Re: New Wedemeyer by marriage
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In reply to:
Re: New Wedemeyer by marriage
Nancy Wedemeyer 8/14/00
Unfortunately, the translation of the name "Wedemeyer" is not correct.A "Meyer" or "Meier" or "Maier" from latin: maior or maius ( "bigger, stronger, more significant") was originally an administration official (compare: Lord Mayor of London). "Wede" is derived from the Saxon "Widu", which means "wood, forest". (The great enemy of Charles the Great, the Duke of Saxony "Widukind" was "child of the forest".) A better translation may be "forest officer" or "forest manager".
The family "von Wedemeyer" comes from Eldagsen (in the south of Hanover), but was only ennobled in 1910/1911 by the emperor William II. (with the "von"). The family was already noble since the days of Konrad (or: Conradt) Wedemeyer (1533-1598), the "Grossvogt von Calenberg" (chief officer in the later Kingdom of Hanover). Oldest known ancestor of the family is "Hans Wedemeyer" - born in 1425 in Osterode (Harz).