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, long before the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, and different branches acquired different titles over time. All living members of the noble family are  descended from Heinrich (V) von Blumenthal (1654–93), whose baronial status was limited to the borders of Brandenburg. Other members of the family were raised to allodial baronies ("Freiherren"), all of which are now extinct, or to countships, of which only one line survives. One member of the family, Georg (I) was a Prince-Bishop (i.e. a head of state). In the case of another, Leonhard (I) the Kaiser announced in the Court Circular his intention to raise him to Prince, but he died months later before this could be enacted. Origin. Like the von Grabow family, whose descendants have included  Pushkin, the Blumenthals were originally a branch of the Ammendorf (or Amendorf ) family, who inherited the estates of Blumenthal and Grabow from the only daughter and heiress of Nikolaus von Blumenthal, first referred to in a document of 1240. His family probably originally came from Bloemendaal ("Flower Valley" or "Valley of Flowers") in Holland and re-located first to Blumenthal near Verden in the diocese of Bremen and thence to Blumenthal in the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, where they were vassals of the Wendish Counts of Plotho, naming each settlement after the previous one. The Plotho family expanded its estates in  the Prignitz in the 13th century, bringing Nikolaus von Blumenthal with them. There he named the villages of Blumenthal and Grabow after his properties in the Archdiocese of Magdeburg. The family of his son-in-law, Ruthger von Amendorf, had also come from the country around Bremen. They inherited Nikolaus von Blumenthal's estates and took his name. The castle of Horst, near Blumenthal in the Prignitz, was the family seat for over 600 years, until 1810. The family also claimed a legendary descent from the Roman Emperor Florianus, as well as from the Arthurian knights Garel and Daniel von  Blumenthal, whose stories are told in 13th-century poems by Der Pleier and Der Stricker, respectively. Martial and political history. The family had a strong military tradition. Twenty of its members died in battle, including one leading a cavalry charge at Blenheim; eleven fought at the Battle of Königgrätz alone, and of eighteen who served in the Franco-Prussian War eleven fought at the Battle of Gravelotte. Nineteen served in the First World War. Three of its members won the Pour le Mérite (Blue Max), two received the Order of the Black Eagle, one became a field-marshal and six  became generals, besides numerous family members who were regimental colonels. The family also produced three Prussian ministers of war, one leading statesman under King Jérome of Westphalia (a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur), Danzig's longest-serving governor and a prominent 19th-century Bavarian politician opposed to rising anti-semitism. One member of the family became a head of state (Georg, Prince-Bishop of Ratzeburg, see below). All living members of the family are descended from Eustachius von Blumenthal and Margarethe Gans zu Puttlitz (married circa 1575). She was a descendant, via the families of Gleichen zu Tonna and Querfurt  from Henry I the Child, Landgrave of Hesse, and thus also of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St Ludwig of Thuringia ("Ludwig the Holy"), St. Hedwig of Silesia and Charlemagne, besides St. Olga of Pleskau, St. Vladimir of Kiev, St. Ludmilla of Bohemia, St. Olaf of Norway and St. Matilda von Ringelsheim. Principal historical estates. In the East Prignitz: Horst (1241–1810); Blumenthal (1263–1810); Hennekendorf (until 1318); Grabow (1274–1312); Dahlhausen (1487–1810); Brüsenhagen (mentioned in 1424); Vehlow (1486–1838; repurchased in 1930s); Krampfer (17th-18th century); Wüsten-Boddin (1458–95); Garz (1438–1541); Kyritz (Townhouse, 1315–1585) In the West Prignitz: Pröttlin (1540–1756); Burg Stavenow (1647–1717); Rauschendorf & Schönermark  (1798–1810); Abbendorf (1715-?); Krampffer In the Old Brandenburg Mark: Schloss Arneburg (1441–1463) In the rest of the Brandenburg Mark: Bukow (1546–1556); Haselberg & Harnekop (1617–1662); Paretz (1677–1795); Flatow (1797–1810); Steinhöfel (1774–1800 - descended to Charlotte von Blumenthal and thence to her son Valentin von Massow) ); Trechwitz (1644–1650); Falkenberg In the Lower Lausitz: Pretschen and Wittmannsdorf (1649 - mid-18th century); Guhrow (briefly in the 17th century) In Mecklenburg: Adamsdorf (formerly Kuhschwanz; 1800–1835) and Liepen (1800–1810) In Halberstadt: the former properties of the von Warberg family (1653–1732) In Anhalt: Quellendorf (1871-late 19th century) bought by Field Marshal Count Leonhardt von Blumenthal from General Count  Henckel von Donnersmarck and later transferred to his son-in-law Rudolf von Oettinger. In Silesia: Hundsfeld in Oels (late 19th century) In Pomerania: Quackenburg (1717–1905); Egsow & Cummerzin (1734–1833); Suckow (19th century to 1874); Varzin (1874; sold to Bismarck); Jannewitz & Wendisch-Puddiger, with Chorow, Wussow, Gross Onessow, Klein Onessow, Groß Schlönwitz (1734–1773 and 1843–1945); Gross Möllen and Loiste (18th century); Staffelde (1883–1945; recovered and resold in 1990s); Segenthin (1834–1945); Deutsch-Puddiger (1839–1945); Grünwalde in Rummelsburg (briefly, 19th century); Natzlaff (19th Century). In West Prussia: Gottschalk & Dohnastedt (1841 – after 1904) In German New Guinea: Kurakagaul & Natava (1904–1920) Heraldry. Arms : Or (or  depending on the branch of the family, party per pale, sable and or); in bend sinister, a vinestock couped (or planted, again depending upon the branch of the family), with three clusters and three leaves proper, all counterchanged. Crest: A virgin, dressed per pale or and sable (or in some cases undressed), between two eagles' wings, holding a wreath in her dexter hand.