Von

From Wikinfo

Von (generally in small case only as von) is a German preposition which approximately means of or from.

When it is used as a part of a German family name, it has traditionally been indicative of a member of the nobility. At certain times and places, it was illegal to use von before one's family name unless one was a member of the nobility. The particle was used extensively for the Junker class.

The abolition of the monarchies in Germany and Austria in 1919 meant that neither state had a privileged nobilty, and both had exclusively republican governments. In Germany, this meant that in principle von simply became an ordinary part of the names of the people who used it. There were no longer any legal privileges or constraints associated with this naming convention, although in practice, many people with von in their names are still listed in telephone books and other files under the rest of their name. (e.g. Ludwig von Mises would be under m in the phone book rather than v.)

In Austria, in contrast, not only were the privleges of the nobility abolished, their titles were abolished as well. Thus, for example, Friedrich von Hayek became Freidrich Hayek in 1919 when Austria abolished all indicators of nobilty in family names.

Historical illustrations

In many English and American books, General Ludendorff is erroneously written as von Ludendorff. He refused the title offered to him by William II. He was never a "von"; i.e. never a member of the aristocracy. ¹ The mistake is often made due to the fact that Ludendorff was associated with the Junker class via his mother, Klara von Tempelhoff, rather than his father who was a commoner. Preceding WWII, Ludendorff figured predominantly in the American press as an example of the aristocratic nature (though erroneous) of Nazism. They made much ado about Nazism being a creature of conservative, aristocratical, Junker politics. This confusion of by the American press was fueled by typical American ignorance of the European situation, hatred for anything royal or aristocratic and war propaganda.

References

1. Liberty or Equality, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Christendom Press, Front Royal, Virginia, l993. pg 363.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Von" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von, used under the GNU Free Documentation License