Günzburg (surname)
Encyclopedia
History of the name
The Günzburg family originated in the town of GünzburgGünzburg
Günzburg is a Große Kreisstadt and capital of the district of Günzburg in Swabia, Bavaria. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city of Günzburg—which had not previously been assigned to a Kreis —with the district of Günzburg and the district of Krumbach.Günzburg lies...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. It is believed that the family went there from the city of Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
, and that for this reason the best-known progenitor of the family and some of his immediate descendants, as well as certain others, called themselves "Ulma-Günzburg". ("Rabbi Jair Chajim Bacharach und Seine Ahnen", p. 45, Treves
Trèves
-France:Trèves is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Trèves, in the Rhône department* Trèves, in the Gard department* Trèves, former commune of the Maine-et-Loire department, now part of Chênehutte-Trèves-Cunault...
, 1894) proves that "Gunz" and "Gaunz" are simply variants of "Günzburg."
It is also an Ashkenazi Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
. When, early in the emancipation period, the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
were ordered by their governments to adopt family names, it was natural that many of them should choose a name so respected and pleasing as that of Günzburg. There is on record a lawsuit instituted by Baer Günzburg of Grodno against a Jewish family of that city who had adopted the same name under the decree of 1804 (Maggid
Maggid
Maggid , sometimes spelled as magid, is a traditional Eastern European Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A preacher of the more scholarly sort was called a "darshan", and usually occupied the official position of rabbi...
, "Toledot Mishpechoth Gintzburg," p. 239, St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, 1899). The court sustained the right of Jewish families to adopt any name they chose, and the number of Günzburg families accordingly increased.
The name is composed of two German elements. Burg means a castle on a hill or a citadel. This commonly was used to describe a settlement or town, hence common usage in town names such as Hamburg (home town). Developments of the word include burger (town dweller) or burgermeister (town master or mayor). Gins is a corruption of koening, a common transposition or spoonerism. Koening means king so Ginsburg means king's castle, or commonly kingstown (Kingston). Ginsberg world mean king's hill (berg meaning hill). Günzburg refers to the castle overlooking the river Günz.
People named Gunzburg or variant spellings
- Baron Joseph GünzburgJoseph GünzburgBaron Joseph Günzburg Baron Joseph Günzburg Baron Joseph Günzburg (Baron Osip Gavrilovch Gintsburg, Барон Осип Гаврилович Гинцбург (or Iosif-Evzel, Иосиф-Евзель) , (1812, Vitebsk–January 12, 1878, Paris), was a Russian financier and philanthropist. He is the son of Gabriel Günzburg and the father...
, (1812-1878) Russian-Jewish banker, philanthropist and communal leader - Baron Horace GünzburgHorace GünzburgBaron Horace Günzburg was a Russian philanthropist. He received his education at home in Zvenigorodka...
, (1833-1909) Russian-Jewish banker, philanthropist and communal leader - Baron David GünzburgDavid GünzburgBaron David Goratsiyevich Günzburg , 4th Baron de Günzburg, was a Russian orientalist and Jewish communal leader. He was the son of Baron Horace de Günzburg...
, (1857-1910) Russian orientalist and Jewish communal leader - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, (1904-1981) socialite, editor, actor, producer
- Nico GunzburgNico GunzburgNico Gunzburg was a Belgian lawyer and criminologist. In 1885, his parents fled from Latvia and settled in Antwerp, Belgium.-Education:...
, (1882–1984) Belgian lawyer and criminologist - Milton GunzburgMilton GunzburgMilton Lowell Gunzburg was an American journalist and screenwriter. Gunzburg developed the Natural Vision stereoscopic 3-D system.-Career:...
(1910–1991), American screenwriter and inventor - Robert Gunzburg (1956–), Belgian spine surgeon and scientist
See also
- Ginsberg/GinsburgGinsbergGinsberg, Ginsburg, Ginsburgh, Ginsparg, Ginzberg, Ginzborg, and Ginzburg are variants of the same surname.-Ginsberg:* Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet* Asher Hirsch Ginsberg , Zionist writer and philosopher...
(most common variants in the USA)
- GünsbergGünsbergGünsberg is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-Geography:Günsberg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 46.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 42.5% is forested...
, municipality in the district of Lebern, canton of Solothurn, Switzerland - Balm bei GünsbergBalm bei GünsbergBalm bei Günsberg is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-Geography:Balm bei Günsberg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 32.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 62.0% is forested...
, municipality in the district of Lebern, canton of Solothurn, Switzerland